Peru has been home to the world’s most ambitious experiments in participatory democracy. American progressive and democratic socialist mayors should look to them for both inspiration and warning.
Take a Moment to Feel the Pain of the Rich
Once respectable opinion fretted about distinguishing the “deserving” poor from the “undeserving.” Today, as sentiment against the ultrarich surges, the Economist argues that it is in fact billionaires who deserve our gratitude, sympathy, and protection.
Pakistani-Ruled Kashmir Is Facing a Brutal State Crackdown
The areas of Kashmir under Pakistani administration are supposed to have political autonomy, but that has long been a sham. The Pakistani authorities have responded to popular protests demanding real democracy with brutal repression.
Zohran Mamdani’s Public Grocery Plan Is a Serious One
A grocery industry expert argues that as our food supply becomes increasingly consolidated, expensive, and even dangerous, socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s publicly subsidized grocery plan takes bold steps to provide good, affordable food.
Moderation Is Not a Real Political Strategy
Pundits who say politicians should strategically “moderate” their views have a simple problem: the majority viewpoint is often changing. Just look at Matt Yglesias’s advice to Democrats on Israel, where the moderate position rapidly shifted under his feet.
American Freedom Was Built on Endless Conquest
The Founders made expansion the precondition of American freedom. We must find an alternative.
Jonathan Chait’s Atlantic essay claims the Democratic Socialists of America has betrayed the legacy of its founder, Michael Harrington. It gets DSA’s history, and what the organization is today, wrong.
The Saudi-Emirati Rivalry Is Fueling a Series of Wars
The tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have now burst into the open as a bitter public feud. Two oil-rich absolute monarchies are using much poorer neighbors like Yemen and Sudan as battlegrounds for their destructive proxy wars.
US Mail Carriers Are Poised to Elect New Union Leadership
At next week’s convention for the National Association of Letter Carriers, a 200,000-strong union of US Postal Service mail carriers, a whole ecosystem of reform groups, slates, and podcasters are pushing for a change in leadership.
Socialist Francesca Hong Could Be Wisconsin’s Next Governor
Currently leading in the polls in a major swing state, democratic socialist Francesca Hong has a good shot at becoming Wisconsin’s next governor — and the first socialist governor in US history. We spoke to her about her campaign.
Things Keep Getting Worse for Brazil’s Bolsonaro Dynasty
After the conviction of Jair Bolsonaro for trying to overthrow Brazilian democracy, his far-right movement had to find a new presidential candidate. His son Flávio has picked up the baton, but his campaign is already plagued by scandals.
Mainstream economics cannot accept the concept of contradiction that is foundational for Karl Marx’s analysis of capitalism. David Harvey explains why we need the Marxist perspective if we want to make sense of capital’s latest mutations in the age of AI.
The Hollow Egalitarianism of LA's Revamped Art Museum
At the redesigned Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the art-world tradition of mistaking spiritual anti-hierarchy for class politics is alive and well. LACMA treats labor as a source of authenticity but ignores its own workers’ demands for a living wage.
The Left Is Rising, So Centrist Dems Are Cynically Woke Again
The Democratic establishment said it was getting rid of the grating, cynical style of wokeness it blamed for its 2024 loss to Donald Trump. Then the Left began winning primaries, and those same Democrats changed their tune.
The Ultrarich Have Put a Price Tag on History
History belongs to everyone. But if governments continue to defund national galleries, they will ensure ancient artifacts can only be seen in luxury showrooms, displayed on the coffee tables of the wealthy, and worn by celebrities on the red carpet.
Mahmood Mamdani Examines Ugandan Authoritarianism
In his latest work, Slow Poison, Mahmood Mamdani grapples with Uganda’s decades of authoritarian rule. The book examines the politics of purification and violent exclusion at the heart of fascism in the postcolonial context.