Big Tech’s Algorithms Are Built With Invisible Labor
Don’t let the shiny products and ping-pong tables at work fool you: tech platforms are just as reliant on a wretched, toiling workforce as any other company under capitalism.
20378 Article(s) by: Alex Press
Big Oil’s Price Gouging Is Pulling in Big Profits
As high gas prices continue to affect working Americans and to be a key factor in the upcoming midterm elections, three of the biggest oil and gas companies posted more than $40 billion in quarterly profits this week.
The Radical Imagination of Mike Davis
There was nothing mechanical or deterministic about the Marxism of Mike Davis, writes labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein.
Ontario’s Right-Wing Government Is Launching a Draconian Attack on Workers’ Rights
Canadian workers have a constitutional right to strike. Conservative Ontario premier Doug Ford is blatantly trying to violate that right for the province’s education workers.
The Democrats Will Probably Lose the Midterms, Because Our Society Is Falling Apart
The Democrats are too beholden to the rich, and they face structural obstacles that are too daunting, to address the profound sense of social collapse that afflicts the US today. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Tim Ryan’s Push to Break From Neoliberalism Isn’t Enough
Tim Ryan understands that decades of neoliberal policies have been disastrous. But his solutions to that disaster leave much to be desired.
Jeremy Corbyn: Lula’s Victory Is a Testament to Solidarity
Lula’s historic victory in Brazil couldn’t have happened without millions of people fighting for it. Now a left-led government will have the chance to transform their lives and generations to come.
Inflation Is Hurting Average People Right Now
The standard left analysis of inflation says it’s a concern of elites and not the masses. This couldn’t be more wrong: working people are the ones suffering under inflation.
Even the “Good” Billionaires Are Bad
Liberals and right-wingers have the same love-hate relationship with billionaires: both love the ones on their side of the partisan divide and hate those on the opposite side.
To Get Unstuck, the Left Should Emulate the Right’s “Swarm” Model
Over the last decade, the American right has developed a successful organizing model that combines national messaging with local mobilizations. The stalled-out left could stand to learn a thing or two.
The Killer Isn’t the Only Murderer in The Good Nurse
In The Good Nurse, a serial killer’s murders are disguised by the frequently nightmarish workings of hospitals in a for-profit health care system.
As the Fed Raises Interest Rates, People Will Lose Jobs and Democrats Will Lose Elections
The Federal Reserve has signaled that it will further raise interest rates this month, increasing the chances of a recession that will hurt average people. In response, most of the Democratic Party establishment are twiddling their thumbs.
Brazil’s Election Shows the Dangers of an Increasingly Far-Right Police
Lula’s election victory was nearly derailed by a Bolsonaro-supporting police effort to suppress the vote. It was only the most recent episode in which politicized police forces have intervened to thwart democracy — and the US is far from immune to the problem.
Real Estate Billionaires Are Fighting Tooth and Nail Against Measure ULA
Measure ULA, a Los Angeles ballot initiative up for approval by voters, would increase taxes on high-value property deals and use the revenue to address the city’s dire housing crisis. The real estate industry is spending millions to fight the measure.
Starbucks Roastery Workers in New York City Are on Strike
Unionized workers at the Starbucks Roastery in Manhattan are on day eight of a strike protesting unsanitary conditions, including a bedbug infestation and moldy ice machines. Jacobin spoke with striking workers about their demands and Starbucks’s retaliation.
Britain’s Security State’s Long History of Spying on Left-Wing Intellectuals
Britain’s police and secret service has spied on and infiltrated left-wing political organizations since the 19th century. A new book shows that their continued influence poses a serious threat to democracy.
Mike Davis Revisits His 1986 Labor History Classic, Prisoners of the American Dream
The late socialist writer Mike Davis’s first book was Prisoners of the American Dream, a deep exploration of how the US labor movement became so weakened. Nearly four decades later, Davis revisited the book in an interview with Jacobin.
Lula’s Victory Over Bolsonaro Has Restored Hope for Brazilian Democracy
Lula defeated Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro in yesterday’s election. The left-wing veteran will face some huge challenges on taking office, but his triumph over Bolsonaro has given Brazilian politics a fresh chance after a disastrous presidency.
Tár Is Stuck in the Muck of Its Own Highbrow Artiness
Todd Field wants you to think his new movie Tár is a critique of the pretentiousness of the high art world. But the movie is actually trapped in that suffocating world and can’t find a way out.
How Nazi Billionaires Thrived in Postwar Germany
In Nazi Germany, industrialists built vast fortunes from slave labor and stolen Jewish property. In postwar West Germany, they were allowed to keep them — with denazification doing little to trouble those who had profited most from the regime.