Slimer on Coke, Muncher on Zoloft
Ghostbusters’ Slimer embodied the hedonistic greed of the Reagan era. But the reboot’s Muncher is a reflection of our sad and depressed 2020s.
19420 Articles by: Abigail Torre
Abigail Torre grew up in Chile and now lives in Berkeley, California where she is cochair of the East Bay chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.
Secession Planning
A looser union with more room for state and regional autonomy, as two recent books advocate, would cede much of America to the mercies of the Right.
Why the Alt-Right Will Lose
Thankfully, almost nobody likes a Nazi, and even fewer still like a Nazi steeped in a creepy online subculture.
The Year Twitter Tried to Dictate an Election
If you want to see the future, imagine a finger clicking “mute” on anything criticizing an establishment presidential candidate, forever.
There’s Absolutely No Reason to Means Test the Stimulus Checks
Means testing is bad politics and bad policy. Democrats should stop worrying and just pass a bill with $2,000 stimulus checks for everyone, no questions asked.
AOC Is Right to Get Personal About the Capitol Riot
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been criticized for her Instagram video last week recounting the Capitol riot. But AOC showed exactly how a left-wing politician should act: courageous, genuine, and refusing to back down in the face of right-wing threats.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s Karen Lewis Dared Us to Believe We Could Win
At a time of austerity and teacher demonization, Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis — whose death at age sixty-seven was announced today — dared to believe that educators and the working class as a whole could fight back and win.
AMLO Cannot Build a Transformative Political Project Through Mexico’s Military
Andrés Manuel López Obrador has wagered that he needs the support of the military in order to execute his progressive agenda. But the Mexican army is a conservative organization looking after its own interests, and it is no substitute for the mass base that AMLO must mobilize if he is to achieve true transformation.
Everyone Hates the Democrats
Progressives and moderates accuse each other of being unable to appeal to working-class voters — and maybe they’re both right.
The Barack Obama Memoir: Don’t Trust the Process
From his new memoir, it’s clear that Barack Obama believes process is politics. But no amount of “process” will solve the problems that plague us — for that, we need the political will he could never muster as president.
Cyberpunk Needs a Reboot
Cyberpunk once stood out as a vital genre of anti-capitalist fiction. Today, it’s been reduced to a cool retro aesthetic easily appropriated by the world’s second-richest man to market ugly Blade Runner–inspired trucks to nostalgia-drenched Gen Xers.
Leo Panitch (1945–2020)
We’ve suffered an irreparable loss with the passing of our friend and comrade Leo Panitch.
Medicare for All: No Victory in Sight
As the Trump era draws to a close and yesteryear’s centrist, Joe Biden, takes office, can the Medicare for All movement build the momentum it needs to win?
Your Quarterly Horoscope
Looking forward to 2021? Read this horoscope first.
Building From the Ruins
The Left needs a revived labor movement, and a revived labor movement needs the Left.
Thank Socialism for the Vaccine. Blame Capitalism for Its Distribution.
The jaw-dropping speed of COVID-19 vaccine development is a glorious marvel of science, cooperation, and economic planning. But the lifeboat ethics of vaccine rollout is a horrifying display of the cruelty of capitalism.
Trumpism After Trump
Don’t count right-wing populism out. While technocrats have seen their fortunes rise under lockdown, the sense of national decline and disarray that first brought leaders like Donald Trump to power still has a bright future.
The Indifferent and the Defiant
Battered by poverty and coronavirus, South Texas should have been deep blue turf for Joe Biden. It wasn’t. But in the Rio Grande Valley, the story is less about growing conservatism than about the rise of nonvoting — and despair.
Issue 40: Letters + Internet Speaks
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A Left That Matters
Our still small but growing socialist movement now has a chance to make a real impact.