OtherWords

OtherWords is a free, non-profit editorial service published by the Institute for Policy Studies. Each week, OtherWords distributes a batch of publication-ready op-eds, along with a cartoon, to thousands of readers — including hundreds of editors of small and medium-sized newspapers. Each year, these op-eds appear thousands of times in local newspapers throughout the country, as well as in a growing number of online outlets. We believe that strong social movements need informed citizens, and that people learn best from conversations in their own communities — neighbor-to-neighbor. But between a consolidated, corporate-controlled mass media and a deafening social media echo chamber, it’s gotten harder than ever to have these conversations, especially in smaller communities with few local media options.

Through OtherWords, we’re able to provide millions of readers in America’s heartland with intelligent commentary on a range of progressive causes — on climate, inequality, war and peace, the movements for race and gender justice, and beyond. Through the trusted local papers that use our service, we reach readers in red, blue, and purple states alike with well-written, timely commentaries on the national issues that affect their lives. To read our work or get information about publishing it in your community, check out OtherWords.org.

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Latest Work

Occupy the Budget

How to pay for the crisis while making our nation more equitable, green, and secure.

Is Iran Iraq All Over Again?

The nuclear intelligence that the media is fixated on consists mostly of allegations of abstract research that have been floating around for years.

Misrepresenting Occupy Wall Street

Even the Anti-Defamation League denies that the Occupy movement is infused with anti-Semitism, but ultra-conservative pundits are sticking with that non-story anyway.

Occupy Your Bank

Once a business is handling a transaction for you, you’re not trespassing when you go down to check on its progress.

Vegan Misgivings

Moving to the big table wouldn’t have been such a big deal if what you found when you got there was broccoli.

Border War Rumors

Far from being a chaotic war zone, a study of the 14 Texas counties bordering Mexico shows that the number of murders has actually declined in the past five years.

Thanksgiving on Wall Street

Dear Lord, thanks for all that gravy.

Big Banks are Doing Just Fine, Thank You

This virtual abandonment of local economies by Wall Street exploded when Uncle Sam bailed out the big banks.

America’s Real Poverty Rate

If the United States were to update the way we measure poverty, we’d find that about 28 percent of American families of four are now living in poverty.

The Lineup: Week of Nov. 14-20, 2011

Tom Israel provides a roundup of progressive electoral victories at the ballot box that could serve as a “signpost” for the 2012 elections.

Lost Causes Can Win

The Occupy movement relies on people power, which has triumphed in Poland and elsewhere.

Luck Matters

An equitable tax system — paying for public services we all use, as well as offering support and a hand-up to those who’ve lost out in life’s lottery — should demand more of us.

Nuclear Turkeys

The Pentagon has too much hardware once thought necessary to defeat the Soviet Union.

Buyer’s Remorse

It looks like voters across the country are having second thoughts about the tea party agenda, now that they have seen what it actually means in practice.

The OMG Congress

With unemployment topping 9 percent, the European economy sliding toward an abyss, and Lindsey Lohan posing nude for Playboy, Congress took time out to “reaffirm” In God We Trust as our official national motto.

Big Corporation, Tiny Heart

Walmart is displaying its incredibly shriveled ethical center by whacking the already meager health care benefits that hundreds of thousands of its workers count on.

The Class War is So Over

You may have noticed the collateral damage.

A Missile in Every Pot

At last, we Americans are safe.

For the Corporate 1 Percenters, a 50 Percent Tax Discount

Corporations have achieved total tax loophole parity with America’s individual super rich.

The Lineup: Week of Nov. 7-13, 2011

William A. Collins, Donald Kaul, and Gerald Scorse look at the intersection of wealth and taxes.