In a recent speech, John Tooby, one of the founders of evolutionary psychology, compared the human brain to an iPhone full of different apps. His argument was that evolution has selected certain mental programs because they help to solve discrete human problems like finding a suitable mate or detecting who...

One of the most interesting things about Mitt Romney's belief that Obama voters are parasitic victims is that for the last fifty years, a key strategy of the Republican party has been to represent wealthy elites as victims. Not only do rich conservatives see themselves as victims of high taxes...

While Mitt Romney would like to portray private equity (PE) firms, like his own Bain Capital, as examples of free market capitalism, the reality is that the only way many of these entities can make a profit is by manipulating the tax code and lobbying for favorable tax legislation and...

In an effort to get people from California to support a new tax on millionaires, a coalition of progressive organizations released a video centered on the lavish lifestyle of Kim Kardashian. As someone who teaches writing and new media at UCLA, I will argue that this video campaign is not only very effective, but it shows how media activists can use the Web to promote important causes without spending much money.

One of the brilliant things about this campaign is that it was able to reach many audiences that don't normally talk about wealth inequality or tax policy. Since Kim Kardashian is a celebrity, the video was discussed in media outlets that usually deal with pop culture gossip. Moreover, Kim's audience trends towards the young, and by using her image, the video was able to engage people of all ages.

While it is unusual to combine tax policy with pop culture, the video created a space for a discussion of income inequality and fairness outside of the usual political talk shows. Furthermore, since many people see Kim as the emblem of wealth gained without talent, she is an effective target for taxing the unproductive parts of our economy.

Although some have defended Kim as a victim of an outside attack, the hijacking of her image represents a new form of media activism. Since news reporters keep asking her if she supports the millionaire's tax, the issue is kept alive in the media. In other words, the vapid, viral nature of our celebrity culture can be rendered more meaningful if celebrities are forced to use their fame to represent progressive causes. By talking back to the famous, and making the famous talk back to us, we can create a more democratic media system....

In his book The Price of Civilization, Jeffrey Sachs argues that the cost of making all public higher education free in America would be between fifteen and thirty billion dollars. While this may sound like a large sum, it could actually save money. First of all, the government is currently...

While the Obama administration tries to work on a way to bring down our high rate of unemployment and underemployment, many people on Wall Street and in corporate boardrooms are quite happy about the large number of jobless Americans. Here are the top ten reasons why big businesses...

President Obama's job bill suffers from much of the same problems that we witnessed with the 2009 stimulus package: too little, too late, and too timid. Like the first stimulus, the new bill relies heavily on tax cuts and subsidies, which have not shown to create many jobs. While it...

Many progressives and liberals have been coming to the same conclusion: someone has to challenge President Obama from the left. One of the main reasons for this move is that people are starting to realize that Obama has pushed through an agenda that only a conservative can love. While Republicans...

Last week, I wrote an article arguing that Governor Jerry Brown should push for a progressive tax that would raise enough revenue to prevent any cuts to needed social programs. I stressed that California has a $1.9 trillion economy, but its current state budget is less than $86...

California has the largest economy of any state in America with a gross domestic product of just over 1.9 trillion dollars. However, next year, Californians are going to spend less than $85 billion on the state budget, and there is still a $12 billion deficit. These statistics mean...

Matt Bai's recent New York Times Magazine piece on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is just one in a series of articles showing how the supposedly "liberal" press has a consistent bias against unions, pensions, and teachers. This bias is in part revealed in the now common idea...

The current political system is broken, and every year intelligent people are asked to choose between the lesser of two evils. Due to the way we finance campaigns and how the media covers politics, there is no hope that the Democrats or the Republicans can escape from the control of...

The Republicans of the 112th Congress have appointed Rep. Virginia Foxx to chair the higher-education subcommittee. The conservative Foxx was the only committee member to vote against the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, and she has been a big supporter of for-profit colleges. In fact, she plans to oppose the current...

Next week, the new governor of California will present a budget that only a Right-Wing Republican would love. In order to push for an eventual tax increase, he will spread the pain to all of his major constituent groups. The hardest hit will be the poor and the disabled, but...

The Education Trust's recent report "Subprime Opportunity: The Unfulfilled Promise of For-Profit Colleges and Universities" documents the way that private for-profit colleges are cashing in on the current financial crisis by offering disadvantaged students an opportunity to earn degrees during a time when public universities and colleges are...

The recent controversy over voting in Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) sheds light on a fundamental conflict facing contemporary culture. As the power of science increases, certain segments of the population cling to religion and popular myths in order to defend against reason and expertise. Not only are...

In an effort to jumpstart the economy, the U.S. Federal Reserve has decided to buy at least $600 billion of U.S. treasuries. The idea is that this monetary program will devalue the dollar and make U.S. exports cheaper and foreign imports more expensive. Of course, the real target of this...

With a hostile House of Representatives and a divided Senate, President Obama will have to decide whether he wants to move to the Right or the Left. While it looks like his tendency is to search for consensus and hold out an olive branch to those who attack him, the...

For the last few years, I have had a running argument with some of my progressive friends. While they all think that Jon Stewart's The Daily Show offers a great critical analysis of contemporary politics, I have argued that his type of humor undermines American politics by turning everything into...

In his New York Times article, "The Crisis of the Humanities Officially Arrives," Stanley Fish makes the following statement, "if your criteria are productivity, efficiency and consumer satisfaction, it makes perfect sense to withdraw funds and material support from the humanities -- which do not earn their keep...