Washington D.C: When Kanye West met with Donald Trump, it was under the pretense of talking about criminal justice reform. Throughout the surreal sprawling encounter, it wasn’t among the topics discussed, as one would expect. It’s no coincidence that Trump sought this pseudo-advice from Kanye, a black man, simply for the optics of it. Meanwhile,...
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Author: Sue Richardson, Adjunct professor, University of Adelaide. The purpose of our social, economic and political systems is to enable all Australians to lead good lives. Australia is doing well on some fronts. It ranks third out of 188 countries on the UN Human Development Index,...
In 2017 when I came across the Eco Warrior Princess (EWP) on Instagram, I was intrigued. Its page was unique and well curated with pictures and stories that made you want to crawl into your own phone and try some of the vegan treats that I saw. Much more than the pictures were the contents....
This research dive, like many things on the internet, started with an image I found on Twitter. It was a chart enumerating the problems disabled people would have with alternatives to plastic straws, and that for one reason or another, plastic straws remain the best option for those who need to use a straw. It’s...
Manila, Philippines: I have just very recently read The Ethics of Mining Gold: The Social and Environmental Impacts of Gold, written by my colleague Mary Imgrund. Let me say, as a person who has visited small-scale gold mining communities in the Philippines and worked for the NGO BAN Toxics which has presence in said communities,...
Abuja, Nigeria: The thoughts and questions raised here are a bit unorthodox and I take full responsibility for them. First, some statistics: 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water/ocean. The human body is made up of 65% water. Worldwide, 780 million people do not have access to an improved water source. 35% of the...
London, United Kingdom: “Us” versus “Them.” This is turning out to be a common theme in politics nowadays, from the United Kingdom’s Brexit to the rise of strongmen leaders in Asia, and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. The current buzzword used to explain this phenomenon? Identity politics. But what is ‘Identity...
Washington DC, United States: In politically divisive times, some might be drawn to the idea that the truth is always “in the middle.” That is wholly untrue. While it might be uncomfortable, one side’s arguments are sometimes factually true while another’s are only ideologically true. Global warming isn’t a half-threat; racism isn’t only somewhat of...
Toronto, Canada: We live in a world with immense complexities. New innovations, advancements in technology and sustainability are being explored every day to solve global problems. But still, there is the mentality that some problems don’t need ‘solving’. Some will argue that climate change is a hoax and others too will argue that sweatshops offer...
It is no longer news that Africa has grown to become a strong competitor in the tech world. Young, educated Africans are at the forefront of this growth and are developing various applications and solutions for the African and sometimes, global market. These startups are not all building mobile applications, so much as they are...
Abuja, Nigeria: Poverty is a familiar term. According to the World Bank, 60 percent of Nigerians are poor. So, when my editor asked my views on wealth distribution, poverty and how to end it; I thought of these statistics, the research that has been done and solutions that have been put forward by organizations such...
Consider this: You are not required to work for a living. Your government gives you money to pay for all your basic needs with absolutely ZERO strings attached. You are free to do whatever you want. Sounds very utopian right? Precisely, because the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) was first explored in the...