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Ah springtime. The gentle feel of the breeze, the light touch of government cutting, the horrible pain and suffering that results. There’s lots of money out there, trillions in fact, just not in the hands of the people who need…

This student essay was submitted for Sociology 435 (The Sociology of Social Change) at Athabasca University. It is a critical examination of  the “heinous” way the media treated the aids epidemic, and their absolute disregard for social responsibility or the…

Announcing a New Book Series Series Editor: Bonnie Berry, Director of the Social Problems Research Group, USA Solving Social Problems provides a forum for the description and measurement of social problems, with a keen focus on the concrete remedies proposed…

This article was printed in the spring 2007 issue of “Our Schools / Our Selves,” published quarterly by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives www.policyalternatives.ca. David F. Noble (guest blogger) Critical pedagogy has long condemned grading as an impediment to…

As a rule academics are not trained to write well. You might even say academics are trained to confuse, hiding their thoughts behind walls of pretentious gobbledygook. It is not our fault. It is part of our training. From the…

Iisms and Schisms and postmodern standpoints. We live in spineless world were we all “go along” just to get along and where “playing the game” (i.e. complying with social conventions, avoiding confrontation, and letting the status quo exist unchallenged) is…

Fate is the most potent weapon in a the arsenal of determinists like Stephen Hawking. To contend, as determinists plainly do, that the outcomes of events are pre-determined is essentially the same as saying that the ebbs and flows of…

A brave new world has emerged for our children. Whereas once bullying was confined to the school yard, or the back hall, now bullying penetrates into every aspect of their life space. At night, alone, in their bedroom, surrounded by…

Ever wonder how those grocery shelves at your Publix get filled with all the wonderful and lovely produce you and your family enjoy? Think it is the result of well paid craftsman farmers, hearty individualists sowing and tilling and harvesting…

Ah, Black Friday. It’s typically the biggest shopping day of the year and, for that reason, the happiest date on the calendar for retailers. On Black Friday, retailers who have been languishing in the red can count on raking in…