Over the last few months, thenation.com has made an effort to foster a robust and thoughtful comments section befitting the mighty intelligence of our readership. We’re pleased to report that the shoe ads are gone, the name-calling is at a minimum and astute and witty commentary is on the rise. Here are our favorite comments from the last week. Let us know what you think — in the comments!

JeffreyHobbs: I can’t say enough good things about this article. It’s a manifesto for the next 100 years. Corporate capitalism is doomed by the immutable fact of finite resources; it will require planning and sharing to sustain civilization in the future, which is heretical thinking in the boardrooms of elite capitalists.
In response to Naomi Klein’s "Capitalism vs. Climate." November 9, 2011.

350ppmco2: Great article, but I take issue with Klein seeming to decrease the importance of scientific literacy and numeracy (especially statistical and probabilistic thinking), for the deniers and more so for the unconvinced. As is being increasingly realized in scientific and educational communities, climate change education can be a crucial part of changing cultural cognition. Looking forward, the example of bicycle-powered laptops is instructive: they are very inefficient thermodynamically; we need to employ engineering to help embody the values cited in the article. Not geo-engineering, but rather engineering in service of the values Klein so effectively describes.
In response to Naomi Klein’s "Capitalism vs. Climate." November 9, 2011.
 
Gdog: It’s sad to see the behavior of the Chapel Hill police in the recent raid. They earned a great deal of respect for their handling of the crowds when the Heels won the tournament in 1993. In those days they put public safety above making the citizens bend to the state. It’s bewildering that the police even possess such weapons, let alone feel they need to bring them out. Perhaps the police are misunderstood. Apparently they want to act like stormtroopers, and what do stormtroopers fear? Ewoks. If Return of the Jedi taught us anything it’s that cute, harmless looking creatures setting traps can defeat stormtroopers. Maybe they were expecting anarchists on hang gliders dropping coconuts on them.  I think they can do better.
In response to Allison Kilkenny’s “Meet Your Police State: Chapel Hill Edition.” November 14, 2011.

Gary Berg-Cross: I agree that this is an effort to show a group of "employees" who is boss. This doesn’t play well to people with a very competitive spirit, so it should be natural to be on the player’s side, the underdog in this power struggle. Another ironic angle is that the NBA players are asking for a fair market while the owners want a controlled market for players. So we know which side fair market people should be on, but they are not, which points out another paradox for naive market thinkers.
In response to Dave Zirin’s “NBA Players: Welcome to the 99 Percent.” November 16, 2011.
 
Nancy Rose: As far as I am concerned, and I am actively engaged in Occupy Wall Street, anyone who wants to fight against the elite group of people who use their money to control our government is part of the Occupy movement. The 1% can support and be part of the movement, and many are.  Anyone who criticizes a person for having a big income while acting in solidarity with the 99%ers is just falling into the shortsighted belief that it’s all about the almighty dollar.  It isn’t.  It is about corruption, power, and greed.
In response to Dave Zirin’s “NBA Players: Welcome to the 99 Percent.” November 16, 2011.

Robert Salzberg: If the federal minimum wage from 1968 was indexed for inflation, it would be worth $10.41 today. Having the federal government pay an Earned Income Tax Credit to low-wage workers is really a subsidy to companies that underpay their workers. Increasing the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $10 an hour and indexing it for inflation would be a good first step towards realigning wage gains with productivity gains in America. Allowing companies to pay people so little for full-time work that they need government subsidies to survive is inhuman and immoral.
In response to Mike Konczal’s “Explainer: How Did Inequality in American Get So Bad? And What Can the Government Do to Fix It?” November 17, 2011.