Stanford Progressive

Letter From the Editor: Renewing America’s Promise of Justice and Liberty for All

by Shadi Bushra

Filed under Editorial, Extremism in America

Now, as always, the Stanford Progressive does its part to contribute to civil dialogue on the issues that plague our nation’s politics. Our last issue (“Illegal Until Proven Innocent,” June 2010) addressed the complications and constitutionality of the legislation and rhetoric used to discourage immigration. This issue takes a different perspective by focusing on the Islamophobia that is sweeping the nation. While the two are incredibly different topics, you will find a common theme in these pages: the United States of America is better than this.

Letter from the Editor

by Ross Raffin

Filed under Editorial, Progress We Can Believe In

The Supreme Court itself has claimed on multiple occasions that James Madison’s strict understanding of the necessary and proper clause has been subsumed by Chief Justice John Marshall’s more permissive views. The quasi-monarchist Alexander Hamilton, not Thomas Jefferson, pervades the modern constitutional system. In reality, healthcare does not expand federal powers past any previous precedent.

Letter from the Editor

by Ross Raffin

Filed under Editorial, The Economy: Turning the Page

Economics is a discipline of models. When many people hear economic theories, they ask questions like “but what about all of the other factors?” For instance, how can a “rational actor” model of the stock market, where all investors are omniscient cost-benefit machines, predict the psychologically-driven and irrational choices of actual stock-holders?