Action In Action

Anxiety Creates Extra Tasks - And Problems Have you ever had one of those ‘super-productive’ days where you burn through all of your tasks and then feel... strangely hollow? This feeling arises because, as much as we hate to admit it, many of us define ourselves by our task list. When we don ... Read More

by Clay Shentrup The Problem My fellow voter: have you ever been afraid to vote for your favorite candidate? If so, you’re not alone. It happens to the best of us. Take my friend Bob. Back in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, he favored Bill Richardson, followed by Barack Obama. By ... Read More

Today is a nationwide General Strike. Take a day off from your normal life and find an event in your city. See you in the streets and have a great day! Read More

Last week I asked readers to answer this single question: “What is democracy?” I asked this question -- without consulting a dictionary or political science textbook -- because I am not sure of the answer myself, even though I have heard the word uttered thousands of times in my life. Has the ... Read More

For this week’s post I would like to ask a single question: What is democracy? Please share your answers in the comments. I will feature what I think are the most interesting responses in next week’s post. I look forward to your thoughts! -- Image of The Parthenon courtesy of ... Read More

I have spiritual goals and I have socio-political goals. My spiritual goals, which I won’t go into too much detail about, are probably similar to many other people's: increase my compassion, love, and wisdom so that I can decrease my own suffering and better help others. My socio-political ... Read More

by Daphne Muller At the center of the debate surrounding the legality of George Zimmerman’s shooting of Trayvon Martin is the question of whether or not Zimmerman uttered a racial slur as he pursued the 17-year old boy on foot. According to ABC News, it “sounds like [Zimmerman said] ‘fucking ... Read More

As spring arrives and the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City returns to public visibility many people will be asking the self-proclaimed ‘occupiers’ what their point is. U.S. media reports suggest that America’s economic situation is turning around. Mitt Romney recently said in a speech ... Read More

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11, U.S. Constitution: "The Congress shall have Power To declare War” Rep. Ron Paul in the U.S. House of Representatives, October 3, 2002: “The process by which we've entered wars over the past 57 years, and the inconclusive results of each war since ... Read More

There’s this weird kid called Ali on the playground. I’ve never liked the looks of him, and Benji told me this kid doesn’t have any friends. I think he has a different religion from the other weird kids, who sometimes cluster around him on the playground and call him names and don’t seem to like ... Read More

Have you ever attended a public talk where the moderator or speaker invited audience members to ask questions afterwards? If you have, I bet you heard someone ask a question like this: “Mr. Senator, I am a longstanding member of the National Association of People Who Advocate For or Against a ... Read More

‘Headline thinking’ -- which last week I defined as the natural human tendency to "equate the actions of a certain person (or certain specific people) with the actions of a generic ‘label,’ such as the name of a country” -- underlies the language of war. This is a timely matter to address ... Read More

Thanks to everyone who read, commented on, and shared my first column, "The Beautiful Optimism of Libertarianism," last week. The responses were thoughtful and varied significantly; I hope to address the 'libertarian' mindset further in future columns.  This week's column will focus on something ... Read More

Welcome to Action In Action, a new column on Big Think that seeks to investigate and clarify the underlying structural causes of America’s economic, political, and social problems.  Some background on me: I am a playwright and theatre producer in New York City who has been politically active for ... Read More