Long Live the Post Office
The Post Office has been a central force for democracy in American society. We can’t let the Right destroy it now.
19090 Articles by: Alex Press
How Trump’s Department of Justice Just Gave Hollywood Megacorporations Unlimited Power
By throwing out landmark antitrust regulation, Hollywood just opened the floodgates toward even greater media concentration — all at the public’s expense.
Spain’s First Communist Minister Since the 1930s: “The Right Can’t Accept a Party Like Ours in Government”
This January, a pact between the Socialists and Unidas Podemos gave Spain its first ruling left-wing coalition since the Civil War. One of two communist ministers, Alberto Garzón, spoke to Jacobin about the government’s survival in these times of crisis — and why the militant right still refuses to accept its legitimacy.
Corporations Like Amazon Hire Union-Busting Labor Spies All the Time
Amazon was recently busted hiring intelligence experts to spy on Amazon workers. The practice is unfortunately common — most major multinational corporations have surveillance divisions which overlap with government intelligence agencies, creating a single, powerful security apparatus at the disposal of both the federal government and private corporations to use against workers.
Last Night’s Elections Remind Us Change Doesn’t Come Overnight
Yesterday’s primaries were full of disappointments for the Left. But by rallying around the Green New Deal’s coauthor Ed Markey and striking fear into the hearts of conservative incumbents, progressives and leftists have put the Democratic establishment on notice.
Ed Markey’s Victory Over Joe Kennedy III Was Far From Inevitable
For most of his campaign, incumbent senator and Green New Deal cosponsor Ed Markey was losing to Joe Kennedy III’s well-funded and establishment-backed primary challenge. Markey won by doing something few Democrats today are willing to: embracing the Left.
Men’s Tennis Players Are Weighing Unionization. But It’s Easier Said Than Done.
Leading men’s tennis players are in preliminary discussions to form a union. Pro sports unions can wield enormous power — but they’re also not always easy to organize.
For Players, College Football Is Basically a Feudal System
As the GOP demands college football teams start the season, new research shows that coaches are getting very rich off a system that prohibits athletes from joining a union and being paid for their work.
The First Step on Vietnam’s Long Walk to Freedom
Seventy-five years ago today, Vietnam launched a bid for national freedom with its Declaration of Independence. The French colonial regime answered with brutal repression, kick-starting thirty years of destructive conflict.
Eugene Debs Believed in Socialism Because He Believed in Democracy
Eugene Debs’s unswerving commitment to democracy and internationalism was born out of his revulsion at the tyranny of industrial capitalism. We should carry forth that Debsian vision today — by recognizing that class struggle is the precondition for winning a more democratic world.
New York Teachers Are Still Ready to Strike
New York City teachers stood ready to strike until a deal was reached with the city government today on how to reopen safely. But budgets are strained, the uncertainties are great — and teachers will be watching closely to make sure Mayor Bill de Blasio follows through on his promises.
“We Need To Be Militant About Telling Our Stories”
There’s a brutal history of US intervention in Central America, culminating in the cruelty of today’s border regime. Salvadoran journalist Roberto Lovato speaks to Jacobin about the amnesia that is taking root, and the need for a militant excavation of personal and collective stories.
Let Them Eat Real Estate
Canada’s investor class has enjoyed decades of high profits from real estate, but the national housing crisis reveals the toll this has taken on working-class people. It’s all a textbook example of the private housing market’s inability to meet society’s housing needs.
We Must Learn to Embrace Populism
Thomas Frank’s brilliant new book The People, No focuses on the long elite tradition of anti-populism. But it is really an urgent plea to liberals and radicals alike to embrace a left populism and universalism — or keep on losing.
California Democrats Kill Gas and Oil Regulations After Campaign Donations
Democrats killed legislation protecting California homes and schools from oil and gas operations after big campaign donations and industry-funded junkets.
Finland Is Rallying Around a Six-Hour Workday — And So Should We
Finland’s social-democratic prime minister, Sanna Marin, has called for a six-hour workday without loss of pay, allowing Finns more free time and a fairer distribution of employment. As the pandemic forces us to reassess how working life is organized, we should take up labor’s historic call for a shorter workday.
After the Beirut Explosion, Beware the Helping Hand of France and the US
In the wake of this month’s devastating explosion in Beirut, French and American leaders have made a show of pledging their support to Lebanon. But many have greeted these messages with suspicion in light of the disastrous history of French and US involvement in the country since it attained independence in 1943.
Chadwick Boseman (1976–2020)
More than any other actor of his era, Chadwick Boseman, who played a range of black heroes from Thurgood Marshall to T’Challa, had a capacity to inspire his audience and evoke a sense of pride in the triumphs and struggles of black people.
Strippers Are Workers With the Power to Unionize
Strippers have at least one thing in common with Uber drivers: they’re the victims of rampant labor misclassification at the hands of their bosses. But Brandi Campbell, an adult dancer in Ohio, fought the practice in court and won. The law is clear: strippers are workers with the right to unionize and strike.
There May Be No Choice but to Nationalize Oil and Gas — and Renewables, Too
The global oversupply of oil and gas before the pandemic, plus the massive slump in demand as a result of lockdown, has put the profitability of the sector in extreme crisis. The case for nationalizing energy production has never been stronger.