Small Businesses Are Overrated
We shouldn’t fetishize mom and pops. They offer lower wages, skimpier benefits, and inferior labor protections.
20403 Article(s) by: Alex Press
The Enigmatic Anarchist
Lucy Parsons’s life was rife with contradictions. But her commitment to workers’ emancipation was never in doubt.
Targeted Social Programs Make Easy Targets
Trump’s assault on Medicaid highlights the cancer at the heart of the US welfare state: means-testing.
Tom Brady Is Trying to Kill You
Go ahead and watch Tom Brady play football today, but whatever you do, don’t read his book.
The Machinations of Empire
Hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans will soon be at risk of deportation — just the latest injustice they’ve suffered at the hands of the US state.
State Racism Meets Neoliberalism
In Burma, state racism isn’t just perpetrated by its military, but liberals like Aung San Suu Kyi.
History From Below
Leon Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution remains a singular work of Marxist historiography.
Why Baltimore Doesn’t Heat Its Schools
In postindustrial Baltimore, low-income residents are treated as expendable — and public services are slashed accordingly.
The Moral Economy of the Iranian Protests
Beset by inequality and corruption, Iran’s provincial working classes are revolting against the revolution’s broken promises.
The Real Winston Churchill
Churchill was no hero — he was a vile racist fanatical about violence and fiercely supportive of imperialism.
Single Payer Could Solve the Rural Hospital Crisis
Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate. And the profit motive is to blame.
The Purge of New York
How real estate barons and investment bankers plotted the destruction of working-class New York.
Never Forget Nagasaki
Two veterans go to Japan to discuss the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the urgent need for nuclear disarmament.
Finland’s Red Women
During Finland’s bloody civil war, revolutionary women struggled against exploitation in all its forms.
Muddling Through Isn’t Enough
Modern democracy seems resistant to programs of sweeping change. But they may be the key to its survival.
The Roots of the Egyptian Crisis
Egypt’s current crisis highlights the flawed foundations of its post-revolutionary state. But liberal nostalgia for the days of the monarchy is equally misplaced.
Market-Based Health Care Is Screwing Rural America
Single payer would be a huge boon for small-town residents.
John Dewey’s Experiments in Democratic Socialism
John Dewey is commonly seen as the liberal philosopher par excellence. But his staunch commitment to democracy put him on a collision course with capitalism.
Dirty Elections in Honduras, With Washington’s Blessing
US support for the corrupt election in Honduras continues its history of obstructing the country’s democracy.
Forgetting and Remembering
Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen on the self-serving stories the US state tells about the Vietnam War.