“Question Austerity”
“Question Authority” is a popular bumper sticker saying that first appeared in the 1970s. “Question Austerity” is a slogan of those who disagree that a government must cut programs to balance its budget. “Question Austerity” was a March 2011 lecture topic of Mark Blyth a professor of International Political Economy at Brown University and faculty fellow at its Watson Institute for International Studies.
In June and July 2012, the Overpass Light Brigade spelled out “Question Authority” in lights at freeway overpasses.
FireDogLake
“Question Austerity”
By: Stellaaa Sunday March 20, 2011 12:41 pm
As our heads spin from the upside down economic actions of our governments, Mark Blyth a professor of International Political Economy at Brown University and faculty fellow at its Watson Institute for International Studies, explains in the video below the idiocy of the Global Austerity strategy. He is writing “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea,” forthcoming from Oxford University Press in 2011, I cannot wait.
Shakesville
Question Austerity
Posted by Melissa McEwan at Monday, March 21, 2011
Via Stellaa, this is a video of Mark Blyth, professor of International Political Economy at Brown University and faculty fellow at its Watson Institute for International Studies, explaining why austerity doesn’t work as an economic policy, why it is not common sense, but nonsense, and dangerous nonsense at that: “Austerity confuses virtue with vice.”
Wisconsin/World Protest Information Network
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2011
Question Austerity….Wisconsin Public Radio
AUDIO LINK To The Best of Our Knowledge/Wisconsin Public Radio
Question Austerity….
“Governors are slashing state spending, and the President has put some of his own party’s favorite programs on the chopping block. But how much of the new austerity is really necessary, and how much is politics? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, is austerity a dangerous idea? Join us as we question austerity and talk about other options. Also, the short, ugly history of how America became a debtor nation.”
The Greenville Guardian (NC)
Question Austerity
This entry was posted on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 7:15 am
Though some might hate to admit it, there are certain things government does best.
Daily Kos
WED JUN 20, 2012 AT 08:46 PM PDT
Nuns On The Overpass: Question Austerity
By noise of rain
When the Overpass Light Brigade contacted the D.C coordinators for Nuns on the Bus, we didn’t really expect to get the busy Sisters out to one of our bridge parties. We really just wanted to extend a warm Wisconsin welcome to their tour, where they are highlighting the human side of politics by reminding people that the poor are the most asymmetrically affected by the current systematic dismantling of public services. We were delighted with their response. “See you on the bridge Tuesday night!”
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We had worked to figure out a good message that would resonate with the nuns’ tour. They had spent the day in Janesville, bringing visibility to Paul Ryan’s ridiculous budget proposal that seems to have caught the limited imaginations of rank-and-file Republicans. Austerity. Question Austerity. That’s it: simple, to the point, and the beginning of a social media campaign.
Occupy Riverwest (WI)
Help Overpass Light Brigade “Question Austerity”
Posted on July 3, 2012 by joe
Milwaukee, WI - Tonight, the Overpass Light Brigade (OLB) will continue a campaign to spread their “Question Austerity” message. The “holders of the light brought this message out on a pedestrian overpass bridge a few weeks ago. The group’s aim with the message is to literally cast light upon the cutting of vital public services for the 99% around the globe to make up for the massive revenue shortfalls created when bailing out the ones responsible (1%).
Journal Sentinel Online (Milwaukee, WI)
From “Recall Walker” to “Question Austerity.” A movement continues.
By Barbara Miner
July 8, 2012
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Once or twice a week, the Overpass Light Brigade continues to gather above the freeway. Sometimes it’s on the South Side at Warnimont Avenue, sometimes on the North Side near Atkinson; sometimes in nearby suburbs such as West Allis; occasionally in other cities such as Madison or Fond du Lac.
The message changes, depending on the issue of the day. Recent favorites: “Question Austerity,” “Healthcare for All” and “Boycott Palermos,” in support of the strike at the pizza-maker.
What doesn’t change is the group’s fundamental mission: to bear witness using a unique blend of artistic creativity, old-fashioned activism and contemporary social media — fueled by human commitment and a hefty supply of LED lights and double-A batteries.