Category Archives: Uncategorized

Trying to Dig Deeper, or 21st Century Common Sense, Part 4

March 5, 2026Uncategorizedcommunism, history, marxism, philosophy, politicstedglick

“A huge problem, up there at the top of the list, is that the history of efforts over the last many centuries to create truly just and democratic societies, run by organized people, not oligarchs, has at best yielded mixed results since the Russian Revolution of 1917.”

These words were part of the first column of this series of my Future Hope columns, planned to be at least 10 of them. I’m calling this series “21^st Century Common Sense.”

So what is my “common sense” about why the world is in the state it’s in?

-One very big reason is the fact that revolutions trying to bring into being much more egalitarian and just societies, societies improving the lives and gaining power over decision-making for working-class and low-income people, took place in countries, Russia and China in particular, which had just a small amount of industry and not much of an urban working class. They were overwhelmingly peasant-based societies. This meant there were limitations, both economically and as far as the experience of organization on the part of regular people, that led to very real distortions and much worse, when it came to how society was reorganized after the overthrow of the ruling powers by revolutionary organizations.

-Another very real reason has been the problem of male dominance, leadership of organizations avowedly about positive social change to benefit working-class people dominated by backwards and oppressive cultural practices where men are assumed to be the “natural” leaders.

Because of the impact, staying power and growth of the late 1960’s women’s movement growing, in large part, out of the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, there has been not just a growth in various sectors of US society in the percentage of women in leadership but also a growth in an understanding of more and more men that this is good and right.

-Another reason is a similar process when it comes to the issue of racism. The victories of the civil rights/Black Freedom movement back then had lasting impacts in so many ways. Not only did it change racist US laws in 1964, 1965 and beyond, it undoubtedly inspired many other movements—Indigenous, Mexicans/Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, other Latinos/as/e, Asian Americans, lgbtq+ people, progressive trade unionism, immigrant rights, disability rights, student rights, family farmers, environmental and climate protection, for peace with justice, liberation theology and more.

At first, the proliferation of these movements led to overall movement difficulties. Which issue–class, race, gender or something else–was the most important, or the most strategic when it came to changing human society? There was competition over material resources to support all the different organizations which grew out of this new political milieu, a continuing issue.

Over time, over the past decades, I see positive changes as far as these and other challenges. There is, overall, a definite understanding on the part of many millions of us, the many millions of activists and organizers who are at work in our own particular vineyards, whether it be by geography, by issue, by specific tactics, or something else—there is an understanding that we absolutely must and are finding ways to join our struggles, all of which ultimately have a common enemy: the billionaire/multi-multi-millionaire class which literally dominates not just US society but much of the world.

But these difficulties in uniting aren’t the only reasons why the Trumpfascists are now in the positions of power they are.

US society is in need of a lot of change, but it is a fact that, so far, those in positions of governmental power, whether it be in the White House, in Congress, in state legislatures or in cities/towns/townships/villages, are chosen through a process of elections. This dynamic is deeply rooted among the U.S. American people. Yes, big corporate money has much influence, particularly at higher levels, and yes, there are various ways the US electoral system can become much more democratic, like through ranked choice, proportional representation and public financing of elections, but the key point in the context of this column is that social change movements, sooner or later, must contend within the electoral system for power.

Individual progressives and progressive organizations in the past and still today have fallen prey to one of two very real mistakes in working to win the votes of the masses of people who, through their voting, do actually decide who wins. One mistake is for candidates for office to articulate our approach to issues, create a platform, which does not take into account where the people we are trying to influence are as far as their consciousness on issues or in the language they can relate to, and as a result we can come across as too narrow, too dogmatic, not flexible enough, too ultra-left, etc. The other mistake is the opposite: to be TOO flexible, not firm enough on basic principles, too willing to bend too far toward one or another of the corporate class’s positions on issues, understanding that they are not monolithic but in general are primarily looking out for their own power and wealth.

“Purist” politics and “opportunistic” politics: these are two huge mistakes made in the past which have narrowed progressive possibilities for electoral and other victories.

How can we make progress on these weaknesses? The first step is to identify them as very real problems and to then talk about them, interact about them, to at least minimize these errors happening, moving toward their becoming, over time, mistakes that we have pretty much transcended.

