PopDev Different Takes Paper Series

Most Americans believe that the U.S. wrote the book on democracy, despite the lack of voting rights for African-Americans until the 1965 Voting Rights Act, just in time for the Bicentennial celebrations. But with last year's Presidential election and its aftermath we have a President who won neither the popular vote nor the Electoral College vote had Florida votes been properly counted and minority voters not disenfranchised. Instead we have a court-elected President, thanks to a partisan conservative majority in two decisions, based on rationales which most legal observers find specious.

Climate change heightens the imperative for thoughtful and strategic environmental activism. In this context, it is important to acknowledge the oversized responsibility of the U.S. military for greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction more generally. In this DifferenTakes, H. Patricia Hynes exposes the toxic legacy of U.S. militarism, including the environmental impacts of waging war and the waste generated by building and maintaining military bases, weapons, and maneuvers. Tackling this toxic legacy and dismantling militarism provide an important opportunity for peace and environmental movements to work together.