Patrick Stewart, who died last week at the age of 86, was a committed socialist from the start. That conviction ran through his greatest role: Jean-Luc Picard, a leader who used reason and compassion rather than force.
The US Electorate Is Permanently Mobilized and Unable to Move
Voters are epically dissatisfied as we enter into the midterms. But our political economy and social world are not changing in response to that dissatisfaction.
Winning Office Is Not the Same as Winning Power
The Left has made remarkable electoral gains in the past decade. But without a strong labor movement and independent working-class organizations, Vivek Chibber argues, those victories will do little to change the balance of power between labor and capital.
The EU Fears China’s Power Over Private Capital
Emmanuel Macron celebrated a new EU deal to reduce Chinese car imports as a blow against “unfair competition.” What really troubles European leaders is that China has successfully disciplined its capitalists — something Europe is unwilling to attempt.
Rabid Anti-Communism Still Shapes the Politics of California
Donald Trump likes to brand California’s Democratic establishment as a nest of “far-left communists.” This unhinged rhetoric can still find a ready audience because it resonates with a deep-rooted Californian tradition of lurid, authoritarian red-baiting.
Is Trump Crashing the Dollar Empire?
Economist Mona Ali on how the United States wields the world’s most powerful currency to shore up empire and its own ruling class — and how Trump’s careless moves might blow it all up.
The real choice is not between globalization and deglobalization, free trade and tariff walls, but between empowering capital and empowering workers.
Public Ownership of Key Economic Sectors Is Popular
A new poll shows significant support for nationalization of health care, railroads, and artificial intelligence among Democratic voters. Public ownership can be part of a winning pitch for addressing the cost-of-living crisis.
Lord of Bench Is Fighting for Your Right to Sit
Many Manhattan real estate developers have a legal obligation to keep space outside their high-rise buildings open to all — yet refuse. We spoke to Lord of Bench, an activist who is taking them on to reclaim public space for the public.
Harold Cruse, the Loneliest Black Radical Intellectual
Harold Cruse’s Crisis of the Negro Intellectual became an instant classic and helped found the field of African American studies. His writing brimmed with erudition and insight, but his fragile ego and personal grudges left him isolated.
The Iran War Might Soon Get Catastrophically Worse
It looks increasingly likely Donald Trump may try a reckless escalatory bombing campaign against Iran after the midterms. And it looks increasingly likely it will backfire terribly.
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s Empire became a campus sensation because it offered a master theory for globalization at a moment when old Marxist categories seemed exhausted. But the capitalist internationalism they saw as permanent has now crashed and burned.
Preparing for MAGA’s Worst on Election Day
Donald Trump and the GOP are wildly unpopular going into the midterms, but they have few scruples about interfering in election results. Leftists should be prepared to operate in a broad front with liberals and others to stop that from happening.
Only Israel’s Palestinians Vote Against Genocide
The “most consequential election in Israel’s history” has not changed the country’s unbearably bleak outlook. But the Palestinian minority has come out in force for solidarity and justice.
Dolores Huerta Taught a Generation How to Organize
Rest in power, Dolores Huerta. She faced down growers, organized the fields, won farmworkers protections most states still deny them, and gave the whole Left a rallying cry we’ll be shouting for generations: “Sí, se puede.”
Socialists Need Our Own Foreign Policy Agenda
As socialists expand our footprint in Congress, we will need to articulate a distinctive agenda for US foreign policy — a vision different from both the wanton imperialism of MAGA and the feckless imperialism of mainstream liberals.