In Defense of Air-Conditioning

Opposition to air-conditioning is just another form of austerity politics. Nothing’s too good for the working class — especially not freedom from the heat.

The Crisis That Created Putin

Twenty years ago, a crisis of Russian capitalism doomed Moscow’s pro-Western regime and gave birth to the Putin era.

Booze and Socialism

German socialists knew the craze for schnapps was a plague on working-class life. They fought it by building their organizations around beer.

“This System Is a Moral Horror”

Franklin Bynum is a socialist candidate for judge in Houston. In an interview, he explains his vision for criminal-justice reform, nonprofits’ attempts at co-opting reform, and why “capitalism drives the horrors of this system.”

Medicare for All Is a Money Saver

Need another reason to love Medicare for All? Bernie Sanders’s plan is so much cheaper than the alternatives that passing it would make it easier to fund other social programs.

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Facebook After Capitalism

Jeremy Corbyn’s call for a “free and democratic media” promises to break the stranglehold of the established monopolies. And that also means taking on tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg.

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Over the Border

The Communist Party of Finland was founded 100 years ago today. Its fate was tightly wound up with the Soviet Union across the border.

Why We Need a Social Wealth Fund

A social wealth fund could massively reduce wealth inequality — and democratize the economy at the same time.

Medicalizing Society

The rise of psychiatry was funded by America’s Gilded Age industrialists. Their aim: to cast society’s ills as problems of individual “mental health.”

A Blueprint for Universal Childhood

Children deserve to spend their days in the company of peers, having fun, and discovering the world with the help of loving, well-compensated adults.

The Identity Mistake

Mistaken Identity claims to overcome the limits of identity politics but leads us down the same dead end.

Ecuador’s Great Betrayal

Ecuador’s president Lenin Moreno was elected to continue Correa’s Citizens’ Revolution — but has set about dismantling it instead.

The Legacy of Black Reconstruction

W. E. B. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America thrust African Americans into the role of historical actors and showed that the black freedom struggle has always been one for radical democracy.

John McCain Wasn’t a Hero

John McCain’s greatest achievement was convincing the world through charming banter and occasional opposition to his party’s agenda that he was anything other than a reactionary, bloodthirsty war hawk.

“I Lifted Up Mine Eyes to Ghana”

W. E. B. Du Bois died on this day in 1963. Few figures were more influential in shaping the struggle against colonialism.

No Direction Home

The far right has made breakthroughs in old Communist heartlands across Europe. A new memoir blames this on the slow and painful erosion of class politics.

The Case of Richard Aoki: Berkeley Radical, Black Panther, FBI Informant

Richard Aoki was well-known as a lifelong Bay Area radical, playing key roles in the Socialist Workers Party, Berkeley ethnic studies strike, and Black Panther Party. He was also an FBI informant.