The Thrill of the Vote

This post first ran on election day in 2008. My feelings on the subject haven’t changed: It’s election day in Chicago. I just walked home from voting for a new mayor and a new alderman–and I miss my old neighborhood. For ten years I lived in South Shore: a white graduate student/small business owner/writer in…

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Road Trip Through History: The American Cemetery

People often visit the English Cemetery* when they go to Florence. The final resting place of prominent nineteenth century inglesi, including Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the cemetery is by all accounts a beautiful park in a city that already teems with beauty. It was on our list of possibles, but when push came to running out…

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From the Archives: Why You Can’t Vote

If you’ve been hanging around the Margins for a while, you’ve read this one before. I think it’s worth repeating. From sixth century Athens on, who has the vote and why has been a touchy and evolving subject in democracies. People who already have the vote have hesitated to extend it to others for two…

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