November/December 1998 Issue

Wide Angle

THE INVISIBLE: Living in the Shadows of Ghosts

Image: Stephen Cohen Gallery

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CAIRO | City of the Dead
Enrico Ferorelli

Cairo’s urban sprawl first spilled into the city’s vast, ancient cemeteries more than 50 years ago. Today they are home to a vibrant squatter community of approximately 500,000. The bustle of an informal economy — machine shops, glassblowers, coffee shops — thrives alongside mausoleums dating back to the eighth century. The government tolerates this improvised urbanization and provides the more densely populated areas with basic services, including water for laundry.

FRANCE | Survivors of the Aristocracy
Lauren Greenfield

The French aristocracy was supposed to have died with the Revolution. But according to the Association of French Nobility, there are still some 3,500 noble families in France. Although most aristocrats now have to work to maintain their châteaus, noble trappings — such as the hare hunt (above) and exclusive social gatherings, or rallyes (below) — have survived. In the words of one count: “The French nobility represents values that are disappearing…in the Western world. You have to find something higher than materialism and consumerism.” — Tim Dickinson

Photos (French aristocracy) courtesy of Stephen Cohen Gallery

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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