Paulo Freire, in his must-read book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, has some very relevant input on the “how” question:

“The correct method for a revolutionary leadership to employ in the task of liberation is, therefore, not ‘libertarian propaganda.’ . . The correct method lies in dialogue. The conviction of the oppressed that they must fight for their liberation is not a gift bestowed by the revolutionary leadership, but the result of their own conscientizacao [consciousness raising]. . . Dialogue cannot exist, however, in the absence of a profound love for the world and for people. Love is at the same time the foundation of dialogue and dialogue itself. Because love is an act of courage, not of fear, love is commitment to others. . . In dialogical theory, at no stage can revolutionary action forgo communion with the people, really human, empathetic, loving, communicative and humble, in order to be liberating.” (1)

Wise words grounded in experience and commitment. Thank you, Paulo Freire.

Paulo Freire, 1970, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, pps. 53-54, 77-78 and 171

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21^st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Climate Crisis Threatens Everything–or, 21st Century Common Sense, Part 3

February 28, 2026Uncategorizedclimate, climate-change, environment, politics, sustainabilitytedglick

It was the summer of 2003. I was employed at the time as the national coordinator of the Independent Progressive Politics Network, working towards, we hoped, a progressive, broad-based alternative to the Dems and Reps. But something happened that summer in Europe which changed my life, leading me to leave that IPPN job a year and a half later in the hope that I could find paying work focused on the climate crisis. What happened that summer to lead to that personal change?

Here is how AI Overview reports it:

“The 2003 European heatwave was an extreme, prolonged, and deadly weather event, with estimated fatalities exceeding 30,000 to 70,000, particularly in France, Italy, and Spain. Lasting from June through mid-August 2003, it featured temperatures 3 to 5°C above average, often exceeding 40°C in Western Europe, causing severe agricultural losses and sparking major wildfires. . .”

I had known at the time about “global warming,” knew it was one of many important issues. But the research I did that fall, the books I read, convinced me that this crisis was much more serious, more imminent, than I had thought that it was. If tens of thousands of people in economically developed Europe could die from an extreme weather event caused in large part by the heating up of the atmosphere, and with knowledgeable people predicting this was just one example of what humankind worldwide would be facing for years to come, even if we did stop burning oil, coal and gas, the fossil fuels whose ubiquitous use is the primary reason for these events, this was clearly a very real, here-and-now existential threat for all forms of life on all of the earth.

I remember talking with a good friend at the time who was questioning me about this decision to alter my main focus. I answered that I was doing so primarily because of the seriousness of the crisis but also because I doubted the immediate potential, back then, for a coming together of independent progressives significant enough to have an impact. The conscious Left was weak and divided, not in a position, I felt then, to have much impact nationally for years to come.

I’ve thought about and studied this question a number of times over the past 23 years. During that time I have taken part, on local, state and national levels, in campaigns and initiatives other than just the climate crisis, but that has continued all that time as my top priority. The biggest example is my throwing myself into the Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign when it happened in 2015 and 2016. The fact that he made the climate crisis one of the main issues he spoke about, one of a number of them, definitely resonated with me.

Also resonating since then has been the articulation and advancement of the idea of a Green New Deal by AOC and others after that Sanders campaign, an initiative which combines action on the climate crisis/ecological devastation with the kind of systemic, pro-justice, housing/healthcare/childcare/jobs/etc. governmental actions needed on many other pressing issues facing the USA and the world.

When Trump was elected in 2024, I and groups I’m a leader of consciously took part in anti-fascist actions in support of immigrant rights, against ICE, and for other no-to-fascism efforts like the No Kings demonstrations throughout 2025.

As 2026 gets underway, with Spring thankfully on the horizon, there are a number of ways that those of us who get it on the seriousness of the climate crisis can take action. One way is to support Democrats and serious progressive Independents running for elected office who speak about this issue while connecting it to others. A second way is raising this issue up at nationally distributed actions on March 28 No Kings, April 22 Earth Day and May 1 Mayday Strong. A third way is strengthening and broadening out the “Make Climate Polluters Pay” movement working in 1/3 or more of the states to pinpoint the fossil fuel industry and get them to pay for the damage they are causing.

The climate crisis, the worldwide emergency we are in, truly calls out for us in the belly of the beast to keep raising this up, to take on those who don’t give a damn about the ecocide their policies are advancing. This is an issue on the agenda of history and the world right now.

