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DISPATCHES FROM THE CULTURE WARS — DECEMBER 30, 2025  
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December 30, 2025
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_ “The day of peace is dawning” — Eugene V. Debs _

, Ruben Bolling

 

* The Social Costs of Declining Literacy
* A Year of Defending Our Immigrant Neighbors
* In Search of a Peace Movement
* The Creep of Cultural Fascism
* The Multi-Leveled Fight for Education
* Trump Cuts, Science Bleeds
* Aesthetics in the Era of AI Slop
* State Violence and the Lies We Tell Ourselves
* Texas Hotel Workers Shake It Up
* Anticommunist Monument Disgraces Itself

 

 

THE SOCIAL COSTS OF DECLINING LITERACY
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By Kate Perry, _The Observatory_

The United States is in the grip of a reading recession—nearly half
of Americans didn’t read a single book in 2023, and fewer than half
read even one, according to data from YouGov and the National
Endowment for the Arts. What is at stake is a deeper erosion of the
habits that sustain knowledge, empathy, and democratic life.

A YEAR OF DEFENDING OUR IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORS
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By Heather Digby Parton, _Salon_

Stephen Miller speaks for people who have decided that anyone who
doesn’t look like them or worship like them should be driven from
the country and no more of them should be allowed to come in. But a
funny thing happened: many U.S. citizens decided to fight back on
behalf of their immigrant friends, neighbors and co-workers. 

IN SEARCH OF A PEACE MOVEMENT
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By David Cortright and Peter J. Quaranto, _Waging Nonviolence_

2025 has been a historically bad year for the peace community in the
United States and beyond. We surely need a bigger, bolder American
peace movement today, with a broader agenda that includes support for
democracy and the redesign of our country’s peacebuilding and
development policy architecture.

THE CREEP OF CULTURAL FASCISM
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By Ashifa Kassam, _The Guardian_

Far-right groups have seized on cultural production – from clothing
brands to top 40 music – to normalise their ideas, in a process that
researchers say has hit new heights in the age of social media. A
six-country project is looking at how the extreme right uses
aesthetics, from fitness influencers to memes and stickers, to spread
their views across Europe.

THE MULTI-LEVELED FIGHT FOR EDUCATION

 • THE ASSAULT ON HIGHER ED
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  By Maximillian Alvarez, _In These Times_

 • THE CHARTER SCHOOL INDUSTRY’S NEWEST SCHEME
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  By Jeff Bryant, _Z_

 • HARVARD’S CREDIBILITY COLLAPSE
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  By Eric Reinhart, _The Guardian_ 

 • MAINE PARENTS VS THE HATERS
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  By Emily Duggan,_ centralmaine.com_

TRUMP CUTS, SCIENCE BLEEDS
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By Carrie McDonough et al., _The Conversation_

_The Conversation_ asked researchers from a range of fields to share
how the Trump administration’s science funding cuts have affected
them. All describe the significant losses they and their communities
have experienced. But many also voice their determination to continue
doing work they believe is crucial to a healthier, safer and more fair
society.

AESTHETICS IN THE ERA OF AI SLOP
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By Nicholas Liu, _Jacobin_

Because capitalism orients people toward profit rather than allowing
us to pursue our interests freely, it inevitably separates humans from
the creative act. AI art is just the slop frothing up from that gap.

STATE VIOLENCE AND THE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES
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By Scott Hechinger, _Zeteo_

When the American public sees agents of the state assaulting a
civilian, we interpret the image through the dominant narratives about
public safety that have been pummelled into our psyche by the media
and politicians for decades. We imagine that the person being attacked
is somehow dangerous, when the reality of the image contradicts this
dominant narrative.

TEXAS HOTEL WORKERS SHAKE IT UP
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By Dayana Cruz Estudillo, _Ms._

Immigrant working women at a Central Texas hotel turn shared abuse and
silence into collective action—proving that worker-led solidarity
can confront intimidation and strengthen democracy from the ground up.

ANTICOMMUNIST MONUMENT DISGRACES ITSELF
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By Hadani Ditmars, _The Art Newspaper_

A year after the official opening of Canada’s monument to the
victims of communism in Ottawa, the Department of Canadian Heritage
has reversed its decision to inscribe individual names on it after a
federal government report linked many of the unvetted “victims” to
Nazis.

* literacy
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* immigrant rights
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* peace movement
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* cultural fascism
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* Education
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* higher education
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* Charter schools
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* Public Education
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* Harvard University
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* Mary T. Basset
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* Maine
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* school boards
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* Science
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* science funding
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* aesthetics
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* artificial intelligence
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* state violence
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* texas
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* Hotel workers
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* Ottawa
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* Department of Canadian Heritage
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* Anti-Communism
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