Mike Rotkin

Mike Rotkin, who was refused induction into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War as a “security risk to the United States,” is a former five-time socialist-feminist mayor of the City of Santa Cruz, California, and served six terms on the Santa Cruz City Council. He teaches community organizing at the University of California Santa Cruz where he also received his Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness. He has received lifetime achievement awards from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Democratic Party of Santa Cruz County. He works for a union representing lecturers and librarians at UC.

Half-Earth or Half Solution? E.O. Wilson’s Solution to Species Loss

By Mike Rotkin, Solutions Journal

Despite my somewhat snarky title, which is based on my assessment that Half-Earth is missing a key strategic component, E. O. Wilson’s book is engaging and even inspiring. Wilson makes a compelling case that our planet is facing serious and accelerating species loss, that human beings are the primary cause of this phenomenon, and that, most importantly, we are capable of doing something about it.

February 26, 2018

The Main Street to recaptured capital

By Mike Rotkin, Solutions

As a former mayor of Santa Cruz, California, I have had a sustained interest in alternative investment strategies for local communities. Most of the proposals I’ve studied and worked on tend to be either unrealistic about the ability of local communities to function outside of the larger capitalist system, or overly optimistic about the likely economic success and impact of alternative community institutions.

August 30, 2012