In this critical election year when the Trumpfascists are deeply unpopular, but wind and solar continue to have the support of three-fourths of the US population, let’s act accordingly as we go about our anti-fascist organizing.

press release July 20, 2023

July 18, 2023Uncategorizedtedglick

For immediate release, July 18, 2023

Contacts: Maury Johnson – 304.646-9285

Roberta Bondurant – 540.793.4769

Those Directly Affected by Degraded Coating on the MVP

Pipe Segments and Experts Will Rally at PHMSA

WHO: Residents along the right of way of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in WV and VA, and supporters

WHAT: Rally outside PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration)

WHERE: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C

WHEN: Thursday, July 20, at noon

WHY: The manufacturer of the coating on the pipe segments says it starts degrading after six months above ground, exposed to the elements, yet much of the pipe has been sitting along the right of way for five years.

VISUALS: pipeline, puppets, banners

SPEAKERS:

· -Maury Johnson, an impacted WV landowner;

· -Roberta “Bert” Bondurant, an advocate with Preserve Bent Mountain (VA),

· -Bill Limpert, retired water pollution environmental regulator who has researched pipeline issue

Maury Johnson says, “The severely degraded MVP pipe that has been lying along the MVP Right of Way (ROW) – including on my family’s property – and in pipe storage yards for years beyond its manufacturer’s recommended expiration date is a risk to everyone who lives, works or plays near this pipe,” says Johnson. “It should never be used in ANY construction, either along the MVP ROW or elsewhere. It will put at peril hikers of the Appalachian Trail on Peters Mountain, boaters, rafters, fishermen and others who recreate near the rivers and streams in both WV and VA where it is used. It will put travelers at risk who traverse the many road and stream crossings where it has been or could possibly be used in the future.”

Roberta “Bert” Bondurant says, “MVP says that ‘safety is its priority…’ Yet it wants to use its corroding pipes with long degraded coating, thousands of which MVP rushed to sites in 2018, then left lying beside water body crossings, floating in trenches and sitting in standing water for extended periods—increasing threats of corrosion, explosion and fire for landowners and communities in its path. Complaining of spending excess time, money and inconvenience, MVP plans to perform lesser quality, patchwork, environmentally toxic pipe rehab on site—in proximity to drinking water sources. Best practice has shown that in-factory, climate controlled setting is the environmentally safest and most effective way to repair a massive stock of degraded pipe.”

“MVP assumed the risk, in its 2018 federal court testimony, for aggressively rushing its pipe to sites as early as 2018. Our agencies and public servants must prohibit MVP from forcing the increasingly more dangerous burdens of its big gambit upon landowners and communities.“

Bill Limpert has been digging into pipeline issues for the past ten years. “I believe that the Mountain Valley Pipeline, as currently constructed, is a significant threat to public safety,” he says. “Numerous safety upgrades must be made before the pipeline goes into operation. The MVP public safety risk is unacceptably high due to the following issues: MVP explosive potential, pipe coating deficiencies, cathodic protection deficiencies, numerous and ongoing landslides, MVP’s history of violations, weak regulations and enforcement, and failure of FERC and PHMSA to keep the public informed.”

Announcing the Fast to Defeat Trump!

September 30, 2020Uncategorizedtedglick

Progressive Activist Ted Glick to Begin 30-day Fast to Defeat Trump on October 3

Ted Glick, a 71 year old, long-time peace and justice, climate and progressive activist, organizer and writer, announced today that from October 3 to November 3, election day, he will consume only water and a few vitamins. The purpose is to encourage Americans who are still unsure about the importance of voting, or unsure about the importance of voting to remove Trump from office, to consider seriously how critical it is for the world that Trump be defeated.

The fast is also to encourage those who will be voting for Joe Biden to sign up with one of the many groups working to motivate and turn out voters, especially in the battleground states—Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Georgia and Texas.

Glick explained his reasons for voting in this way: “I’m doing this because I think that Trump’s reelection represents a huge threat to the world’s already-disrupted ecosystems, people of color and low-income people, our struggling democracy and just about everything else that is important to decent people. I feel the need to do all I can to help generate the massive voter turnout essential to ensure that he and many of his Republican accomplices are defeated. Our situation is urgent, and I feel the need to respond accordingly.”

Glick has engaged in long water-only fasts before. The first was for 40 days in the summer of 1972 for an end to the war in Vietnam. The second was for 42 days in the fall of 1992 in opposition to the planned government celebrations of the 500^th anniversary of Columbus arriving in what is now the Americas. The third was for 25 days in 2007 on the issue of the climate emergency.

Glick will stay in his house in Bloomfield, NJ for the duration of the fast with his wife Jane Califf.Ted Glick’s biography and daily reflections on and experiences during this fast can be found at https://tedglick.com, and he can be reached at indpol@igc.org.

July 4th and Its Contradictions

July 5, 2014Uncategorizedtedglick

“O, let America be America again–
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.”

