Stories by Sara Robinson

Sara Robinson, MS, APF is a social futurist and the editor of AlterNet's Vision page. Follow her on Twitter, or subscribe to AlterNet's Vision newsletter for weekly updates. subscribe to Sara Robinson's feed

What Some of the Greatest Science Fiction Writers Thought 2012 Would Be Like

Posted on: Aug 1, 2012, Source: AlterNet

25 years ago, a group of writers and scientists offered their visions of today's world. What did they get right? And what did they miss?

The New Totalitarianism: How American Corporations Have Made America Like the Soviet Union

Posted on: Jul 15, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Free-market capitalism was supposed to save us from the tyranny of faceless apparatchiks. But that's not what happened.

Six Reasons We Can't Change The Future Without Progressive Religion

Posted on: Jul 8, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Often, religion offers much that progressives need to build movements for change.

Conservative Southern Values Revived: How a Brutal Strain of American Aristocrats Have Come to Rule America

Posted on: Jun 28, 2012, Source: AlterNet

America didn't used to be run like an old Southern slave plantation, but we're headed that way now. How did that happen?

Abortions Have Made Life Better for Millions Of Men: It's About Time to Speak Up in Support

Posted on: Jun 19, 2012, Source: AlterNet

It's time for pro-choice men to step up -- because our choices change their lives, too.

How Homeownership Has Changed in America And Why You Shouldn't Give Up on Buying

Posted on: May 21, 2012, Source: AlterNet

In one short decade, home ownership has gone from being the Holy Grail of middle-class financial achievement to a very risky financial ball-and-chain.

How the Conservative Worldview Quashes Critical Thinking -- and What That Means For Our Kids' Future

Posted on: May 18, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The education of our children is a core cultural and political choice that reflects the deepest differences between liberals and conservatives.

Capitalism Has Failed: 5 Bold Ways to Build a New World

Posted on: May 16, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Some new ideas and big questions are defining our economic future.

How the Ayn Rand-Loving Right Is Like a Bunch of Teen Boys Gone Crazy

Posted on: May 11, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Flowers are nice, but this Mother's Day, what I really want is for these immature boys to grow up already.

How Conservative Religion Makes the Right Politically Stronger

Posted on: May 8, 2012, Source: AlterNet

We may not share their theology, but right-wing religion teaches powerful lessons on courage, confidence and foresight that we could stand to learn.

Fascist America: Have We Finally Turned The Corner?

Posted on: Apr 30, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The author offers one of her periodic assessments of America's potential to go fascist. And the news is better than it's been in years.

The Self-Made Myth: Debunking Conservatives' Favorite -- And Most Dangerous -- Fiction

Posted on: Apr 25, 2012, Source: AlterNet

A new book makes a strong case that nobody ever makes it on their own in America.

$5,000 For a Pair of Sandals: The Rich Are Different, Right Down to Their Shoes

Posted on: Apr 24, 2012, Source: AlterNet

In a world where kids are starving and ice caps are melting, how can people spend $5K on shoes?

6 People You Need to Start a Revolution

Posted on: Apr 12, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Successful change movements run on diversity. Here are the essential skill sets no revolution can win without.

Deciphering Right-Wing Code: What Conservatives Are Really Saying When They Seem to Spew Nonsense

Posted on: Apr 4, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Did Rick Santorum just declare the next right-wing crusade?

10 Big Mistakes People Make in Thinking About the Future

Posted on: Apr 3, 2012, Source: AlterNet

In a time of huge change and uncertainty, we need to think about the future as clearly as possible. Here's where we most often get it wrong.

Atheism Rising, But God Is Not Dead Yet: 10 Ways Religion Is Changing Around the World

Posted on: Mar 29, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Religion is alive and well in the 21st century -- but it also looks very different now.

The Right-Wing Plot to Control Your Health Care

Posted on: Mar 21, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The war on women is also an effort to permanently give politicians, religious authorities, accountants, and your boss a seat in your doctor's exam room.

Conservative Bullying Has Made America Into a Broken, Dysfunctional Family: But There Are Ways to Regain Our Well-Being

Posted on: Mar 20, 2012, Source: AlterNet

An abusive, out-of-control, rageaholic GOP broke our country by shattering our trust in democracy and in ourselves.

Kiss the McMansion Goodbye: Is the American Home Shrinking?

Posted on: Mar 16, 2012, Source: AlterNet

A long-term trend toward smaller houses is well underway -- with huge implications for the future of our cities.

