Karl Marx’s anti-utopian line is often used to avoid discussion about what socialism would be like. But engaging in the nuts and bolts of how a postcapitalist economy might work is also necessary, to make it more than a distant dream.
6 Ways to Rebuild Unions at the State and Local Levels Now
The new crop of pro-worker legislators who have recently been elected at the state and local levels can pass laws that can rebuild the labor movement, even with Donald Trump as president. Here are six ways they can do it.
Do Not Go Gentle Into Silicon Valley’s Dark Night
Silicon Valley has built platforms that colonize our attention, prey on children’s vulnerabilities, and damage mental health. Lawsuits that could cost Meta as much as $1.4 trillion are showing that society can use state power to fight back.
Socialists’ Winning Streak Is an Opportunity for Unions
Socialists are on a roll in elections across the US, often winning without the support of organized labor. It’s high time for unions to get on board with socialist candidates, to make the most of having ambitious pro-worker politicians in their corner.
The Politics of Falling in Love
Heteropessimism holds that men and women are incapable of understanding one another, foreclosing the possibility of more equal, fulfilling relations between the genders. But romantic love may offer us a way out of a social order in which everyone loses.
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 New Cold War Is an Alibi for Tech Elites’ Impunity
Silicon Valley is increasingly embracing the narrative that the US is in an existential battle for technological dominance with China. The story is a convenient shield against efforts to rein in the tech industry’s power.
For Socialists, Legislative Hardball Has Limits
It can be tempting for socialists to look to the House Freedom Caucus as a model for how to operate within Congress. But the story of the HFC shows that obstructionism can actually isolate a caucus instead of winning a leading role for it.
Working-Class Voters Are Winnable for the Left. Here’s How.
There’s a big gap between how progressive messaging is received by liberal, college-educated voters and working-class voters with no college degree. But there doesn’t have to be, if the Left appeals to those working-class voters the right way.
If Woke 1 Was Crazy, MAGA Woke Is Absolutely Insane
Much of the Left has been debating “Woke 1” recently. Less discussed has been the Right’s own version of wokeness, characterized by censorship, attacks on free speech, and even jailing and deporting critics.
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.
It’s Prime Time for Socialists. How We Make Our Case Matters.
Democratic socialists have a historic opportunity to make socialism a mass politics that wins over millions. We can’t take full advantage of that opportunity without carefully calibrating our rhetoric and demands.
Liberalism’s Cult of the Individual Has Failed Us
America is suffering from a complete breakdown in social life and shared conception of the common good. Some prominent liberals want to keep it that way.
Canada’s Socialists Are Coming for City Hall
Inspired in part by Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City, a new crop of socialist candidates is campaigning for municipal power across Canada.
Utopia Is a Promise Worth Fighting For
Karl Marx mocked utopians for writing recipes for the cookshops of the future. But at their best, utopians emphasize hope without guarantees — a position that carves a middle path between blind optimism and the resigned inertia of “realism.”