Langston Hughes, Let America Be America Again, written in 1935

I always have contradictory feelings about July 4^th. On the one hand, it is the day that the 1776 Declaration of Independence was issued, an essentially anti-colonial call to action against the British Empire. It is a revolutionary document. The preamble, in particular, doesn’t pull its punches:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

But this document, speaking of contradictions, has this to say in the very last point enumerating the specific oppressive actions taken by the British government: “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

The practice of chattel slavery for people of African descent was widespread in the American colonies. And it still was 76 years later when Frederick Douglas gave his famous “What to the Slave is the 4^th of July” speech:

“What to the American slave is your 4^th of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.”

And women in 1776 and for another 140 years had no right to vote, in addition to all of the many other ways that a patriarchal, male-dominated culture abused and subjugated them.

Today, in 2014, chattel slavery and legal segregation have been outlawed, the US government’s shameful treatment of Indigenous peoples historically has been somewhat moderated, and women have the right to vote and are increasingly winning victories toward full equality. But even with our first President of African descent, institutionalized racism, sexism and inequality are far from eliminated.

In addition, our rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are severely impacted and compromised by the fact of rule by the much-less-than-the-1% over the rest of us and the fossil fuel industry’s continuing hold over most Republicans and some Democrats in the federal government. Indeed, with the deepening of the climate crisis and spread of extreme weather events, the entire world’s right to a decent future is threatened by the power and wealth of the dirty fossil fuel industry and its corporate and government allies.

The concluding verses of Langston Hughes’ powerful “America” poem, 80 years after they were written, make clear what we must be about, what we must pledge to do this July 4^th weekend:

“Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!”

Al Gore’s Important Piece

June 23, 2014UncategorizedAl Gore, clean energy, frackingtedglick

Al Gore has written an important article, “The Turning Point: New Hope for the Climate,” published June 18 in Rolling Stone magazine. The subhead of the article: “It’s time to accelerate the shift toward a low-carbon future. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-turning-point-new-hope-for-the-climate-20140618
It’s a comprehensive piece whose primary point is that the clean energy forces are winning: “We are witnessing the beginning of a massive shift to a new energy-distribution model – from the ‘central station’ utility-grid model that goes back to the 1880s to a ‘widely distributed’ model with rooftop solar cells, on-site and grid battery storage, and microgrids.”

Coal, oil and gas, Gore believes, are in deep trouble, while wind and solar are growing rapidly, in large part because of the major drop in prices for them that the world has seen over the past half-decade or so.

Al Gore seems to be coming down firmly against all fossil fuels, not just coal and oil. Here’s what he has to say about shale gas drilling and fracking: “This year, Citigroup reported that the widespread belief that natural gas – the supply of which has ballooned in the U.S. with the fracking of shale gas – will continue to be the chosen alternative to coal is mistaken, because it too will fall victim to the continuing decline in the cost of solar and wind electricity.”

Gore sees the need for government to intervene if this shift is not to slow down: “We have the policy tools that can dramatically accelerate the transition to clean energy that market forces will eventually produce at a slower pace. The most important has long since been identified: We have to put a price on carbon in our markets, and we need to eliminate the massive subsidies that fuel the profligate emissions of global-warming pollution.”

He concludes by giving this response to the very big question: are we too late? “Is there enough time? Yes. Damage has been done, and the period of consequences will continue for some time to come, but there is still time to avoid the catastrophes that most threaten our future. Each of the trends described above – in technology, business, economics and politics – represents a break from the past. Taken together, they add up to genuine and realistic hope that we are finally putting ourselves on a path to solve the climate crisis.”

Gore is not the only person who has been saying or writing along these lines in the last year or so, but for someone of his stature to do so is no small thing, and he has done a very good job of putting information and analysis together in a readable, accessible format. For him do so now, to give people around the world hope that we can eventually replace fossil fuels with renewables based primarily on very concrete developments in the world’s energy systems, is a real morale boost.

Saying that, I do have reservations about some of what he has written.

-I’m in the midst of organizing towards the first-ever national march against fracked gas exports, happening July 13 in Washington, D.C. (http://stopgasexports.org) The call is to Stop Fracked Gas Exports at Cove Point and Beyond. Instead of expanding fracking via the building of export terminals to ship gas to Asia and Europe where prices are higher, we are calling for a halt to the gas rush and a Renewables First! energy policy.

