FINDING A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS.

• Author: Boddiger, David
• Position: EDITOR'S NOTE

Since the last issue of this magazine went to press two months ago, the country has descended even further into the abyss of authoritarianism, violence, discrimination, hate, and intolerance. It can be hard to maintain a sense of hope that things will get better.

In that short span of time, more mass shootings have taken place--at a supermarket, an elementary school, a holiday parade, and elsewhere--bringing the total number of mass shootings this year, as of this writing, to 352 (see p. 31). It is shamefully symbolic that the only developed country in the world with this much gun violence can't protect its own people during a parade meant to celebrate the country's independence from tyranny. Apparently, for those on the right, having unfettered access to guns is more important than life itself.

But it's not just those armed with weapons of war that are denying us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The tyrants of today also wear black robes and sit on the nation's highest court, where they dredge up arcane rulings from English common law--by jurists who sentenced people to death for practicing witchcraft--in order to justify denying half of this country's citizens the right to make health care decisions about their own bodies. The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade will inevitably lead to more unnecessary deaths.

Not that the rightwing majority on the court cares about that--another of its decisions will put more guns on the street and lead to more death as well. It is undeniable that the culture wars we are facing today in the United States have a body count.

In this issue of The Progressive, Bill Blum surveys the damage done by the Supreme Court during its most recent term, describing it as a "new era of rightwing judicial supremacy." We knew the individual rulings were horrendous, but seeing them side-by-side, as Blum has done, is staggering.

Ruth Conniff describes the "powerful feeling of alienation" that the courts decision to overturn Roe has caused, as democracy slips through our fingers. Steph Black shares the work that practical support organizations are doing to provide resources to those seeking abortions, in response to the fact that an anticipated 300,000 people per year will now be forced to travel out of state to find an abortion clinic.

Mike Kuhlenbeck sifts through the campaign rhetoric to show that despite the promises, the Biden Administration is providing more money...