• In Western Europe, Social Democratic parties are in decline and losing popularity. As the American Prospect observes, as recently as the late 1990s center-left parties dominated governments across the European Union. But after British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German leader Gerhard Schroeder outdid conservatives in embracing neoliberal austerity policies their popularity began to erode.
(“The Agony of Social Democratic Europe,” American Prospect, Aug. 4, 2021 )
• After decades of smugglers bringing Mexican marijuana into the United States, the tables have turned. Cannabis legally grown in the US is now being smuggled over the southern border and sold in Mexico’s lucrative black market. The Washington Post reports that pot imported from California into Mexico is viewed by many customers as the best quality — and is sold for up to 300 times the US legal retail price.
(Legal U.S. Marijuana Is Pouring Into Mexico. It’s Pricey, Popular and Has Names Such As ‘Bubba Kush.’ Washington Post, Aug. 8, 2021)
• In April 2020, the Republican-run Wisconsin state legislature rejected a constitutional amendment that would have created a non-partisan commission to redraw electoral district maps, a reform embraced by states across the US. A decade earlier, the Wisconsin GOP had manipulated district lines, that cemented the Republican majority in the state. Although the GOP received less than half of the total votes statewide, the party won around two-thirds of the districts thanks to the maps they drew after the last census.
(“Slaying the Gerrymander,” In These Times, July 21, 2021)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
