Farewell to a Working-Class Hero
Pat Carta was part of a generation of workers and organizers whose immense knowledge about overcoming fear to build class consciousness and worker power will never be found in a book.
20401 Article(s) by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
A Federal Monitor Is Intervening in the UAW’s Cease-Fire Call
A federal monitor intended to serve as a watchdog for corruption is improperly interfering in the UAW’s public opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza.
Did the Thirty Years’ War Produce Capitalism?
The podcast Chapo Trap House’s miniseries Hell on Earth is an entertaining story which proposes that the Thirty Years’ War midwifed the birth of capitalism. Ultimately, however, the interesting argument doesn’t hold up.
Israel, Not Iran or Hezbollah, Wants a Wider War
Having painted itself into a corner by launching a war that has killed 40,000 Palestinians and failed to defeat Hamas, Israel has doubled down, provoking a wider war with Iran and Hezbollah to bring in the US against enemies it cannot vanquish alone.
The Death of the Squad Has Been Greatly Exaggerated
Just a week ago, the media said the Squad faced an “existential threat” from AIPAC. Ilhan Omar’s landslide win should remind us the lobby is only as invincible as it makes us believe it is.
The Bangladesh Protest Movement Won Out Against Repression
Mass protests in Bangladesh ousted Sheikh Hasina after state repression left hundreds dead. But an interim government headed by microcredit guru Muhammad Yunus can’t be relied on to tackle the dire social problems facing the country’s popular classes.
Benjamin Netanyahu Does Not Respond to “Tough Talk”
Benjamin Netanyahu is not deterred by diplomatic tough talk behind closed doors. The only thing that can defeat him politically is the end of the war itself — something the United States has the power to make happen.
Haiti’s Gang Violence Is a Symptom of Its Political Crisis
A UN-sponsored international force has been deployed in Haiti with a mandate to clamp down on gang violence. But the strength of the gangs is inextricably linked to the character of the Haitian state and its ties to economic elites at home and abroad.
We Need Better Than a Return to the Roe Status Quo
Kamala Harris knows abortion is a winning issue for her. But rather than just stand by and watch the votes roll in, Democrats should run on a broader vision of reproductive freedom, including abortion access and economic policies to support families.
As Israel Wages Genocide, Its Economy Is Buckling
To maintain his hold on power, Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a brutal forever war against Palestinians. But the costs aren’t just in human lives: Israel’s economy may not be able to sustain this war.
Borderlands Bombs Out
Borderlands is officially a box office disaster. Even Cate Blanchett can’t save it.
Emmanuel Macron’s France Is a Broken Republic
Nabila Ramdani cuts through the self-congratulatory myths of French politics to deliver a damning picture of France under Macron. But she doesn’t give enough credit to the left-wing forces working to transform this broken system.
Ray’s a Laugh, 28 Years Later
When Richard Billingham published photos of his poor and alcoholic family, critics asked whether he had betrayed or humanized them. Walter Benn Michaels reflects on the images’ legacy and on working-class photography under neoliberalism 28 years later.
Understanding the Rise of Fascism
Popular accounts of Nazism often claim that Hitler rose to power democratically. But, historian Richard J. Evans argues, German fascism relied on armed militias, made up of disaffected veterans inspired by antisemitism, to crush communists and socialists.
Israel’s Second War
While Israel’s war on Gaza has inflicted immeasurable suffering on Palestinians, its conflict with Hezbollah poses an existential threat to the region. Despite this, Israel is actively courting a wider war.
How Honduras’s Narco-State Leaders Fell Out With Washington
Honduras’s former president Juan Orlando Hernández has been jailed in the US for drug trafficking. But the narco-state he ran was a product of US foreign policy and of the US-backed coup against Manuel Zelaya’s left-wing government.
Cyprus’s 50-Year Cease-Fire Hasn’t Brought Peace
In July 1974, the Greek junta carried out a military coup in Cyprus, followed five days later by a Turkish invasion. For 50 years since, the island has been divided, with no reunification in sight.
How San Francisco Longshoremen Made Their Union a Powerhouse
When they started strategically resisting the bosses’ divisive tactics, meeting racism with solidarity, San Francisco longshoremen went “from wharf rats to the lords of the docks.”
We Need a New Movement to End Old-Age Poverty
During the Great Depression, a mass movement of the elderly helped pressure FDR to enact Social Security. As seniors increasingly struggle with financial insecurity today, that movement could serve as a model for a campaign to fix the program’s shortcomings.
The Incompetence of Masters of War
Western defense giants tout cutting-edge tech, but their “state-of-the-art” systems often fall short in asymmetrical warfare. From faulty missile defense systems to overpriced carriers, the only thing that consistently works is the profit machine.