The House Democrats Bought and Paid For by Big Pharma
Reps. Scott Peters, Kurt Schrader, and Kathleen Rice — Democrats all — give weak, incoherent responses to why they torpedoed a plan to let Medicare negotiate drug prices.
19118 Articles by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
In New York City, Occupy Wall Street Got the Last Laugh
Back in 2011, the media dismissed Occupy Wall Street as a mere flash in the pan. But in the long run, the movement reshaped the landscape of New York City and State politics.
The Socialist Movement’s Strength Is Growing in America’s Most Diverse County
Since 2016, under the influence of Bernie Sanders and NYC-DSA, the socialist base in Queens, New York has transformed from an eclectic mixture of progressive voters into a multiracial movement of the working class.
Call Center Workers in Australia Are Unionizing to Demand Better Pay and Conditions
In Australia, call center work is notoriously precarious, atomized, and poorly paid. Through a rank-and-file union drive, hundreds of workers across over 90 workplaces are organizing to change that.
There’s Trouble in El Salvador’s Bitcoin Paradise
Between the growing authoritarianism of his government and the massive popular pushback to his absurd new Bitcoin law, the honeymoon for El Salvador’s young, self-styled “disrupter” president Nayib Bukele is over.
You Can’t Be Against “Forever Wars” Without Cutting the Military Budget
These days, a lot of politicians say they’re against “forever wars” — and that’s a good thing. But the acid test for genuine opposition to the national security state is support for cutting the military budget.
The Queen’s Gambit Created a Fictional Female Chess Grandmaster. The Soviet Union Created Dozens of Real Ones.
Soviet chess grandmaster Nona Gaprindashvili has announced that she is suing Netflix for belittling her achievements in The Queen’s Gambit. Her career shows we don’t need fictional rags-to-riches stories but welfare states that allow us to realize our true potential.
We Need to Shrink Big Pharma Until It’s Small Enough to Drown in a Bathtub
The pharmaceutical industry develops lifesaving drugs and medical devices used by millions. It’s also one of the most stone-cold evil institutions on the planet.
The Communist Manifesto Is Still Haunting the Powerful
Yolanda Díaz, labor minister in Spain’s first left-wing coalition since the 1930s, writes on why The Communist Manifesto is still today the sharpest critique of capitalist society.
A Socialist Primer on Monetary Policy and Inflation
Utter the words “monetary policy” and many of us fall asleep. But that policy is crucial to how capitalists exert power. Instead of leaving it to the “experts,” socialists and the labor movement should demand a democratic say in what monetary policy looks like.
Paulo Freire’s Radical Method Was Rooted in Brazil’s Historical Inequalities
Paulo Freire, who was born one hundred years ago today, came of age in a country where half of all adults were illiterate and therefore disenfranchised. Freire’s ideas were forged in a uniquely Brazilian context.
When Regulatory Capture Turns Sinister
You might not expect a novel about regulatory capture by private utility companies to be particularly compelling. But Peter and Sarah Lazare’s Testimony, a thriller about corporate power and government corruption in a state regulatory agency, is exactly that.
Paulo Freire’s Ideas Are Just as Powerful Today as Ever
Socialist educator Paulo Freire was born one hundred years ago today in the Brazilian city of Recife. A longtime comrade of Freire, leading Marxist pedagogue Peter McLaren writes about how his life and work remain deeply relevant today.
Canada Needs to Have a Serious Talk About Trade Policy
Trade policy has received next to no attention this election, despite the post-pandemic collapse of corporate supply chains, the unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and the climate crisis. It will be impossible to confront these problems without a progressive trade policy.
UK Conservatives Are Banking on a Losing Strategy
The approach that delivered electoral success for the UK’s Tories over the last decade is starting to run out of road. But for now, the Conservatives are lucky to have an ineffectual Labour opposition that’s afraid to criticize their pandemic response.
2,000 Washington Carpenters Are on Strike
After rejecting a contract proposal from union leadership, 2,000 Washington carpenters walked off the job.
Corporations Control Canada’s Infrastructure — But the Major Parties Won’t Confront Them
Despite their election rhetoric, Canadian politicians have been acting in the interests of corporations for decades. We need to confront corporate interests — and in order to do so, we have to recognize how intertwined they are with the Canadian state.
Labor Unions Were Occupy Wall Street’s Key, Forgotten, Conflicted Ally
The labor movement played a key role in the success of Occupy Wall Street. But the alliance of unions and Occupy never succeeded in reaching its full potential.
You Know Who Else Opposed Vaccine Mandates? Hitler.
Contrary to claims about “fascist” vaccine mandates currently circulating on the Right, the Nazis actually relaxed German vaccine mandates — and hoped doing the same for people they conquered would kill them faster.
In Germany’s Election, the Center Can Hold
Next Sunday’s German election is one of the most unpredictable in decades. But even if Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats do pull off an upset victory, they’re promising continuity with Angela Merkel’s policies — not the change working people need.