The Anderson Files
Progressives divided over county commissioner and sheriff races
You might have noticed that the Boulder County ballot for the Democratic primary has only two contested races. As I was trying to figure...
Laugh, don’t fight
On April 15, a distinctly disturbing event took place in Berkeley, California. Several hundred proto-fascists gathered in a downtown park. They were armed and...
U.S. aid to suppress Palestinians and democracy
Something unprecedented is happening in U.S.-Israeli relations. There has been a mainstream cliché that Israel is “the only democracy in the Middle East.” It...
Social solidarity or culture war
We are supposed to be in the middle of a “culture war” but it is really a conflict about how we define social solidarity...
Pushing for Medicare expansion and social transformation
In the 2020 Democratic Party primaries, the progressive wing won on the issues. Most Americans support Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, $15...
Democrats become the progressive family values party
"Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.” — sociologist Jessica Calarco
Many Republicans went full-tilt culture war when Joe Biden introduced his...
Colorado’s GOP militia gang
Violent far rightists have been around for some time, but the Jan. 6 hearings have revealed their incestuous relationships with some of the most...
Self-deception and hidden agendas during the pandemic
The pandemic is challenging governments around the world. However, the Trump administration’s response stands out as monumentally incompetent and corrupt. There was plenty of...
The Anderson file: Poetry on a mission
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the celebrated poet and publisher of Beat Generation writers, argued in an essay in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1999 that poetry...
Democracy isn’t corny but essential for equitable & decent society
Are the Republicans going crazy? They are banning books, criminalizing abortion, attacking public school teachers who talk about racism, passing anti-LGBT laws and indiscriminately...
Medicare for All is a solution for the pandemic crisis
It gets tiresome staying at home (if you are able to) or wearing a mask and social distancing when encountering other humans. So you...
Amazon workers’ win and fragile promise of union revival
This April Fools’ Day, David beat Goliath. It wasn’t a joke. Workers at Amazon’s huge warehouse on Staten Island voted to form a union...
