Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
Book Review: 'The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class' by David Roediger
In the year 2019, race remains an enigma often explored, but never resolved; its concept so intricate, that to thoroughly unpack almost seems outside the realms of realism. Race and racism are often limited to a perspective which analyzes their effects on their victims while ignoring their impact on their perpetrators. David Roediger’s 1991 The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class inspects the effects of racism on those who executed its ideals during the industrial age in America. Roediger offers a heavily dense, and informative synthesis of the cultural, linguistic and psychological ramifications of 19th century American labor. The Wages of Whiteness brims with various multi-layered arguments-- perhaps, the most distinct asserts that whiteness is a forged identity. White Americans living in the “free North,” Roediger implies, used whiteness as a form of agency. The prevailing motif argues that rather than an innate, default form of being, whiteness was intentionally constructed and purposely employed. The instrumentality and evolution of whiteness depicted through the lens of the industrial North reveals the perplexing nature of race, and racism in antebellum America.
By Ivorine Fung6 years ago in The Swamp
The Real Beneficiaries of Student Loan Forgiveness
The enormous student-loan debt in the United States is old news, but it has returned to the consciousness of the American public as a campaign promise. Democratic candidates, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have laid out their plans to save the country’s heavily indebted graduates -- and dropouts.
By Milica Kostic6 years ago in The Swamp
We Are the People Behind the Statistics
We've all seen this iconic moment. The moment Jeremy Corbyn sparked a fire inside the crowds of Wirral Live. But why are the younger generations so passionate about politics anyway? The statistics on the effects of cuts over the past nine years have been shared, and shared and then shared again. But what was it really like growing up in a decade of austerity? With just a day to go until the next general election, I'd like to share my experience.
By Rebekah Crawley6 years ago in The Swamp
iSpeak Polling Finds Polls Wrong
iSpeak Polling Finds Polls Inaccurate Quite a Lot iSpeak Polling (formerly We Listen Polling) has released a report over 50 or so years in the making. The report tracked pollster’s predictions from 1962, when polling probably began, and found they are ‘inaacurate’ 10 or 11 times out of 10 with a margin of error of 9.767 or 20 some points or percents.
By Diane Randle6 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Dec Week 1
Other than the Judiciary Committee starting hearings that are almost certain to end with articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, it was a relatively slow week in Congress. There were only 12 votes this week, but eight of them were party line.
By John Heckenlively6 years ago in The Swamp
The Media, Money and The First Amendment
One of the greatest aspects of democracy is the freedom of diverse thought and speech (intellectual Property). The Media is the best way of ensuring that and these aspects of democracy survive. The media is everywhere nowadays, on our phones, our TVs and every-time we go out of the house we are confronted by the message of media. It's no wonder then that media is the largest industry in the world, and only growing bigger.
By C.R. Pattison6 years ago in The Swamp
A Filmmaker's Review: 'J. Edgar' (2011)
I totally missed this movie when it first came out. Why? Well, there were other films that were out roughly the same time that, even though they didn't star Leonardo DiCaprio, looked far more interesting than a crime drama about one of the world's most problematic FBI Agents. It was subsequently released without much press at the AFI Film Festival in the November of that year and I'm not gonna lie - it was like crickets for some reason. The best I could hope for was the movie poster on the back of an Empire Magazine issue from round about that time. It was then released six days later in the cinemas and even though we had a little bit more of a marketing campaign, I think with the grittiness of the trailer juxtaposed with the lightness of Christmas, nobody really noticed it was on TV for thirty seconds or so. The movie itself should've been released in the summer so that it could've had a wider audience, but with a budget of $35M and a profit of $84.9M, I think the film did do pretty well on its own given the fact that it wasn't pushed so much. I think people were watching it because Leonardo DiCaprio was in it.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in The Swamp
