How Liberals Gave Up on Progress
Liberals constantly urge citizens to accept difficult decisions to protect the capitalist economy. This wasn’t always the case.
19540 Articles by: Elizabeth Mahony
Prey Brilliantly Revives the Predator Franchise
Hollywood loves to crank out boring action movies. But Hulu’s Prey is anything but. It plays off of and reverses long-standing Hollywood tropes about Native Americans to craft an alien thriller that actually delivers.
The Federal Government Has Long Made the Cost of Higher Ed Worse, Not Better
Everyone knows the cost of higher education in America is massive and unsustainable. The federal government has played a key role in inflating college costs — but any president, including Joe Biden, could easily change that while wiping out student debt.
Starbucks’s Abortion Promises for Workers Are PR Stunts. We Want a Union Contract.
Starbucks is seeking good PR by offering to cover travel costs for abortion and gender-affirming care for workers like me. But its promises come with caveats and can be revoked. We don’t want flimsy promises — we want these benefits in a union contract.
Recent Primary Results Show the GOP Is Still Sliding Toward Authoritarianism
Candidates who amplified false claims about Donald Trump winning in 2020 did very well in this month’s primaries. Their victories are one more step in the direction of authoritarianism.
Joe Biden Promised a Public Option for Health Care. What Happened to It?
On the 2020 campaign trail, Joe Biden and much of the rest of his party promised to pursue a public option for health care. We haven’t heard a word about the public option since.
Charlie Kirk Is Right to Be Afraid of Spinoza
Right-wing culture warriors recently attacked Immanuel Kant as the father of “critical race theory.” Now, figures like Charlie Kirk are going after Baruch Spinoza — a radical enlightenment thinker who can actually teach us a few things about how to fight the Right.
Australian Unions Need to Stop Pinning Their Hopes on the Labor Party
Since the 1980s, Australian unions have subordinated everything to getting Labor elected. It’s a failed strategy that has diminished union power, leading to declining wages and conditions for workers.
Boston Starbucks Workers Have Been on Strike for 3 Weeks
Three weeks ago, in response to what workers say has been particularly flagrant union busting at a Boston Starbucks after their unanimous vote for a union, baristas have gone on strike. That strike is still going.
No, Criticism of the Democratic Climate Bill Isn’t About Bitter “Internet Leftists”
Have you heard? All criticism of the Inflation Reduction Act can be boiled down to moralizing hippies and a bitter, “Internet-poisoned” left. This is absurd: deflecting from the bill’s flaws does a disservice to the climate fight.
US Global Dominance Is Bad for Workers at Home and Abroad
Rather than benefiting workers in the US and elsewhere, US foreign policy enriches corporate elites and the national security state. Our task is to rebuild the left institutions that bind workers together across borders and fight for a more just world order.
Gustavo Petro: Colombia Will Be More Fair and More Peaceful
On Sunday, Gustavo Petro became the first left-wing president in Colombian history. Here, Petro speaks about his dream of a new Colombia founded on principles of solidarity and human dignity.
7 Democratic Senators Just Did Their Wall Street Donors a Huge Favor
For a group of Democratic senators, blocking an expansion of the child tax credit wasn’t enough — they also had to do a huge favor for their big-money donors in private equity.
How Striking Auto Workers Showed Italy the Way Out of Decline
The battle against layoffs at Florence’s GKN auto parts plant may seem like a dispute from a past era. Yet the workers’ plan for the green reconversion of the factory shows how labor can point the way to the future.
Archaeologists in Quebec Are About to Sign Their First-Ever Collective Bargaining Agreement
Quebecois archeologists will soon ink their very first collective bargaining agreement. We don’t associate archaeological workers with unions, but there’s no reason archaeologists can’t organize, too.
Vladimir Sorokin’s Telluria Is a Dystopian Novel for Our Dangerous Times
In Russian novelist Vladimir Sorokin’s Telluria, inhabitants of a war-ravaged Europe can find solace only by hammering nails made of a hallucinogenic substance into their skulls. It’s a postapocalyptic world that isn’t quite like our own — yet.
US Interference in Somalia Has Been a Disaster for Somalis
Joe Biden has announced the return of US ground troops to Somalia. Far from helping Somalis, the long, destructive history of US intervention since the 1970s has merely worsened their country’s deep crisis and fueled the rise of the terrorist group al-Shabaab.
Mario Fiorentini (1918–2022): The Last Partisan
Mario Fiorentini was the last surviving militant of Rome’s Communist-led Gruppi d’Azione Patriottica partisan units. With his passing last night, we lost a powerful witness to the fight against Italian Fascism and German occupation.
Colombia’s Left Government Will Be Watched Closely by All of Latin America
Colombia’s new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, took office Sunday. His government will face massive challenges in carrying out its promised progressive agenda — but success could help spark similar left insurgents throughout Latin America.
Chuck Schumer’s Family Is Getting Nice Work on Wall Street
Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity fund, just hired Senator Chuck Schumer’s son-in-law as a lobbyist — at the same time the Wall Street firm is lobbying the Senate on major financial legislation.