Karl Marx Fought for Freedom
Conservatives are spreading lies about Karl Marx. Not only was Marx a consistent campaigner against slavery, he supported the efforts of all those who organized to fight it.
19429 Articles by: Alex Press
Labor Party in the USA
Many in the newly reborn American socialist movement fervently hope that someday, in the face of numerous structural barriers, they can get a viable new party off the ground. But unfortunately, we can expect unions to be among the last to get on board with such a party.
The Free Market Can’t Prevent Latin America’s Coming Food Crisis
Even before COVID-19 hit Latin America in earnest last month, one-third of the region’s population was facing food insecurity. Now, as the economy contracts under lockdown and supply chains falter, overhauling the continent’s market-driven food system is more necessary than ever.
How Big Finance Is Making a Killing From the Pandemic
In spite of mass unemployment and a public health catastrophe, the stock market has been thriving, thanks to massive intervention by the Federal Reserve. We have to break the doom loop that links the Fed to the interests of financial megafirms.
Something Is Stirring in the Labor Movement
A coronavirus-era partnership between the United Electrical Workers and Democratic Socialists of America has given birth to what may be the most innovative labor organizing campaign since the ’30s: the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee.
Black Lives Matter Is More Popular Than Donald Trump
National support for Black Lives Matter has soared — while President Donald Trump’s approval rating has plunged ten points in a single month. The movement for racial justice is more popular than Trump’s presidency.
Protests Are About Changing Public Opinion, Not Cowering in Response to Polling Data
Critics of the demand to “defund the police” cite current polling snapshots as supposed proof of protesters’ electoral malpractice. They’re politically shortsighted — and confused about the key role of mass protest movements in dragging such demands from the margins to the mainstream.
“We Are Fighting for Our Lives Against People With Money and Power”
Minneapolis bus drivers provided a model of solidarity during the George Floyd protests by refusing to transport police officers. We spoke with the president of the bus driver union’s black caucus about the inspiring action and the need for a labor movement that fights for more than just bread-and-butter economic gains for its members.
Black Lives Matter Protests Are Even Reaching NASCAR
The mass protests against police violence have had an impact on even the most culturally conservative element of American sports culture: NASCAR.
Government Surveillance of Activists and Labor Organizers Is Alive and Well
Recently revealed emails show that a wide range of public entities were used to police a California graduate workers strike. It’s part of a long tradition of government agencies spying on labor organizers and radicals — but now with cross-agency coordination and ever-expanding budgets.
Bernie Sanders Should Embrace the Demand to Defund the Police
Defunding the police means cutting bloated local police budgets and diverting the resources to social programs. Politically, it’s right up Bernie’s alley. He should embrace it.
Bosses in the US Have Far Too Much Power to Lay Off Workers Whenever They Feel Like It
Nearly one in five workers in the United States is currently unemployed. The immediate catalyst for these gargantuan figures is the pandemic, but workers’ rights to “just cause” dismissals had long been eroded by a neoliberal war on labor.
The Police Will Do Everything They Can to Resist Accountability — They Have to Be Defunded and Demilitarized
Cops in New York have responded to pressure for reform with a targeted slowdown, while they continue to dish out violence on the streets. We need to be as determined in forcing change upon the police as they are in resisting it.
Remembering Capitalism’s Crimes
A new book uncovers the reality of America’s victory in the Cold War — detailing how massacres of leftists in twenty-two countries helped to overcome resistance to capitalism across the world, writes Grace Blakeley.
On Policing and Racial Justice, Justin Trudeau Is Offering Empty Gestures, Not Real Action
With thousands of Canadians protesting police violence, Justin Trudeau has offered no plans to combat brutality in Canadian policing — but he did take a knee at an Ottawa protest for the cameras. It’s a tried-and-true Trudeau formula: refuse to take meaningful progressive action, but pose for the press as if he did.
Martin Luther King Knew That There’s Nothing Peaceful About Nonviolence If You’re Doing It Right
Establishment pundits love to cite Martin Luther King as a way to delegitimize militant protests and shame unruly protesters. But King wasn’t a proponent of passive, compliant protest — to him, nonviolent action was about forging a powerful collective force that could coerce ruling elites into conceding to demands for justice.
The Left Loses a Lot. But Sometimes, We Win.
It’s a dark time in the US and across the world, but the last two weeks actually give us some cause for hope. Cities are pledging to shift money from cops to public services, violent officers are being disciplined and fired, and a wave of left victories came in last week’s primaries.
Police Brutality Against Protesters Only Stoked the Anti–Police Brutality Movement
Credit for the unprecedented wave of mass protests should go to anti-police brutality activists, movement journalists, and politicized young people. But let’s not forget the boys in blue themselves: cops’ vicious treatment of protesters proved to millions around the world that the protesters were right.
Why Have a Spate of Police Shootings in New Orleans Suburbs Been Ignored?
Just two days after the murder of George Floyd, a young welder and rapper named Modesto Reyes was killed by police in the New Orleans suburb of Jefferson Parish after a traffic stop. Why aren’t the deaths of Reyes and the other young black men recently killed by police in the New Orleans area national news?
“The Most Effective Way to Stop Police Terror Is Action at the Point of Production”
Longshore workers on the East and West Coast are stopping work today to demand an end to racist police murders. We spoke with one of the protest organizers about the action — and why labor must take the lead in the fight against police violence.