I hope Citigroup’s projection about wind and solar preventing the rise of gas as an alternative to coal is accurate, but I question if that is the case right now. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, is currently processing 14 proposals to build export terminals along U.S. coastlines. Two have been approved so far, with a Cove Point approval in a couple months a distinct possibility. The Obama Administration, at the same time that it is proposing carbon regulations for power plants and Obama is giving stirring speeches about the need for action, continues to publicly support the dramatic rise on his watch of US oil and gas production, and they continue to take steps to advance the export of fracked gas, coal and oil from the U.S.

-This leads to my second main reservation. Although Gore mentions the divestment movement and the importance of citizen activism, reading this article it would be easy to believe that the primary reason for these hopeful developments is the drop in the prices of solar and wind WITHOUT a reference to the work that climate activists have done over the last decade or so. Thanks in no small part to their work, there are state Renewable Energy Standards in about 30 states that mandate a growing amount of renewable energy in a state’s power generation, a definite factor in the growth of renewable use. The climate movement through its grassroots organizing, its actions and demonstrations, its work with the media and more has built broad-based political support for the shift to wind and solar. And the movements against mountaintop removal and new coal plants, the tar sands and their pipelines, fracking and offshore oil/gas drilling have showed staying power and won victories.

Given the power and wealth of the fossil fuel industry—3 of the 5 largest US corporations are oil/gas companies, and 5 of the 10 internationally are—we can’t slacken up with the absolutely essential movement-building to fight their power over not just Republicans but Democrats in Washington.

-Finally, about “democratic capitalism,” which Gore briefly references both to support the need for more democracy and for reforms of capitalism given the “corruption of the system by obscene amounts of money” and “growing levels of inequality worldwide.” It is good to hear him making these calls for such reforms, but it seems to me that since it is big business capitalism, the system which dominates the world, which has a great deal to do with the mess we are in, we need to be open to considering other possibilities.

I’m reading Thomas Berry’s “The Great Work.” At one point he calls for the world to “move from our human-centered to an earth-centered norm of reality and value. Only in this way can we fulfill our human role within the functioning of the planet we live on. We might begin [to achieve this] by recognizing that the life community, the community of all living species, including the human, is the greater reality and greater value. The primary concern of the human community must be the preservation and enhancement of this comprehensive community, even for the sake of its own survival.”

It seems to me that, as we prioritize a rapid shift away from fossil fuels, we must also be about building alternatives to the dominant values and institutions based on greed, me-first and power-over-others. We need new ways of doing business, making government decisions and working and living together that move in the direction Berry calls for. Fortunately, from what I can see, that work, particularly on local levels, is well underway, also.

There is, indeed, future hope.

Ted Glick is the National Campaign Coordinator of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Past writings and other information can be found at http://tedglick.com.

Fasting for the Philippines

November 15, 2013Uncategorizedtedglick

The Climate Action Network International has organized an international fast in solidarity with Yeb Sano, the lead climate negotiator for the Philippines at the 19th United Nations Climate Conference in Warsaw, Poland. He said in a speech there Monday, on the first day of the conference, that: “In solidarity with my countrymen who are struggling to find food back home and with my brother who has not had food for the last three days, in all due respect Mr. President, and I mean no disrespect for your kind hospitality, I will now commence a voluntary fasting for the climate. This means I will voluntarily refrain from eating food during this COP until a meaningful outcome is in sight.”

I woke up on Tuesday to find my mind and heart focusing on the Philippines and on Yeb Sano’s action. I was pleased to learn that CAN International had taken this initiative in support, and I’ve decided to join their fast in solidarity with him, eating no solid food and consuming only liquids for as long as his fast continues. Others may want to join and fast for a day, a few days or until the end of the climate conference.

Already, on the second day, I’m experiencing what I’ve experienced on other long fasts–how not eating food brings me closer to, keeps me from forgetting, suffering humanity, right now those in the Philippines.

But I am undertaking this solidarity fast with Yeb Sano and the people of the Philippines not just because it is personally the right thing for me to do right now. I’m doing so in the hope that others will join in this action. Large numbers of people around the world fasting with him, demanding that the nations of the world get serious about the deepening climate crisis, could have some impact on what takes place in Poland, and it can help to build a stronger international climate movement.

I will also be contributing money, money I will not be using for food, to the rescue and rebuilding efforts in the Philippines.

There are moments in history where, all of a sudden, unexpected events and actions move humanity forward. We need to be alert for such moments. I’m hoping this is one.

(Contact Ria Voorhaar, CAN International’s communications director, at rvoorhaar@climatenetwork.org, for more information or to join the fast.)