UnitedHealthcare, the health insurer whose CEO was murdered earlier this month, has spent decades fighting and winning political battles to maintain the for-profit health system status quo and kill any attempts to reform it.
Central America’s Last Comandante
Now in hiding, César Montes led rebel forces, including the Guerrilla Army of the Poor, against US-backed dictatorships across Central America. Jacobin visited him in the Guatemalan prison where he was serving a 175-year sentence prior to his October escape.
The Devastation in Mayotte Isn’t Just a Natural Disaster
After Cyclone Chido hit the Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte, Emmanuel Macron told locals that they would be “10,000 times more in the shit” if they weren’t French-ruled. The mass casualties show how little France has actually done to protect the islanders.
Striking Amazon for the Holidays
Amazon workers at seven warehouses walked off the job starting yesterday, in a major escalation of the Teamsters’ efforts to organize the company. In New York, the strikers faced repression from the police.
Elon Musk Is Inaugurating a New Era of Billionaire Rule
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, just used his political influence to shut down a bipartisan deal to keep the government open. It’s obscene — but it’s just one example of the ways billionaires dominate American democracy.
Pressed by influential corporate advisors, Kamala Harris ran away from a winning economic populist message and ended up losing a campaign. We have the proof.
Political Repression Isn’t What It Used to Be
Despite the efforts of Donald Trump and the Right to bend the state in a more repressive, less free direction, society seems more and more resistant to these efforts.
The Great Whitexican Novel
A scion of the Mexican right, Nicolás Medina Mora promises a window into the country’s elite in his autofiction debut, América del Norte. Had it actually offered that, the book could have been fascinating. Instead it gets mired in musings on whiteness.
“Erdoğan Wants to Bring All of Syria Under Turkish Control”
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has prompted a fresh power struggle in Syria. Îlham Ehmed, a foreign relations representative for the Kurdish-led autonomous region, spoke to Jacobin about Turkey’s bid to expand its control.
How Justin Trudeau Alienated Canada’s Working Class
Canada, like the US and other countries, is grappling with acute political dealignment. Plummeting working-class support for center-left parties highlights the failure of liberal policies and the appeal of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s populism.
Despite lofty ambitions, four years of professional-managerial approaches to governing moved the Democrats even further away from their New Deal roots.
How Labor Can Fight Trump’s Authoritarianism
Former United Teachers Los Angeles president Alex Caputo-Pearl lays out a “block and build” strategy for labor to defeat the rising right-wing attacks on workers and democracy in the coming Donald Trump administration.
When Socialists Run for NYC Mayor, Good Things Can Happen
Socialist legislator Zohran Mamdani is running for New York City mayor against a corrupt, unpopular mayor. Morris Hillquit did the same thing a century ago.
“Buy Now, Pay Later” Companies Are an Unregulated Racket
“Buy now, pay later” companies like Klarna present themselves as friendly, interest-free alternatives to credit cards. Consumer advocates warn that the services don’t have proper guardrails, leading to potentially dangerous consequences for users.
Will COP30 Deliver for the Amazon — and the Planet?
With the Amazon on the edge of collapse, climate pledges remain heavy on words and light on action. With progress stalling out on key issues like climate finance at COP29, delegates to COP30 in Brazil next fall have their work cut out for them.