Barbbtx
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2010
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Seems the sweet little old lady Piven is pleased that Beck drew attention to her.
Frances Fox Piven Defies Death Threats After Taunts by Anchorman Glenn Beck | CommonDreams.org
Called The Weight of the Poor, it advocated signing up so many poor people for welfare payments that the cost would force the government to bring in a policy of a guaranteed income. For Piven, a committed voice of the left, known in academic circles but little recognized outside them, it was just one publication in a lifetime dedicated to political activism and theorizing.
However, at the same time she is excited. Beck's attention has given her a sudden opportunity to air her political views. She has been interviewed by the New York Times, among other major news outlets, and last week she appeared on several television talk shows, including one aired on Fox's rival, cable news channel MSNBC.
Beck has, in a way, achieved what a lifetime of radical activism struggled to do: create a national platform for Piven, who is honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. She wants to put forward leftwing ideas at a time of economic and social crisis in a media landscape that usually ignores them and sees "socialism" as a dirty word.
"This is really an opportunity to rein in Fox News and Glenn Beck. I don't know if it's possible, but I am going to try. It also allows us to assert the value of the politics that we stand for," she said.
It will not be an easy task. Beck has an entire TV network and a global media giant behind him; Piven is an elderly professor. But, for the first time in a long while, she is in demand. "At last now we have a megaphone," she said.
Frances Fox Piven Defies Death Threats After Taunts by Anchorman Glenn Beck | CommonDreams.org
Called The Weight of the Poor, it advocated signing up so many poor people for welfare payments that the cost would force the government to bring in a policy of a guaranteed income. For Piven, a committed voice of the left, known in academic circles but little recognized outside them, it was just one publication in a lifetime dedicated to political activism and theorizing.
However, at the same time she is excited. Beck's attention has given her a sudden opportunity to air her political views. She has been interviewed by the New York Times, among other major news outlets, and last week she appeared on several television talk shows, including one aired on Fox's rival, cable news channel MSNBC.
Beck has, in a way, achieved what a lifetime of radical activism struggled to do: create a national platform for Piven, who is honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. She wants to put forward leftwing ideas at a time of economic and social crisis in a media landscape that usually ignores them and sees "socialism" as a dirty word.
"This is really an opportunity to rein in Fox News and Glenn Beck. I don't know if it's possible, but I am going to try. It also allows us to assert the value of the politics that we stand for," she said.
It will not be an easy task. Beck has an entire TV network and a global media giant behind him; Piven is an elderly professor. But, for the first time in a long while, she is in demand. "At last now we have a megaphone," she said.