Category Archives: Commentary

Sticking With the Union

5/1/1997 – 3:47 pm

Three weeks ago, I did something I should have done a long time ago. I joined a union. You are now being addressed by a member of the National Writers Union, United Auto Workers, Local 1981, AFL-CIO. You may think that because I joined the union I have a grievance; perhaps I have a bone […]

By floegel | Comments (0)

Serf City, Here We Come

4/27/1997 – 3:45 pm

There used to be a show on public television in which a guy would talk about the history of technology and the effect it had on political history. For example, the British defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt because they figured out a way to build a better bow and arrow. History moves […]

By floegel | Comments (0)

The One That Got Away

4/17/1997 – 3:44 pm

How about some good news for once? You must grow tired from all the bad news I bring you. I do. Our good news comes from Chile, that slim country in the south. Until a recently a dictatorship, Chile is again trying on the fashions of democracy. No sooner had Augusto Pinochet begun to relax […]

By floegel | Comments (0)

Not Another NAFTA

4/10/1997 – 3:42 pm

In 1992, we had a presidential election. In 1993, we had NAFTA. In 1996, we had another presidential election. What are we getting this year? More NAFTA. As surely as winter follows autumn, it looks like we are locked into a cycle of elections-then-free trade agreements. As much as politicians tell us we want free […]

By floegel | Comments (0)

The Cold War Comes Home

4/3/1997 – 3:23 pm

I was reading reports of the Clinton-Yeltsin summit last week, thinking about how these two men were putting away the last vestiges of an old order. I used to live in Washington, DC; I was there when the Soviet Union went out of business, when the Warsaw Pact dissolved like a chalk drawing on a […]

By floegel | Comments (0)

Agent Orange Babies

3/27/1997 – 3:50 pm

There is nothing new under the sun. Everything that passes for news is merely an echo of the past, a restatement of universal themes. I’m thinking this way because I keep reading about Vietnam in the newspaper. The stories, fresh as today’s newsprint, are not “news” at all. They are the latest episodes in a […]

By floegel | Comments (0)

‘No, Wait! It’s Both!’

3/20/1997 – 3:48 pm

I’ve worked for Greenpeace for eight years and in that time I’ve had the opportunity to observe trends which may not be obvious to the average citizen. For example, many companies with environmental problems will hire a director of environmental affairs. When Greenpeace arrives, out comes the director of environmental affairs, all smiles and handshakes. […]

By floegel | Comments (0)