Opinion | Viewpoint

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Blood in, blood out: The bleeding Congo

By Alexander Degterev | April 8

For far too long, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been deprived of a large portion of the tremendous wealth beneath their land. This large-scale,multi-decade mineral theft has been carried out not only by their closest neighbors and regional rivals, but also by an interconnected network of international players who have actively worked to bolster the industry.

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Militant vegans are fighting a losing battle

By Olivia Zambrano | April 4

Typically, society associates vegans with the classic stereotype of preachy, accusatory environmentalists and animal rights defenders. Still, some sources estimate that the number of vegans in the United States has increased. While it’s difficult to determine the exact rise in veganism, a few factors can aid in illustrating the increase in veganism across the United States. Retail sales of plant-based foods are a primary indicator of the jump in veganism. In the past six years, plant-based food companies in the United States have experienced an approximately 5 billion dollar increase in retail sales. Further, from 2020–23, they’ve raised more money from investors than they did in the 14 years prior. Although veganism seems to be becoming more popular, the stigma associated with it has not dissipated.

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Democrats need to start controlling the narrative

By Dylan Tanouye | March 28

In the wake of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat in the 2024 presidential election, Democrats throughout the country have been playing the blame game. With the party unable to develop a coherent message to oppose President Donald Trump’s policies, many prominent Democrats have developed varying strategies to help their prospects in future elections. While some Democrats are using Trump’s policies as fuel to rally their base, others are attempting to moderate their image. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are holding joint rallies across the country to stand up against Elon Musk and the billionaire class. In contrast, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, has started his own podcast where he features many prominent right-wing figures such as Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk. While Newsom stated that he started this podcast to engage with more conservative voters, he has instead given the far right a free platform to speak with little pushback and even went so far as to agree with their attacks on transgender athletes. This podcast serves as a perfect metaphor for how Democrats are fumbling the hand they’ve been dealt, as Trump’s policies continue to increase prices and take away jobs. Instead of sitting back in the shadows and hoping voters will see them as more moderate than the Republicans currently in power, Democrats need to go on the offensive and prove that they do have a policy agenda that’s better than the status quo.

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Tragedy in the Congo

By Alexander Degterev | March 27

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is ablaze once again, and like many times prior, it is Rwanda and their network of Tutsi militants at the helm of this chaos. The history between the Congo and Rwanda has long been fraught with some of the most destructive violence since World War II, and the recent offensives spearheaded by the March 23 Movement militia and their sponsors, the Rwandan Defense Force, in the eastern reaches of the Congo are clear indicators that the region may be entering yet another horrific period of conflict.

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And we’re back to gray

By Sorsha Khitikian | March 14

There are some aspects of campus lore that are simply iconic, like Jumbo’s tail, Professor David Proctor and a capella riff-offs. The cannon, for one, is probably the most interactive piece of Jumbo life students have. The times I’ve painted the cannon have been some of the most fun I’ve ever had at Tufts. Listening to music with your club friends, looking up at the stars, trying to write neat letters in paint without getting any on your clothes — painting the cannon is a great bonding activity as well as a nice pastime. The messages on the cannon are constantly changing, with student organizations advertising their events or writing political calls to action. The cannon is a physical object that displays what students are engaging in on campus. So, when the cannon is reset to dull, basic gray over the summer, it’s a reminder of the painting that is yet to come. And the second students come back to campus, the color gray is nowhere to be found. Or so I thought.

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Painting out free speech

By Gretta Goorno | March 14

As a child, I was frequently labeled a “social justice warrior” and often told I would “make a good lawyer” by random adults. These designations stemmed from both my loudly vocalized views and my tendency to correct any comments that I deemed offensive or not politically correct. Evidently, I have retained my label of passionate verbalization, given that I am the executive opinion editor of the Daily. Yet, over the years, I have drifted away from my strong moral convictions. Nowadays, I often find myself torn between two extremes, taking a moderate stance on issues. I even justify reasoning that ridicules the very identity groups that I am a part of. I try to understand religious justifications against gay marriage. I take a step back, wondering why people believe in a Jewish conspiracy. My tolerance for other views often leads me to question my morals. Perhaps I am too flexible.

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Washington 2025 and Santiago 1973

By Aaron Bolonick | March 11

I, along with many other left-of-center individuals, am deeply worried about President Donald Trump’s administration’s recent actions which smack of anti-democratic inclinations. Today, however, I want to touch on a very disturbing aspect of authoritarian regimes that I don’t think people adequately address: the sheer feeling of alienation that comes from living in them. By alienation I do not mean physical isolation from others, but rather the feeling of loneliness that arises from the inability to trust anyone, including oneself.

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Pronunciation, not polarization

By Grant Moore | March 10

The last time I doomscrolled on TikTok was nearly two weeks ago, before telling myself that I needed to stop what my parents would call an “addiction.” I had responded to over 40 different comments and videos, a feat that consumed precious study time and kept me up far too late. The slew of responses to my comments contained words such as brainwashed, communist, sore loser, elitist, sheep, puppet, snowflake — the list goes on. I found it hard to believe how a “sheep” and an “elitist” could have anything in common. Consequently, I began to wonder what has become of political discourse amid the era of President Donald Trump’s two terms and a significant national political divide. 

