‘The plight of the American people has only gotten worse’
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
‘Class warfare is smoldering in America — and it’s about to catch fire’
Austin Sarat at The Hill
In April, an arsonist “set fire to a warehouse used by a major corporation in Los Angeles,” which “should be a wake-up call to political leaders that they urgently need to address the growing despair felt by many Americans,” says Austin Sarat. Some “seem to have gotten the message. But at the national level, unfortunately, all signs are pointing in the opposite direction.” The arsonist “channeled the feelings of millions of Americans who have been mistreated.”
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‘Trump says he can do “anything I want” to the island. It doesn’t belong to him.’
The Guardian editorial board
In Cuba, the U.S. “wants economic reform, the closure of Chinese and Russian intelligence posts, and reportedly the removal of President Miguel Díaz‑Canel,” which “would reinforce the administration’s message that it controls the Americas,” says The Guardian editorial board. Cuba’s “highly educated population is ripe for change that would allow older generations dignity, and give younger ones opportunity.” Instead, they “appear to face ongoing collapse.” Donald Trump “talks of ‘taking’ Cuba. But it belongs to the Cuban people.”
‘Why aren’t there more Covid-19 memorials?’
Miles Howard at The Boston Globe
Finding a “Covid memorial felt like finding a rare heron in a nearby marsh. Why aren’t there more of them?” says Miles Howard. The pandemic “deprived millions of Americans of their loved ones and robbed millions more of their long-term health.” In the “aftermath of tragedy, remembering those we lost and the sacrifices of those who lived can help us find meaning and closure.” More “cities and towns could step up,” as memorials “give our grief somewhere to go.”
‘The meme-stock economy is coming for your 401(k)’
Nitish Pahwa at Slate
If Americans “already thought the stock market’s booming reactions to this geopolitically chaotic economic moment were irrational — well, it’s about to get much more surreal,” says Nitish Pahwa. Investors are “looking to what may become the biggest IPOs in history, courtesy of artificial intelligence.” The “incoming IPO wave is rewriting stock market rules in real time so that companies can attract massive public investment with fewer safeguards, less transparency and more risk pushed onto ordinary investors.”
