This article is read by Eunice Wong, a Juilliard-trained actor, featured on Audible's list of Best Women Narrators. Her work is on the annual Best Audiobooks lists of the New York Times, Audible, AudioFile, & Library Journal. www.eunicewong.actor

Text originally published July 9, 2025.

‘Making the Good Society’ is a video series from the Broadbent Institute and Perspectives Journal that asks progressive leaders and thinkers about their vision for a good society that is humane, just, and democratic.

Sharlene Henry is co-chair of the York South-Weston Tenant Union in Toronto and a longtime member of Unifor Local 1285. Speaking at the 2025 Progress Summit, she shares how her experiences as a union member and tenant organizer have gone hand-in-hand—and how the skills of the picket line carry over into the fight for housing justice. With half the tenants in her building belonging to unions, she shows that housing justice is a workers’ issue—and a winning one when movements come together.

Conservative politicians have complained so bitterly about a lack of viewpoint diversity in American universities that many have wondered whether they’re overreacting to a non-problem. They’re not. During a recent work trip to Dublin, I was reminded of what a homogeneous—and dangerous—progressive echo chamber the modern academy has become. At the tail end of a rather full day, I was taking in some traditional music at the Cobblestone Pub.

I grabbed the only free seat at the bar and was shocked to find that the woman sitting next to me was pursuing a Ph.D. in literature at the University of Texas at Austin, the very same program from which I graduated almost a decade ago.

What ensued was one of the most disturbing conversations I have ever had. I refuse to identify this woman, because the life of a graduate student is hard enough without having to deal with personal condemnation for what in truth is just one instance of a vast, systemic problem. Let’s just call her Jane.  

What City Observatory Did This Week

Repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.  The I-5 Rose Quarter project is over budget at $2.1 billion, just lost more than $400 million in federal funding, and failed to get any additional funding from the recently adjourned Oregon Legislature.  And the Governor says she’s only going to ask for money for basic maintenance functions at the state transportation department.  Nonetheless, the Oregon Transportation Commission voted to continue the project, even though, as the Commission Chair noted, “With that said, everyone in this room needs to understand that beyond that, there is no money… We are not saying that we are going to move forward with a complete Rose Quarter.”

As City Observatory’s Joe Cortright testified to the Commission prior to the vote, proceeding with the  project without funding in hand is a recipe for worsening the department’s already perilous financial state.

Today I testified at a hearing in Trenton, New Jersey to the State Assembly and local government committee to oppose the adoption of Bill A3558 in New Jersey. The bill would accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which conflates criticism of the state of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism. The IHRA definition has been recognized by 35 states in the U.S., and New Jersey may soon become the 36th.

Posted here is the video with slight audio touch-ups, video editing and captions.

The GST is failing. It was meant to give the states their own independent source of revenue and in the process make them less financially dependent on the federal government.

The problem is that GST revenue is growing slower than the economy and so it has not kept up with the growing costs of providing hospitals, schools, roads and all the other vital services that the states provide.

Australia Institute research has shown that if GST revenue had kept up with economic growth it would have collected an additional $231 billion since it was enacted and $22 billion in 2023-24 alone.

Having an income that grows slower than prices is something that many households have recently experienced. And just like households, the states have found their budgets under increasing pressure.

Early on, states were able to make cutbacks to make ends meet, but over the last 25 years we have seen their collective budgets move from surplus to deficit. At the same time all the cost-cutting has degraded the services they provide.

This has been a lose-lose for Australians.

Some have called for the GST to be increased or broadened to raise more revenue. But that will slug the poor more than the wealthy because the GST is what economists call a regressive tax. But there are other solutions. We could broaden the GST without disproportionately impacting the poor by being selective on what we broaden it to.

The decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) this week, confirming that states have binding legal obligations under international law to prevent climate harm and protect present and future generations, should be a wake-up call for the Australian government. No longer can it argue that Australia’s emissions exported to other nations can be ignored. But new analysis reveals that the extraction of fossil fuels for exports is also making up a growing share of Australia’s domestic emissions.

As the Australian Government prepares to announce a new 2035 climate target under the Paris Agreement, pressure is mounting to show increased ambition. An easy, and often overlooked, place to find real emissions reductions is the domestic footprint of our fossil fuel exports.

Analysis of Australia’s emissions inventory combined with data from the ABS suggests that the process of extracting and shipping all the coal and gas Australia exports is responsible for close to 18% of Australia’s total emissions. That means that if Australia did not export such huge quantities of coal and gas then total emissions in Australia in 2023 could have been 18% lower.

Emissions in Australia from exporting coal and gas have grown rapidly since 2010, doubling its estimated share of total emissions from 7% in 2010. The strong growth was mainly caused by the rapid expansion in LNG exports over the same period, particularly since 2015.

Projections released by the Albanese Government show Australia’s gas consumption is in long-term decline — undermining claims by the Prime Minister that more gas is needed to support the renewable energy transition.

Analysis by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) confirms that Australia’s gas use peaked years ago and will continue falling as electrification and renewables rise.

“Gas consumption is projected to decline to 2040 as electrification increases across the economy and renewables and storage take an increasing share of electricity generation,” the report said.

Modelling from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) backs this up.

In its 2024 Integrated System Plan, AEMO shows that gas will never again reach past generation peaks and will play only a minor, occasional role in electricity generation in the decades ahead.

Despite this, more than 1,000 new petajoules of gas are scheduled to come online by 2027 — not to support domestic energy needs, but for export.

“Australia is projected to continue exporting significantly more gas than we consume,” said Ketan Joshi, Senior Research Associate at The Australia Institute.

“Gas use in Australia has peaked.

“It is pretty simple: Australia does not need to be expanding its fossil gas production, least of all to run fossil gas power stations.

July 30, 10:00 to 11:30 am EST Live Streamed through Zoom


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Book Talk: Online Discussion on Jamee Moudud’s Legal and Political Foundations of Capitalism”

The American Mind’s ‘Editorial Roundtable’ podcast is a weekly conversation with Ryan Williams, Spencer Klavan, and Mike Sabo devoted to uncovering the ideas and principles that drive American political life. Stream here or download from your favorite podcast host.

Too Little, Too Late Show | The Roundtable Ep. 277