Katrina vanden Heuvel FDR’s four freedoms

Seventy-five years later, Roosevelt’s vision is being threatened by a retrograde politics that treats freedom as the punch line of a cruel joke against the American people. . . . In 1941, Roosevelt spoke with clarity about the serious threats to America “from without.’’ Today, we are facing a different kind of danger – but one that also demands our attention – from within. On the 75th anniversary of Roosevelt’s four freedoms speech, may people fight to defend the core freedoms that have animated our nation at its best. In 2016, we are not just choosing a president. We are choosing what kind of country we want to be.

The Washington Post, January 5, on the 2016 presidential election.

David Brooks terrorism

[T]here is something important about the accumulation of these random killing sprees — the way it affects the social psychology and the culture we all inhabit. We are living in the age of small terror. . . . It’s up to us who believe in open society to wage an intellectual counterattack. This can’t be done be repeating 1990s bromides about free choice and the natural harmony among peoples. You can’t beat moral fanaticism with weak tea moral relativism.

The New York Times, January 5, on pushing back the slow creep of terror and fanaticism.

Joseph E. Stiglitz overcoming economic malaise

Active government policies are needed. That means overcoming deficit fetishism. It makes sense for countries like the US and Germany that can borrow at negative real long-term interest rates to borrow to make the investments that are needed. Likewise, in most other countries, rates of return on public investment far exceed the cost of funds. For those countries whose borrowing is constrained, there is a way out, based on the long-established principle of the balanced-budget multiplier: An increase in government spending matched by increased taxes stimulates the economy.

The Huffington Post, January 4, on economic policies to stimulate and strengthen the world economy.

HARAS RAFIQ

islam

With no confidential, well-funded and well-staffed service which young Muslims can turn to, we often see them turning to social media and “Sheikh Google’’ as they try to come to grips with the views they encounter. Unfortunately, extremists dominate the online Muslim community. This virtual space must be contested.

The Wall Street Journal, January 5, on cultural change in Muslim communities.