The Democrats have failed to mount a serious response to Donald Trump’s authoritarianism. Their fecklessness has left the door open for democratic socialists like Zohran Mamdani to position themselves as the real opposition to Trump.
Zohran Mamdani: We Can Win Freedom for All
At a rally last night in Queens, New York, with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Zohran Mamdani addressed a crowd of 13,000: “For too long, freedom has belonged only to those who can afford to buy it.”
To Rebuild the Labor Movement, Take On the Giants
Unions in the US have responded to the hostile organizing environment by targeting smaller shops in more peripheral industries. To actually grow the labor movement, however, they will need to organize large units in the economy’s fast-growing sectors.
You’re Being Lied to About Graham Platner
We read Graham Platner’s whole Reddit archive. The vilification of the Maine candidate for Senate doesn’t square with what he actually wrote in his posts.
Bolivia Returns to the White Ruling Elite
Bolivia’s election of the center-right Rodrigo Paz Pereira marks the end of the MAS’s nearly 20-year rule. As MAS self-destructed, Paz appealed to an urban middle class that expanded as the Left achieved historic reductions in poverty and social inequality.
At a Brooklyn town hall with Bernie Sanders on Saturday, Zohran Mamdani recounted how Bernie “gave me the language of democratic socialism to describe my politics” and called on supporters to keep organizing after Election Day. We reproduce his speech here.
Private Flood Insurers Are Capitalizing on the Shutdown
With the US government shutdown effectively paralyzing the National Flood Insurance Program, private firms such as Neptune Insurance Holdings are seizing the opportunity to push for the near-total privatization of flood insurance.
Palestinian Rights and Free Speech Rights Are Closely Linked
A recent successful court case brought by university professors against the Trump administration’s ideological deportations is an important win for supporters of Palestinian liberation and opponents of rising authoritarianism in the US.
ICE Will Use AI to Surveil Social Media
A Silicon Valley firm has contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to build out a social media surveillance dragnet. Critics say that the AI-driven software will target immigrants for political speech.
Shake Shack Is Restricting Its Customers’ Legal Rights
Following an industry trend, fast-food chain Shake Shack recently updated its terms of use agreement to include a binding arbitration agreement and class-action waiver denying customers their legal right to take the company to court.
Labor organizing can’t succeed at scale without a supportive legal and political environment, created by majoritarian coalitions that can win reforms, confront corporate power, and prove to skeptical workers that progressive governance delivers.
W. E. B. Du Bois on Blowing Up the White House’s East Wing
The vision of W. E. B. Du Bois was one of congressional democracy, critical of presidential regimes that concentrate power in the hands of one individual — an individual who can, say, impose his vision of a White House ballroom in the sky upon all of us.
Predistributive Measures Are Essential to Reducing Inequality
The welfare state is essential for keeping the nonworking population out of poverty. But we shouldn’t discount the role of predistributive measures like strong unions and minimum wage laws in reducing inequality.
The Anti-Tech Backlash Is Going to Grow Stronger
The deleterious impact of technology on everyday life is generating a growing backlash in Western societies. At its most radical fringe, this includes a political subculture that promotes violent struggle against technological civilization as a whole.
The GOP Is Fine With You Getting Your Fingers Chopped Off
Donald Trump’s yes-men at the Consumer Product Safety Commission are withdrawing a series of proposed safety rules, including an appendage-saving safety mandate for table saws. This will mean thousands more fingers lost per year.