The Erickson Report, Page 3: We Are Not Alone

The Erickson Report, Page 3: We Are Not Alone

I'm going to go through a list of items very quickly. They are arranged in alphabetical order by location. At the end, I am going to ask you a question, so pay attention.

First: In Chile, a protest that began over a 3% hike in subway fares soon broadened to encompass the economic inequality in the country. After days of violent protests, tanks in the streets of Santiago, and a million people protesting in the capital, on October 27 President Sebastian Piñera announced a major reshuffle of his cabinet in an attempt to calm things down.

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Second: On October 3, protests by indigenous groups broke out in Ecuador over President Lenin Moreno's plan to impose IMF-pushed austerity measures, including a significant cut in fuel subsidies. After a week of protests which saw seven killed by security forces, hundreds injured, and over 1,000 arrested, Moreno withdrew the plan and opened talks with indigenous leaders - who have now suspended them, accusing Moreno of using the end of violent protests as an opening to go after the movement's leaders.

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Third: On October 9, a shooter in Halle, Germany, attempted to attack a synagogue with the idea of, quoting him, "Kill as many anti-Whites as possible, Jews preferred." He couldn't get into the synagogue, so he killed two bystanders instead. It was the second lethal far-right attack of the year.

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Fourth: Hong Kong has seen 21 weeks of protests as a struggle against a now-withdrawn bill to allow extradition to mainland China has expanded into a broader pro-democracy movement that is facing increasing and increasingly violent repression from authorities.

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Fifth: Since early October, Iraq has seen protests driven by economic desperation and the failure of the central government to act. Over 190 protesters have been killed by police and the military.

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Sixth: Israel, in a technical sense, is lacking a government. On October 21, Benjamin Netanyahu gave up trying to form a coalition big enough to make up a majority of the Iraeli parliament, the Knesset. The task now falls to his principal rival, Benny Gantz, but it remains to be seen if he'll have any better luck than Netanyoyo did.

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Seventh: In Lebanon, in what has been described a a joyous revolution, an anti-corruption movement has seen over a million people take to the streets in demonstrations against the government.

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Eighth: On October 25, legislation went into effect in Northern Ireland decriminalizing abortion and legalizing same-sex marriages. The government has until April to establish the same sort of abortion services available in the rest of the UK and same-sex marriages can begin in February. Activists are preparing for the next round, which is getting the new laws enforced.

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Okay, the question: How many of those things did you know about? I'm sure you heard of a couple, at least Hong Kong, But even of those, how much did you know?

Americans, even those of us on the left, tend to act as if we were alone in the world, as if nothing beyond our borders has any importance except - maybe - in how it affects us. We need to get over that sort of chauvinism.

So - unless some truly important domestic news breaks between now and then, the next show in two weeks is going to be all international news. We need to remember: We are not alone.