Amid the blitz of campaign commercials, presidential debates, and political punditry, it can be hard to imagine life beyond the upcoming election. But a narrow focus on electoral politics can distract us from impending global crises that transcend national politics—crises such as climate change, economic collapse, the ever-growing power of transnational corporations, and the escalation of attacks on social welfare in the name of “austerity.” In this special section we present a lively debate on how much energy to invest in electoral politics, how to make sense of Obama’s first term, and why America desperately needs a Left, no matter who wins in November. The positions articulated in this section are not meant to represent Tikkun’s position; indeed, as a 501c3 nonprofit, we are prohibited from endorsing political parties or candidates, so we never engage in partisan campaigning. Instead we offer wide-ranging analyses of contemporary politics from a spiritual and progressive perspective. As always, we have put some of our best pieces in the print magazine and some on our web magazine site. Don’t miss lively contributions from Sheila Davaney, Charles Derber, Richard Healey, Frank Kirkpatrick, Greg Palast, Peter Paris, Don Shriver, Anthony Pinn, E. Marshall Turman, and Sharon Welch. To read those online-only pieces, visit tikkun.org/beyond2012.
(To return to the Fall 2012 Table of Contents, click here.)