American Exceptionalism Off the Rails
Why the United States spends so much but gets so little public transit.
19548 Articles by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
We Would Never Tolerate Julian Assange’s Persecution If Any Other Country Carried It Out
If Russia were persecuting a whistleblower like Julian Assange, the US would rightly condemn it as authoritarian abuse. But because that persecution is backed by the US, the mainstream media and American politicians are fine with it.
High-End Art Fairs Give Capitalism a Glow Up
Art is an essential expression of human creativity. But today’s high-end art fairs are a carnival of consumerism for the ultra-wealthy rather than a celebration of creative expression.
Revolutions Look Different According to Authoritarian or Democratic Conditions
The Russian Revolution led to revolutionary upheaval in countries far beyond Russia. Looking at Russia’s imperial borderlands like Finland suggests that socialist struggle can look wildly different in autocratic versus parliamentary conditions.
When Harriet Tubman Met John Brown
Happy Juneteenth! To celebrate, we’re looking back at the short but deep friendship of John Brown and Harriet Tubman, who gave their lives to the abolitionist cause.
A New Bill Would Redirect $100 Billion from the Military Budget to Pro-Worker Programs
Every year the US military budget grows ever larger, sucking up resources that we could use to improve the lives of workers. A new bill seeks to do just that, immediately cutting $100 billion from the military budget and putting it in social programs.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Is Popular Because He Confronts the Powerful
For years, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has faced endless accusations of “divisiveness” and “extremism.” Today, his left-wing movement is more popular than ever — and it’s because it didn’t shy away from taking on French elites.
Organized Labor Has to Challenge the Criminalization of Immigration
In recent decades, most of the labor movement has taken strong stances in favor of immigrant rights. But unions could do more to stop the ongoing criminalization of immigration that Democrats are doing little to halt.
No, Rising Prices Are Not Being Driven by Rising Wages
It’s not rising workers’ wages that are causing spiraling inflation — it’s corporate profiteering.
To Beat Emmanuel Macron, France’s Left Needs to Drive Up Working-Class Turnout
In Sunday’s elections, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-wing coalition has a historic chance to break Emmanuel Macron’s grip on Parliament. Newly reelected MP Danièle Obono tells Jacobin that to win, the Left will have to mobilize habitual nonvoters.
What’s Behind the Antiabortion Crackdown?
Since the turn of the 19th century, crackdowns on women’s reproductive rights have come in cycles. The attack isn’t only about controlling women but about pushing up the birth rate to suit capital’s needs.
Noam Chomsky: “Every Time We Build Up Our Military Budget, We’re Attacking Ourselves”
In a new interview, Noam Chomsky discusses the hypocrisies of US empire and why, if we really wanted to build a decent society, we’d immediately slash the massive military budget.
YouTube’s Censorship Is a Threat to the Left
YouTube claimed their content moderation policies were about fighting “misinformation” and violent extremism. Instead, they have suppressed the visibility and growth of independent, left-wing media outlets.
Want to Solve the Labor Shortage? Give Workers Control Over Their Jobs.
The industries where employers are complaining the loudest about recruiting and retaining labor are those where workers have lost the most independence and autonomy over their work. The best way to build and strengthen that independence is through unions.
Scott Pruitt Was Too Corrupt for the Trump Administration — but Maybe Not for the Senate
Former Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt is running for Senate in Oklahoma. A handmaiden of the oil and gas industry who was seemingly too corrupt for even the Trump administration, blocking environmental regulations is his life’s work.
Boris Johnson Is Attacking the Good Friday Agreement to Save His Own Skin
Britain’s prime minister intends to scrap his own Brexit deal and provoke a crisis in Northern Irish politics. Everyone who assisted Boris Johnson’s rise to power to block a left-wing government now shares responsibility for his criminal recklessness.
Jair Bolsonaro Must Answer for the Murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira
Just weeks after disappearing, a journalist and human rights activist have been found murdered in the Amazon. Their shocking killings are a result of the pro-business, pro-extractivist agenda that Jair Bolsonaro has pushed to unprecedented extremes.
Will Democrats Try Cutting Social Security and Medicare After a Disastrous Midterms?
If Democrats lose the midterm elections, as it seems like they might, there’s a very good chance they’ll follow up by trying to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. It’s the same thing Barack Obama did twelve years ago.
The Privatized Internet Has Failed Us
The early promises about the utopia that the internet would bring us have proven wrong. The internet can never deliver on all it’s capable of when it’s run for profit — we need a publicly owned internet.
Extreme Free-Market “Shock Therapy” in Postcommunist Eastern Europe Was a Disaster
Free-market ideologues claimed that economic “shock therapy” would turn communist states into models of prosperity. Instead it triggered a recession deeper than the Great Depression and fostered the ultranationalist right in countries like Hungary and Poland.