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Europe, it's time to step your game up

By Alexander Degterev | March 10

These past few weeks have been quite exhausting, with the administration of President Donald Trump topping off thechaos by delivering a carnival of a congressional address. I worry about a lot these days when it comes to the future of our country, but now I, and really all of us who live in America, have yet another worry: the near-complete collapse of the post-World War II international order, underpinned by a possible splintering of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

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From Prime to predatory

By Ahmad Abdul-Basser | March 6

The American retail market can be described with three words: variety, variety and still more variety. Anything and everything one could need is available for purchase at the biggest retail providers. Just walk into the closest Target, Walmart or Aldi, peruse the meticulously organized aisles and walk past the food, makeup, hardware, clothes, toys and technology. Tell me you haven’t found exactly what you're looking for. Now, imagine you could indulge in that same sense of pure bliss, calm and convenience from the comfort of your home. Fortunately, you can with Amazon.

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The bare necessities: Centering Indigenous voices at COP30

By Kaashvi Ahuja | March 6

“We have so many dreams of being able to do so many different things — of not just fighting to exist,” Vanda Witoto, a nurse and Indigenous activist, said in an interview with the United Nations Foundation.

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A WWE executive’s dreams of killing public education

By Evan Wang | March 6

President Donald Trump recently proclaimed that U.S. schools are “last in education out of 40 [countries],” but “No. 1 in cost per pupil.” Despite both of these statements being false, Trump is clearly determined to lift our nation’s failing public education system out of the gutters. More than one in three public school students are behind in grade level, while around half of Americans say K-12 education is going in the wrong direction.

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Trigger warnings are necessary — we shouldn’t have to just ‘stay triggered’

By Michaela Loughran | March 5

Some conservatives are known for using simple-minded but harmful vocabulary in their rhetoric, especially online. They have a schoolyard bully-like tendency to simply cry ‘snowflake’ and mockingly ask “Why are you so triggered?” in response to many of the serious arguments liberals attempt to make on the internet. This enables them to disregard any of the substance of their liberal opponent’s arguments, while simultaneously attacking them as being ‘too weak.’ According to these right-wingers, it is impossible to form a logical argument while incorporating one’s personal feelings, and cold-hard facts alone should be the only evidence appealed to. I happen to believe this is completely false. In fact, empathy has been shown to be key to conflict diffusion, and thus, online conflicts, particularly political arguments, could stand to benefit from increased civility if both participants were to attempt to be more empathetic. Additionally, growing research is linking empathy to liberal political views, while failing to do so for right-leaning views, indicating a clear empathy gap among the parties.

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Pop Princess 101: Chappell Roan is too weird for you

By Olivia Zambrano | March 5

It was bound to happen — within months of Chappell Roan’s sudden rise to stardom, she fell victim to criticism of her costume choices, blunt political commentary and privacy boundaries. Chappell Roan had quickly lost the Midwestern-girl-to-popstar allure she amassed in late 2024. However talented she is, her extravagant aesthetic isn’t palatable to the general public, nor should it be — her persona is rooted in queerness and flamboyance, which appeal to a specific demographic.

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Where the Democrats went wrong on immigration

By Anubhav Sinha | February 26

For years, experts have believed that the Republican Party would be unable to win elections in the future due to their messaging on immigration, which many perceived as racist. In 2002, Ruy Teixeira,co-author of “The Emerging Democratic Majority,” suggested that unless the Republicans softened their rhetoric on immigration, they would be doomed to a future of electoral losses in a new multiracial America; so too did the authors of the2013 RNC autopsy, a report commissioned by the Republican National Committee after the GOP’s loss in 2012.

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Pop Princess 101: How Addison Rae unexpectedly rose to pop stardom

By Olivia Zambrano | February 26

The music industry is currently dominated by women. Two of the most prestigious categories at this month’s Grammy Awards — Album of the Year and Best New Artist — were awarded to female artists. Among the nominated and awarded artists were a plethora of pop girls — including Chappell Roan, SZA, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX. As women have taken the industry by storm, their increasing ability to influence the media is undeniable. Strategically, Addison Rae associated herself with Charli XCX, one of the biggest female names in pop. This deliberate friendship and collaboration facilitated her transition from cringey TikToker to pop princess.

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Eat the men: The politics of feminine violence and rage in fiction

By Max Lerner | February 26

“I stabbed at his heart and struck the sweet spot between his ribs.” So reads a line from the opening chapter of Chelsea G. Summers’s “A Certain Hunger,” where food critic Dorothy Daniels recounts a life that has lately revolved around seducing, killing and eating men. Though gruesome, this novel is a quintessential work in the genre of femgore — a subgenre of body-horror fiction typically written by and about young women with female protagonists carrying out brutal, vicious crimes against the men in their lives. In recent years, its popularity has significantly increased — a trend irrevocably tied to the absolute battlefield of modern gender politics.

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Peter Navarro, the Jumbo who is shaping Trump’s trade policies

By Bridget Lonergan | February 25

From the classrooms of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., to the political arena of Washington, D.C., Peter Navarro has built upon his Jumbo roots to influence the economic policies of the United States. But who is this Tufts alum, and what does his rise to the White House mean for Americans, and particularly, for the students of his alma mater?

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The good, the bad and the ugly state of journalism today

By Sorsha Khitikian | February 25

For the past several weeks, I have gotten countless notifications from news outlets detailing the newest action from the Trump administration that systematically discredits news sources. From targeting the Associated Press for referring to the Gulf of Mexico as such — instead of President Donald Trump’s newly minted “Gulf of America” — to investigating NPR and PBS with the goal of ending their government subsidies, the Trump administration is interfering in the press’ ability to report critically on his policies.

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How the Trump administration’s immigration policy is based in fear-mongering

By Monica Reilly | February 20

It was a typical Tuesday night when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers raided a Bronx apartment complex. The event drew a lot of media coverage, especially when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a video on social media with the caption “Dirtbags like this will continue to be removed from our streets.” 39 people were arrested that night in raids across NYC and Long Island, inspiring fear both throughout the state and the country about who could be next.

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