Doing Your Taxes Doesn’t Have to Be This Miserable
It’s Tax Day, so ponder this: in social democratic countries like Sweden, the government does your taxes for you. Just add it to the list of nice things we should have in the US.
271 Articles by: Ben Burgis
Ben Burgis is a Jacobin columnist, an adjunct philosophy professor at Rutgers University, and the host of the YouTube show and podcast Give Them An Argument. He’s the author of several books, most recently Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters.
G. A. Cohen Showed Why We Should All Be Socialists
Right before he died, Marxist philosopher G. A. Cohen wrote a short book called Why Not Socialism? It’s a perfect introduction to the case for moving beyond a capitalist economy.
No, Left-Wing Opponents of War Aren’t Isolationists
The Left’s opposition to wars allegedly fought for democracy or human rights isn’t tantamount to “isolationism.” Opposing war has always been at the heart of socialist internationalism.
If You Want to Understand Marxism, Read G. A. Cohen
Socialist philosopher G. A. Cohen was a brilliant thinker who subjected Marxism to the same scrutiny he would any other ideology. If you want to see Marxism at its most nondogmatic and precise, you should read G. A. Cohen.
Stop Trying to Make Right-Wing Social Democracy Happen. It’s Not Going to Happen.
The new magazine Compact claims to fight for a “strong social democratic state” that also defends “familial and religious” community against “libertine” corruption. That combination of right-wing morals and left-wing economics is never going to happen — and it shouldn’t.
A No-Fly Zone in Ukraine Would Start World War III. It’s the Worst Idea Possible.
A growing chorus of voices is calling for Joe Biden to establish a no-fly zone — an action that would risk the future of human civilization.
Texas Republicans Trample Their Own Principles to Attack Trans Kids
By viciously attacking transgender kids and their families, Texas governor Greg Abbott and his conservative admirers have proven that they’re talking nonsense when they claim to care about shielding families from the overreach of government bureaucrats.
Joe Biden’s State of the Union Didn’t Offer Much for the Working Class
Last night, Joe Biden sounded like he was about to declare World War III. He won’t, thankfully — but he also won’t do much for working people.
The Supreme Court Is an Antidemocratic Monstrosity. We Should Break Its Power.
Instead of celebrating Stephen Breyer’s retirement, we should be weakening the Supreme Court’s power. Popular majorities should determine the course of our society — not nine unelected lawyers.
The Equality That Socialists Care About Most Is Equality of Power
When socialists talk about creating a more equal society, we don’t mean a society where everyone has an exactly equal share of everything. We mean a society where power has been equalized by extending democracy into the economy.
Hate Petty Bureaucracy? Become a Socialist.
Right-wingers oppose social programs like Medicare for All on the grounds that they create “powerful new bureaucracies.” But it’s means-tested benefits, not universal programs, that empower bureaucrats to act like petty tyrants.
Elizabeth Holmes Swindled Henry Kissinger, and We’re Not Complaining
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is a living embodiment of what’s wrong with the Silicon Valley venture capital sinkhole. But we can’t get too mad at her for defrauding some of the worst rich people in the world.
“Economic Freedom” Rankings Don’t Tell Us Anything About Capitalism
Conservatives and libertarians love to cite studies ranking different countries’ levels of “economic freedom” as evidence for the glories of capitalism. There’s just one problem: the rankings are nonsense.
Gavin Newsom Likes Racial Justice — As Long as It Doesn’t Cost Anything
California governor Gavin Newsom ran for office promising to pursue racial justice. But his stance on two recent bills shows that his anti-racism is pure rhetorical posturing.
It’s Really Not That Hard: Just Ignore the Senate Parliamentarian
Once again, Senate Democrats are allowing a nonbinding ruling by the Senate parliamentarian to torpedo their agenda. Could the Dems be any more pathetic?
HBO’s New Obama Documentary Is Apolitical Propaganda
HBO has a new documentary about Barack Obama. It’s so devoid of politics that a viewer just learning about Obama would have no idea he escalated the war in Afghanistan and presided over eight years of rising economic inequality.
US Out of Afghanistan, US Bases Out of Everywhere
Some hawkish pundits are asking why must America leave Afghanistan when it has a permanent military presence at over 700 military bases around the world. They’re accidentally suggesting a good point: America should leave Afghanistan, and those 700 bases should go, too.
The Best Way to Help Afghans Is to Let Them Come to the US
The idea that the United States should have stayed in Afghanistan to stop it from falling to the Taliban is dangerously misguided. But there is one thing the US can and should do: admit every single Afghan refugee.
We Need a World Without Landlords
Recent battles over eviction moratoriums and homeless encampments have shown the depressing limits of our political horizons. We need to envision a radically different system that guarantees everyone the right to decent, stable housing.
Bipartisanship Is Garbage
Centrist pundits and politicians are cheering the new bipartisan infrastructure bill, even though it slashes a range of vital spending programs contained in the original. We don’t need continued fetishization of bipartisanship — we need measures that actually aid the working-class majority.