Inflation Didn’t Have to Doom Biden
Economist Isabella Weber explains in a long-form interview where the inflation surge came from and how the Biden administration struggled to take necessary measures to combat it.
20383 Article(s) by: Alex Press
Germany’s Project for Europe Is in Tatters
For decades, German governments have pursued the project of a free-market European empire. Today the war in Ukraine and US pressure are undermining the economic foundations of its hegemony — and Germany’s political leadership seems unable to respond.
Lithuania’s Social Democrats Set Unsteady Course for Change
Lithuania’s Social Democrats won the recent general election by promising to rein in the cost of living. But the party’s unnatural coalition partners and a difficult international picture make it hard to foresee a major shift to the left.
Transgender Politics Didn’t Have to End Up Here
Democratic Party leaders and their donors bear responsibility for the increasingly widespread view of trans rights as incompatible with a politics that benefits the many, not the few.
Calling a Football Riot a Pogrom Insults Historical Memory
Israeli ultraright football hooligans rampaged through Amsterdam, and regular fans were targeted with violence in turn. The whole episode was atrocious, but calling it a pogrom is historically ignorant and trivializes genuine horrors.
France’s Double Standards on Free Speech About Palestine
Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich, a self-proclaimed fascist, is set to appear at a fundraising gala in Paris on Wednesday. Authorities have refused calls to block his visit — even as they silence public displays of solidarity with Palestine.
Democrats May Give Trump the Power to Wipe Out Nonprofits
Congress is set to vote on bipartisan legislation that would allow the government to strip any nonprofit it deems a “terrorist-supporting organization” of tax-exempt status — potentially arming Donald Trump with a new tool against his opponents.
August Bebel Took Up the Struggle Against Women’s Oppression
August Bebel was the most important leader of German socialism in the period before World War I. Bebel championed the cause of women’s liberation in his book Women and Socialism, one of the most important and influential socialist texts of its day.
The Rise and Fall of Midwest Populism
The story of Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party in the early 20th century is instructive for the Left, especially in light of this week’s election results. As the party merged into the Democratic machine, its populist energies were chewed up and spat out.
Home Insurance Should Be for Safety, Not Profits
The home insurance system is fatally flawed. As climate disasters intensify, it’s becoming dangerously clear this system cannot protect us. We need a new model entirely — one focused on safeguarding people from financial consequences, not enriching insurers.
Conclave: A Shallow but Posh Papal Potboiler
There’s always an unlimited supply of narrative and visual drama to be mined from the machinations of the Catholic church. Conclave successfully taps into it.
Democrats: The Party of American Capital
The Democratic Party has become, improbably, the preferred party of American capital. But in doing so, it’s lost more and more of its working-class base.
US Postal Workers Are Fighting Massive Service Cuts
Thousands of US Postal Service jobs are at stake under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s modernization plan, which would close 200 mail processing plants and funnel all mail to 60 mega-plants. Postal workers are organizing to stop the plan.
Mario Draghi’s Report Is Far Short of What Europeans Need
Mario Draghi’s report on rebooting the European economy has excited supporters of a more integrated EU. The former central banker challenges past pro-austerity dogma — yet takes it for granted that scaled-up private corporations offer Europe’s path to success.
Sylvia Pankhurst Was One of Britain’s Great Revolutionaries
Repeatedly imprisoned for the cause, Sylvia Pankhurst was one of the leading figures in the struggle for women’s suffrage in Britain. What many don’t know is that Pankhurst also played an important role in the early history of British communism.
Trump Is Planning a Presidency of, by, and for the Rich
Now that the “pro-worker” GOP led by Donald Trump holds the reins of government, what does it plan to do? A program of handouts for big business and austerity for the rest of us.
Germany’s Coalition Collapsed, but Recession Is Here to Stay
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed his finance minister, Christian Lindner, pitching the country toward elections. Economic woes will be at the center of the campaign — yet proposals for a break with austerity are are conspicuously absent.
Israeli Fans Meant It When They Chanted “Death to Arabs”
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans rioting in Amsterdam chanted slogans like “There are no schools in Gaza, as there are no children left.” Far from just extremist provocations, their slogans tell the truth about Israeli war aims.
How Harris Lost the Working Class
Workers rejected Kamala Harris because she chose to campaign in a fantasy world where villains other than Trump are rarely named and nobody has to choose whether regular people or billionaire oligarchs get to wield power.
Union Leader: It’s Time for the Democrats to Wake Up
Painters’ union leader Jimmy Williams Jr says that the Democrats have a messaging problem with working-class voters — and it isn’t just going to cost them a single election.