Nina Simone Was a Radical
Nina Simone is often remembered for her involvement in the civil rights movement. She was also engaged with the radical political currents of her age, including socialism.
19145 Articles by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
Simply Demanding Trust in Experts Won’t Cure Vaccine Skepticism
With COVID-19 still traveling and mutating, mass vaccination is an urgent and international priority. But dealing with vaccine skepticism will involve more than just dismissing people’s doubt as irrational. It will require genuine engagement with the doubt and uncertainty that is also a fundamental principle of the scientific method.
The Brazilian Right Used Anti-Corruption to Push Its Agenda
Beginning in 2014, Brazil was consumed by a moralizing anti-corruption drive that helped right-wing forces oust the Workers’ Party and undermine Lula’s legacy. It took investigative journalism to unravel Lava Jato’s mythology.
Changing Our Individual Behavior Isn’t Going to Save the Planet
Two years since his fuel tax hike was sunk by the Yellow Vests protests, Emmanuel Macron’s new climate law again exhorts the French to show “willpower” in the fight to “make the world great again.” But the law does nothing to impose limits on the most environmentally damaging businesses — instead blaming climate change on citizens’ failure to alter their habits.
Journalism Is in Crisis. Only Public Funding Can Save It.
For the Left, it’s easy to hate the media, with its entrenched centrist biases and loyalty to the status quo. But a world without high-quality news is a world where meaningful democracy is impossible. That’s the message of media scholar Victor Pickard, who argues for a transformation of our media system away from the model of commercial news and toward a “public option.”
The Social Justice Unionism of Wendell Young III
The Philadelphia union leader Wendell Young III straddled the worlds of the labor movement born out of the New Deal and the social movements of the New Left. He believed that uniting these two worlds in struggle could transform the United States.
Democratic Socialism Must Be Internationalist
At the heart of socialism is the simple idea that everyone, no matter where they’re born, is worthy of a dignified life — and that the fate of workers everywhere is linked together. Turning our back on that idea by dropping our internationalism would be a grave mistake.
Against Meritocracy
When sociologist Michael Young coined the term “meritocracy,” he was warning against the idea that we should have to compete to prove how talented or hardworking we are. A truly egalitarian society would guarantee a dignified existence for us all — regardless of arbitrary measures of how much we deserve it.
Britain’s Labour Party Can’t Become Another PASOK
Social democratic parties across Europe have suffered “Pasokification,” the fate of the Greek center-left party that lost three-quarters of its voters in just three years. If Britain’s Labour Party wants to avoid similar disasters, it needs an economic radicalism that can show the working class that it’s really on their side.
The Derek Chauvin Conviction Is a Victory for Justice and Democracy
When state officials can murder ordinary citizens in plain sight and get away with it, our society is less democratic. The Derek Chauvins of the world need to be in prison.
The Nation’s Largest Health Insurer Pressured Its Employees to Fight a Public Option
A newly obtained video shows an executive at UnitedHealth Group, the country’s largest health insurer, opposing a proposed public option bill in Connecticut — and actually pushing employees to lobby against the bill.
Amazon Workers Don’t Need Apologies From Jeff Bezos. They Need to Organize.
In his final letter to shareholders before stepping down as Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos promised to do better by workers. Some in the media were impressed, but it’s a standard public relations move right out of the anti-union playbook.
Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Much Different From Trump’s
The first three months of Joe Biden’s foreign policy have been a Trump-like travesty: coddling brutal dictators, saber-rattling against nuclear powers, and putting US dominance above human rights.
Voters Will Opt to Tax the Rich — If They Know How the Money Will Be Spent
Last year, both Arizona and California voted on ballot initiatives to tax the rich. So why did it fail in blue state California but pass in libertarian Arizona?
Democrats Can’t Push a Progressive Agenda Without Smashing the Filibuster
A Democratic leadership that trumpets its support for progressive legislation while refusing to abolish the filibuster looks more interested in pantomiming a fake reformist agenda than actually realizing one.
Don’t Ignore the Ongoing Crisis in Yemen
While the Biden administration continues arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the death toll is only mounting in Yemen. Aid workers on the ground tell us the situation is worse than ever.
Moderna’s Pledge Not to Enforce the Patents on Their COVID-19 Vaccine Is Worthless
The media cheered Moderna’s pledge not to enforce the patents on its COVID-19 vaccine. But vaccines like theirs are still protected by intellectual property laws designed to keep medical knowledge out of the public’s hands.
It’s Time to End the UK’s Minister-to-Lobbyist Pipeline
Former British prime minister David Cameron has been exposed using his contacts in government to help out his new bosses at finance firm Greensill Capital. The scandal points to the cronyism among Britain’s elites — and how a wider culture of privatization and outsourcing provides a breeding ground for corruption.
The PRO Act Could Be a Game Changer for Academic Labor Organizing
For decades, academic workers have been subjected to both rising austerity and legal blockages to their organizing efforts. The PRO Act would allow them to fight back.
To Save the Planet, Expropriate the Rich
No matter how much they flaunt their environmental virtue or how much eco-friendly consumption they engage in, the global 1 percent are almost inherently destructive of the climate. There’s only one way to fix the situation: expropriate them.