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Anne-Marie Slaughter and Heather Hurlburt

We can’t fix the world’s problems if we don’t fix our own

Americans need to recognize that the erosion of their democracy is as much a foreign policy matter as it is a domestic one.
MARCELA GARCÍA

A simple card that drives conservatives crazy

Law enforcement leaders agree: To boost road safety, allow undocumented immigrants to get a license to drive.
EDITORIAL

The Boston Police gang database gets overdue attention

Joan Vennochi
Unions run Boston — and they want the new mayor to know it
Her COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city workers is worth the fight, even as it shows how hard it is to shake the power of unions.

Gordon Schnell and Elizabeth Soltan
A tool to help level the playing field for low-income tenants
The False Claims Act, DOJ’s principal fraud-fighting statute, can be used to back up aggrieved tenants with the strong arm of the federal government.

Howard Husock
The West End’s lesson for Mayor Wu
In assessing the damage of the West End, it’s important not to view it either as an isolated example or in merely historic terms, confident that we would not make similar mistakes again.

JEFF JACOBY
‘Unsilenced’ tells a tale of Chinese repression
A few brave students tried to counter Beijing’s lies. A new movie recounts their story.

letters

City Hall Plaza flag sets off quite a flap over free speech

In Harmony Montgomery case, seek answers but avoid a rush to judgment

Into the Red and on to something vital: the climate cause

Too much focus on Manchin, Sinema

Meet Globe OpinionSubmit a letter to the EditorSubmit an Op-Ed
Finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing

A battle for affordable housing in Massachusetts

The Globe editorial board's 2020 series on the need for inclusive housing reform in Newton and across the Commonwealth.

Editor's picks

EDITORIAL
The vaccine could save us, if we let it
Death from COVID-19 is now largely preventable. Everyone must do their part to get more people vaccinated.

News organizations across the country join the call to get more people vaccinated

SCOT LEHIGH
Would you fall prey to authoritarianism? Take the test.
Your results could be edifying — and perhaps even personally helpful.

IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG
A cure for violence
An audacious psychological experiment takes root in some of Massachusetts’ toughest neighborhoods.

EDITORIAL
Future-proofing the presidency
Donald Trump brought our democracy to the brink and exposed its weak spots. Here’s how to thwart the next American tyrant.

Cartoons

public health
Joan Vennochi

Unions run Boston — and they want the new mayor to know it

Westyn Branch-Elliman, Elissa Perkins, and Shira Doron

It’s time to revamp testing and quarantine policy for asymptomatic students

EDITORIAL

Biden shouldn’t give up on vaccine mandates

climate crisis
LETTERS

Into the Red and on to something vital: the climate cause

LETTERS

Nothing exceeds the climate change emergency

IDEAS | MILES HOWARD

Set the underground rivers free

education
LETTERS

Done right, online learning could be answer to our education needs

LETTERS

Charlestown High has set a pathway to college

LETTERS

Yet another hard look taken, again, at Boston Public Schools

securing democracy
Anne-Marie Slaughter and Heather Hurlburt

We can’t fix the world’s problems if we don’t fix our own

LETTERS

Without subpoena push, Jan. 6 investigation is going nowhere fast

RENÉE GRAHAM

Democracy’s other threat: Book bans and purges

technology
LETTERS

Done right, online learning could be answer to our education needs

IDEAS | EVAN SELINGER

How real could virtual reality become?

IDEAS | JOHN M. JORDAN

Metaverses for good

civil rights
EDITORIAL

Wave the white flag in City Hall Plaza free speech case, Mayor Wu

EDITORIAL

Body cameras not just for cops any more

Amanda Nguyen

Legislature must fully protect survivors of sexual assault

Community Voices
LETTERS

2021, in Globe readers’ own words

LETTERS

‘I came as close as one can to dying in childbirth’

LETTERS

Don’t tread on my treads! — an antivax allegory

Globe Opinion Columnists & Contributors

Newlsetters

Editorials

The Boston Police gang database gets overdue attention
A program plagued by a lack of transparency and accountability demands reform.

Ending welfare as we know it — again

Except this time, let’s expand the program’s reach.

Wave the white flag in City Hall Plaza free speech case, Mayor Wu

Given the legal tangle over free speech issues the flagpole has created for Boston, it may be wise for Mayor Michelle Wu to end the policy now and negotiate a settlement with the plaintiff.

Body cameras not just for cops any more

Extending their use to prison guards can save lives, lawsuits, and costly settlements.

Members of Congress shouldn’t be trading stocks

New legislation would require lawmakers to put their investments in blind trusts.

Letters

City Hall Plaza flag sets off quite a flap over free speech
The obvious solution is to remove the flagpole altogether. Perhaps, to fill the void, it would be more fitting to place a bust of Shakespeare to memorialize the saga.

In Harmony Montgomery case, seek answers but avoid a rush to judgment

There is always Monday morning quarterbacking in the aftermath of tragedy, but blaming and jumping to conclusions in the name of accountability is dangerous and does a disservice to how seriously these issues are addressed in juvenile courts.

Into the Red and on to something vital: the climate cause

We are at a juncture when the energy systems that undergird the global economy are being remade to meet the aspirations of a post-fossil-fuel era.

Too much focus on Manchin, Sinema

Think about this: There are 50 GOP senators, whose most important objective seems to be obstruction. I want to see more mention that those 50 come down against improvement in access to the ballot box.

Done right, online learning could be answer to our education needs

Education has been slow to adopt technology that can dramatically improve instruction and allow students to learn any time, anywhere, at their own pace. That must change.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

EDITORIAL

Future-proofing the presidency

Donald Trump brought our democracy to the brink and exposed its weak spots. Here’s how to thwart the next American tyrant.
Read more
Brave New Planet is a podcast that delves deep into the most exciting and challenging scientific frontiers, helping us understand them and grapple with their implications. Dr. Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is host.
Political coverage often focuses on voters who oscillate between political parties in a few key swing states. Here we feature perspectives and opinions from and about demographics of Americans — young voters and Black and brown voters —who swing between voting and not voting.
From voter suppression to gerrymandering to foreign interference, the integrity of US elections is under attack. In a three-part weekly series, Globe Opinion examines how the nation arrived at this moment and what needs to be done to protect voting rights.

Trapped: Why the GOP's death is imminent

The Republican Party is destroying itself. Thomas Patterson of the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center explains the five traps the party has set for itself and warns that the party's future is in peril without reform.

Black voices now

Globe Opinion seeks to amplify the perspectives and the voices of Black community members, scholars, activists, doctors, teachers, business leaders, students, and parents as op-ed and letter writers, and as innovators and provocateurs featured in Globe Ideas. Here we feature Black voices from the community amid the historic protests following the killing of George Floyd. We aim to amplify yet more Black voices going forward.

Legal Lens documentaries

Law and documentary film may seem far apart, but they actually share many connections. With the guidance of filmmaker and producer Joseph Tovares and support from the Hewlett Foundation, 12 Harvard Law School students from eight countries have worked since January on the Legal Lens project. You can view the films here on BostonGlobe.com.

Choosing, using, and losing your health care: A policy first-aid kit

In a four-part weekly series, Globe Opinion offers a baseline assessment of health care as well as prescriptions for fixing the industry.

Journalists are not the enemy

A central pillar of President Trump’s politics is a sustained assault on the free press. Journalists are not classified as fellow Americans, but rather “the enemy of the people.”
National Student Essay Competition winners announced