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"Mr. Trump's Lost Cause takes its fuel from conspiratorial myths of all kinds, rehearsed for years on Trump media and social media platforms. Its guiding theories include: Christianity under duress and attack; large corrupt cities full of Black and brown people manipulated by liberal elites; Barack Obama as alien; a socialist movement determined to tax you into subservience to "big government"; liberal media out to crush family and conservative values; universities and schools teaching the young a history that hates America; resentment of nonwhite immigrants who threaten a particular national vision; and whatever hideous new version of a civil religion QAnon represents."

Illustrating how the Bank's role in Latin America and the Caribbean has evolved in recent decades, countries in the region now turn increasingly to the institution for more than direct lending, including such services as risk insurance, commodity swaps, and climate adaptation finance.

The region is doing worse. "Latin America and the Caribbean finds itself in the fifth year of an economic slowdown and the second consecutive year of GDP contraction. Worsening external conditions coupled with domestic challenges have reduced expectations for regional growth to -0.7 percent in 2015, with economic activity projected to drop to -1.3 percent in 2016." But also, Mexico and the Caribbean are experiencing 2% growth, while South America is declining 1.7% or more. Why?

I think it is because (and this is just a theory, I do not know for certain) Mexico and the Caribbean have a direct relationship with the USA, which gives them extra economical assistance outside the World Bank.

How the Bobos Broke America: Atlantic 9/21 article here: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/08/1025845766/david-brooks-new-book-takes-a-look-at-how-the-cultural-elite-broke-america

An interesting article on the Chilean election. This theme reflects on our study of economic approaches, in particular the aftermath of the shock therapy first instituted in Latin America to combat inflation in Chile. This policy was so painful for so many people that, in the 2000s, South America experienced a sharp political left turn, one of whose leaders is Chavez. He has ruled Venezuela with an almost autocratic grip, but seems at his weakest in years for this year's election.

I think that is important to look at news from all over the world, and we have not been looking at latin america hardly at all in class. This article provides a snippet of what is going on in Brazil with corruption, and the article also gives a peek into the world of oil outside of the middle east.

"The Most Detailed Map of Auto Emissions in America By Nadja Popovich and Denise LuOct. 10, 2019"

This article from Aljazeera summarizes the response from world leaders with regards to today's attack on capital hill. In general, they all expressed similar sentiments that seemed to condemn the acts of violence, support a peaceful transition of power, and hope America is able to return to being a "temple of democracy."

It is interesting to see such a contrast in rhetorics from outside the US and within. Even after the capital was secured 6 republican senators continued to try and block certification.

I think the fact that other world leaders have to wish for a non violent transition of power shows that America is not a "temple of democracy." Like Ethan said, 6 senators tried to block certification of Joe Biden as the president elect, also showing that democracy in America is struggling

Bolivia is struggling to contain the spread of coronavirus as a result of political turmoil and weak infrastructure. Bolivia's interim president, Jeanine Áñez, announced in late January of this year that she would be running for office, and postponed the election from May to October over concerns that the pandemic would make voting unsafe. Her decision to run for president strained her relationship with opposition lawmakers and officials, which resulted in a disorganized effort to combat the pandemic. Roadblocks and protests by labor unions and supporters of former president Evo Morales have further hindered Bolivia's response. Bolivia's ineffective efforts have left hospitals without the equipment required, leaving many infected without care.

This is a scary reality for many countries in south and central America. I have seen reports of extremely high death rates due to the lack of care available and the weak infrastructure of these countries. For example, Guatemala is dealing with a similar problem. They have had to dig mass graves for unidentified coronavirus victims and the reported death and case rate is not accurate. It would be interesting to look at the history of these countries, the way America had a role in them, and why they are being hit so hard by the pandemic.

I find this example particularly unique to point out the effect of a weak and disunited government on how emergencies are handled. It seems as though the Bolivian government can only blame itself for the civilian lives lost. In my opinion, this parallels with the U.S., albeit to a lesser degree, as political disagreements and disunification have allowed the virus to sweep across the country before plans and safety measures were implemented.

"Cost"

A referendum in Chile just rejected a draft of a new Constitution pushed by the new Chilean President Gabriel Boric and his extremely progressive coalition that would have replaced Augusto Pinochet's Constitution. The Constitution included the right to public health care, abortion, free speech, clean air and water, it would have given the federal government greater control over the Chilean economy, and would have officially recognized the sovereignty of Indigenous groups across the country, making it the third plurinational nation in South America. However, 61% of Chileans opposed the new Constitution, and a new assembly will have to be elected to redraft it. This rejection is interesting; does it highlight the overall mood in Latin American politics right now? Is this a rejection of liberal policies? What will the next few months have in store for Chile; bureaucratic breakdown, or unity around a new Constitution?

Really interesting article, Nick! Keep in mind that "liberal" in the international context means low government intervention and capitalism, so the correct way to phrase the question is "Is this a rejection of social democratic policies?" There was a wave of social democracy in Latin America in the 1990s and early 2000s, so I wonder if this is an effort to move that further, an effort which is contested. https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/chile-could-become-plurinational-what-does-that-mean/ As you know, there are many levels of inclusion and exclusion in different societies, and the indigenous rights movement in South America carries a dimension of racism held over from the colonial era, in addition to neocolonialism and extractive capitalism centered on banks and the owners of land.

I think that finding a balance between the freedom and social welfare has always been an issue in America and thats why this is such an interesting article. The Nordic countries seem to have a very good balance of free market success and equality. These countries would be good examples for America but there are two reasons that make this difficult. First off, many Americans seem to be deeply afraid of anything resembling socialism or communism. Second all these nordic states are small and relatively homogenous. This makes it much easier for the government to provide social welfare that meets everybody's needs and keeps everyone happy. The US is huge and has a much more diverse population. This makes for a completely different problem. While a social democratic government has worked so well for Scandinavia, we are far from getting to a state like that in the US.

Even though I believe a government like that would be ideal for the US, it is not very realistic due to how conservative the US is compared to Scandinavia.

Trump, Plato, fear. . . interesting piece from Axel. Thanks, Axel!

From the section Latin America & Caribbean Brazilian police say they want to speak to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach about an alleged scheme to resell tickets during last month's Rio Olympics. The police say Mr Bach is being treated as a witness, not a suspect.

population Africa Europe

I find it very interesting that the Damascenes' opinions on U.S. intervention seem to differ based on socio-economic status, but yet the majority of them all agree that Obama should be more decisive about his plans for or against invasion. In general, this article surfaces a lot of interesting points to ponder surrounding the conflict in Syria.

The article makes a very important point. U.S. engagement is not aimed at overthrowing Assad and establishing a new political government or regime, rather American involvement is serving as a deterrent for the prevention of chemical weapon usage by other countries. Such reasoning undercuts the moral virtue of American involvement in Syria and will serve to fuel greater anti-American sentiments in the region.

It's really cool that the women referred to in the article (Dilma Rousseff, Michelle Bachelet, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Keiko Fujimori) are taking their countries by storm. These countries are obviously very forward-thinking, and I admire them for it.

It's amazing how much power women can have in countries that Americans often think of as less developed than the US. These women are really taking control, when here in America we have yet to elect a female president or vice-president.

I want to echo Shalina's point. It's surprising that in the United States we still have not had a female President or Vice President, whereas countries that we often consider inferior to ours, such as Argentina and Peru, have already had female leaders. Though not mentioned in the article, another influential country that has already had a female leader is England- which first had a female Prime Minister over thirty years ago!