Why We Have to Go Back to a 40-Hour Work Week to Keep Our Sanity

Posted on: Mar 13, 2012, Source: AlterNet

One hundred fifty years of research proves that shorter work hours actually raise productivity and profits -- and overtime destroys them. So why do we still do this?

Can We Build a Sustainable Society Ourselves?

Posted on: Mar 7, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Sightline Institute’s Alan Durning discusses hope, fear and how we can keep making progress when change seems impossible.

Ayn Rand Worshippers Should Face Facts: Blue States Are the Providers, Red States Are the Parasites

Posted on: Feb 28, 2012, Source: AlterNet

There's only one way to demonstrate who America's producers and parasites really are. It's time to go Galt.

Making Sustainability Legal: 9 Zombie Laws That Keep Cities From Going Green

Posted on: Feb 23, 2012, Source: AlterNet

These outdated laws forbid sustainable choices -- and here's what you can do to change them.

Listen Up, Guys: If The Catholic Bishops Win, It's The End of Sex As You Know It

Posted on: Feb 16, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Why Patriarchal Men Are Utterly Petrified of Birth Control -- And Why We'll Still Be Fighting About it 100 Years From Now

Posted on: Feb 15, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Conservative bishops and Congressmen are fighting a rear-guard action against one of the most revolutionary changes in human history.

Does College Make Us Less Equipped to Change the World?

Posted on: Feb 13, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Some of the things we learned back at the Big U don't work at all on the political street.

Who Cares What The Bishops Think? Old Catholic Guys Do.

Posted on: Feb 9, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Why Going 'Back To Normal' Is No Longer An Option for the American Economy -- And Where We're Headed Now

Posted on: Feb 7, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Stop waiting around, because "normal" as we know it isn't coming back.

Corporate Lessons From the Komen Affair: Hiring Right-Wing Ideologues Will Wreck Your Firm

Posted on: Feb 7, 2012, Source: AlterNet

New Rules for Radicals: 10 Ways To Spark Change in a Post-Occupy World

Posted on: Feb 1, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The world is changing quickly, and we need to help steer it according to our shared values -- our vision of what might be.

Fascist America: Is This Election the Next Turn?

Posted on: Oct 22, 2010, Source: Blog for Our Future

It's not fascism yet; but if the Tea Party manages to get its hands on the levers of power, it will be.

What the Hell Was That Ground Zero 'Mosque' Uproar Really About, Anyway? The Future of the Conservative Movement

Posted on: Sep 24, 2010, Source: Blog for Our Future

Getting to the bottom of why the conservatives are taking out after the Muslim community now -- nine full years after 9/11.

Exploring the Crazy Conspiracy Theories Bubbling Up Around the BP Disaster

Posted on: Jul 16, 2010, Source: Blog for Our Future

You've heard the latest one, right? The one about how President Obama deliberately blew up the Deepwater Horizon to pass an energy bill?

Is Mean-Spirited, Ignorant, Tearful Glenn Beck Going to Have an Impact on America?

Posted on: May 24, 2010, Source: AlterNet

In his new book, journalist Alexander Zaitchik examines the character and career of the shock jock at the center of the far-right's churning cultural storm.

Guilty of Sedition? How the Right Is Undermining Our Government's Authority and Capability to Run the Country

Posted on: Apr 5, 2010, Source: Campaign for America's Future

It's time to openly confront the fact that conservatives have spent the past 40 years systematically delegitimizing the very idea of US government.

An Expat's Guide to the Vancouver Olympics

Posted on: Feb 10, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Vancouver does things its own strange and subtle ways that the media hordes will only begin to be noticing by the time these Games are over.

New Poll Results Are Proof That Republicans Don't Think

Posted on: Feb 5, 2010, Source: Blog for Our Future

A poll commissioned by DailyKos shows just how far to the right the GOP has been dragged by its right wing...and how far out of step they are with the rest of America.

Copenhagen: Getting Past the Urgency Trap

Posted on: Nov 28, 2009, Source: Orcinus

Copenhagen is the next step forward, and we’ll accept it with greater equanimity if we understand that conventional thinkers have to work their toward deeper transformation

5 Ways to Build a Fascist-Proof America

Posted on: Aug 26, 2009, Source: Campaign for America's Future

If we want to build a fascist-proof America for the long haul, we must stand up now for everything we believe and everything we are.

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