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.
Rashida Tlaib is leading a group in Congress calling on Joe Biden to halt extradition proceedings against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. The prosecution of Assange should worry anyone who believes in freedom of the press.
I’m a lecturer at Rutgers University, and yesterday, I joined my fellow academic workers in striking for the first time in the university’s 250-year history. Our fight against precarious working conditions affects the entire working class.
A blockbuster new story reveals that Clarence Thomas has been traveling around the world on a superyacht and private jet owned by billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow. Yet somehow, right-wingers continue to pretend that Thomas is an enemy of “the elites.”
Conservative commentator Peter Hitchens thinks the Nazis were leftists. His case doesn’t even begin to add up.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. We should never forget and never forgive the architects of that evil war.
Libertarians and conservatives talk a lot about freedom, but the most important kind of freedom is freedom from domination — and if you take that seriously, you should oppose capitalism.
Marianne Williamson is running against Joe Biden. It would benefit the entire country if he had to defend his record on issues both foreign and domestic.
A new raft of Republican state-level proposals to re-legalize child labor are disgusting for many reasons. They certainly make our society less equal. But they also make it less free.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is sometimes presented as a “normal” Republican who doesn’t share the antidemocratic impulses of Donald Trump. His crusade to erode the freedom of the press makes a mockery of that assessment.
Achieving a fully socialist society is going to take a long time, and there’s no guarantee of victory. But we should never lose sight of the goal, because every step we take in that direction makes life better for working-class people and deepens democracy.
J. D. Vance, the faux-populist senator from Ohio, says that Donald Trump “kept the peace” as president. He has a short memory.
Right-wing demagogue Steven Crowder recently turned down a $50 million offer from Ben Shapiro’s billionaire-funded media organization, calling it a “slave contract.” If only these guys showed as much concern for the conditions of ordinary workers.
Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro thinks he’s distilled political legitimacy into a mathematical equation. He’s only succeeded in proving that he’s very confused.
Jair Bolsonaro is currently in Florida after fleeing Brazil to escape justice for his many crimes. There’s no reason to offer him safe haven — the US should kick him out immediately.
Leftist leader Lula da Silva was inaugurated on Sunday as Brazil’s president. It’s a huge win for the global left — I only wish the late Michael Brooks, who tirelessly agitated for Lula’s release from prison, would have lived to see his return to power.
Reactionary pundit Curtis Yarvin (“Mencius Moldbug”) has attracted the support of Peter Thiel and other right-wing figures for his supposedly brilliant critique of democracy. But his arguments are paper-thin — everyone should have a say in shaping our society.
The philosophy of effective altruism is catnip to well-meaning and intellectually inclined donors. But as a strategy for tackling what’s wrong with the world, it misses the mark.
Ben Shapiro absurdly says that the Left supports gay marriage to undermine families and turn us into “atomized individuals.” The reality: leftists oppose social atomization, and we want all families to have the economic support they need.
During a speech on Saturday, Joe Biden referred to right-wing protesters calling him a socialist as “idiots.” He’s right. Socialists are committed to ending inequality, and the president has always been on the other side of the barricades.
Liberals who minimize the importance of free speech on Twitter are dead wrong. But we shouldn’t have to hope that a billionaire with a track record of suppressing his critics will live up to his free speech rhetoric.