We spoke to Bernie Sanders about alleged health insurance CEO shooter Luigi Mangione, the crisis of for-profit health care in America, why only a mass movement can win Medicare for All, and how to fight the growing share of working-class votes for the Right.
Syria: What Comes After the Despot?
Anand Gopal on why the Assad dictatorship was one of the most brutal regimes of the 21st century and what’s likely to come next in Syria.
Health Insurers’ Profits Are Reaching New Heights
The top five health insurers have raked in over $371 billion in profits since ACA passed. Over 40% of that went to the parent company of CEO Brian Thompson’s UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealth Group — which denies nearly one in three claims from its policyholders.
Luigi Mangione’s Anger Wasn’t Neatly Ideological
Far from an ideologue, Luigi Mangione seems more akin to an average swing voter: holding a hodgepodge of political views yet resolutely enraged by the barbarities of a for-profit health care system.
The Democrats’ “Opportunity” Pitch Is a Dead End
Following a proud centrist tradition, Kamala Harris’s campaign promised to build an “opportunity economy” that would grant success to the deserving. The meritocratic pitch was emblematic of Democrats’ long march away from working-class voters.
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.
Confronting Capitalism: Workers Without a Party
In the latest episode of the Jacobin Radio podcast Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber discusses Donald Trump’s recent victory, why the Democrats gave up their working-class base, and how the Left can respond to class dealignment.
The Quiet Decline of Belgian Social Democracy
Strong unions, a labyrinthine state, and political deadlock prevented Belgian neoliberals from implementing reforms in the 1970s. But as the economy spun into crisis, the Catholic Party convinced its labor union to accept austerity and wage cuts.
Blame Health Insurers for Exorbitant Health Care Costs
Since the shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, a number of pundits have claimed that the main cause of exorbitant US health care costs is overcharging by providers, not health insurance companies. The argument doesn’t hold up: insurers are mostly to blame.
US Trade Policy Toward China Endangers the Green Transition
Last week, China responded to new US tariffs with a ban on exporting rare earth minerals. While both countries’ leaders engage in great power rivalry, they risk imperiling the green transition, which will rely on the trade of technology between nations.
Climate Apartheid
When the wealthy are able to insulate themselves from the worst effects of climate breakdown, the poor are forced to bear the costs of a crisis they did not cause.
Cuba Was Always Much More Than a Soviet Satellite State
Cold War stereotypes presented Cuba under Fidel Castro as a Soviet satellite in the Caribbean. But a closer look at Havana’s relations with the Eastern Bloc shows that its leaders were far more independent than such conventional wisdom would suggest.
A Rare Look Into Malcolm X’s Prison Years
Thoroughly researched and crisply written, Patrick Parr’s new partial biography of Malcolm X provides the most complete examination yet of Malcolm’s prison years. His evolution behind bars dramatically altered his life and shaped the course of black politics.
In Italy, the Far Right Exploits a Hollowed-Out Democracy
Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government is riding roughshod over basic democratic standards. This isn’t just because of her party’s fascist roots; it’s the end point of a long-term process that has placed the key economic decisions beyond popular control.