Capitalism Isn’t Working. But What Would a Viable Socialist System Look Like?
Criticisms of capitalism’s failures have more power if we can actually imagine an alternative. Here’s what a viable socialist society could look like.
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.
We Shouldn’t Need GoFundMe to Respond to Catastrophes. We Need a Strong Welfare State.
A telltale sign of a broken society is when medical workers are forced to beg for supplies on GoFundMe and parents have to write compelling stories to convince random people to pay for their kid’s cancer treatment. Instead of crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, we need a generous welfare state that ensures everyone’s basic needs are met.
Why Jordan Peterson Is Always Wrong
Jordan Peterson is one of the most famous public intellectuals in the world. But his pronouncements in favor of capitalism and hierarchy collapse at the slightest bit of scrutiny.
The Left Can’t Just Dismiss the Anti-Lockdown Protests
The anti-lockdown protests may currently represent a Trumpian minority — but that could easily change if the choice becomes going hungry or going back to work. We need a real alternative that refuses to accept the false trade-off between economic security and public health.
Your Boss Is Spying on You
With millions of people now working from their homes, frantic bosses are buying high-tech surveillance software to track their employees’ every keystroke. It’s the latest example of how capitalism is built on employer despotism.
Cuba’s Coronavirus Response Is Putting Other Countries to Shame
Cuba is caricatured by the Right as a totalitarian hellhole. But its response to the coronavirus pandemic — from sending doctors to other countries to pioneering anti-viral treatments to converting factories into mask-making machines — is putting other countries, even rich countries, to shame.
Coronavirus Should Be a Wake-Up Call
From prisoners making hand sanitizer to people forgoing testing because of cost, the coronavirus has exposed the social rot in American society. But we don’t have to live this way — we can transform society for the better.
Bernie Sanders Is More Electable Than Joe Biden
Do Democrats really want to nominate a man who confuses his wife with his sister, who can’t string together a coherent sentence, and who supported trade deals that would kill him in the Rust Belt? If not, they should go with Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders Has the Momentum
Bernie Sanders has won three out of the first four primary contests. He has the momentum going into Super Tuesday tomorrow — not Joe Biden.
Yes, the Candidate With the Most Delegates Should Be the Nominee
It’s really very simple: the presidential candidate with the most delegates heading into the Democratic National Convention should be the nominee. There’s no good counterargument.
Bernie Sanders Was Right About Cuba
Bernie Sanders was right to applaud Cuba’s literacy programs even as he criticized the country’s undemocratic political system. He has nothing to apologize for.
Michael Bloomberg Is Not a Lesser Evil
A Michael Bloomberg presidency wouldn’t be a repudiation of Donald Trump — it would cement the oligarchic status quo and deliver another blow to American democracy. No one should vote for Bloomberg, even if he wins the Democratic nomination.
AOC Knows Exactly What the Problem Is With Billionaires Like Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is donating billions of dollars through his new foundation. But as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argues, we need to redistribute his power, not just his wealth.
Bernie Got the Most Votes in Iowa, Which Means He Won Iowa
Don’t let the centrist journalists and opinion-makers mislead you. Bernie Sanders won Iowa, plain and simple.
It’s Good That Joe Rogan Endorsed Bernie. Now We Have to Organize.
We don’t like plenty of what Joe Rogan has to say — but Bernie Sanders won his support without compromising any of his values. He has nothing to apologize for.
Ben Shapiro, Keyboard Drone Pilot
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro cheered Trump’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani and the escalation of hostilities with Iran with a simple underlying message — American lives matter in a way that Iranian lives do not.
Sports Teams Should Be Owned by the Public
Why do we allow billionaires to run beloved sports franchises as dictatorships and blackmail us for tax subsidies? We should put our favorite teams under public ownership.
Free Higher Education Is a Very Good Idea
Liberal pundits and politicians like Hillary Clinton have a host of objections to free higher education. But free college isn’t just good policy — it’s good politics.
Sorry Mayor Pete, Means-Testing Is Not Progressive
Universal programs build solidarity and are far more politically durable than means-tested programs. By going after free college, Pete Buttigieg is doing the bidding of the Right.
You Deserve to Live Close to Where You Work
Beto O’Rourke is actually right about something — everyone has the right to live within a reasonable distance of where they work. But to make that right a reality, we’ll need an industrial and housing policy that values people over profit.