Demanding an End to Uyghur Oppression

We can oppose the saber-rattling and militarism of the US’s China hawks without downplaying the oppression of the Uyghur people.

Striking NYU Grad Workers: “Our Struggle, Like Every Labor Struggle, Is Part of a Larger Fight”

New York University’s finances are flush, yet the administration has stonewalled grad workers on wages and other demands, including limiting New York police officers’ access to campus buildings. Now, the thousands-strong union is on strike.

The Marginal Tax Bracket Is an Enemy of Democracy

The marginal tax bracket at the heart of our income tax system obfuscates the key question about taxes in a democratic society: Who pays what? In the 1930s, France’s Popular Front government had a solution — until it was dismantled by the right-wing Vichy regime.

The Invention of Inequality

From chiefs and kings to billionaires today, a small handful of humans over thousands of years have figured out how to amass tremendous power and wealth. We talked to an anthropologist about how the ruling class got started.

Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Has Been Horrendous

No one expected Joe Biden to rein in US empire. But after 100 days, he’s been terrible even on his own terms — failing to reenter the Iran nuclear deal, coddling authoritarian leaders like Mohammed bin Salman, and looking on as countries like India are pummeled by the COVID-19 crisis.

Illiberal Conservatism Comes to Greece

Under cover of the pandemic, Greece’s right-wing government has passed a slew of new measures to benefit the wealthy at the expense of workers, while massively expanding police powers. On the back of a decade of austerity, the latest laws are set to transform the country into a client state and playground for foreign tourists.

Release the Vaccines

The horrifying scenes of COVID-wracked India show that when rich countries like the US back pharmaceutical profits over lives, vaccine inequality turns into global vaccine apartheid. Joe Biden has the power to immediately end this. Release the damn vaccines.

Exterminate All the Brutes Exposes the Murderous History of Colonialism

Raoul Peck’s HBO docuseries Exterminate All the Brutes isn’t easy to watch — but it’s important popular education on the 600-year development of the concept and system of white supremacy associated with colonialism, slavery, and genocide.

The GOP Is Cracking Down on Protesters — And Protecting People Who Run Them Over

Embracing a tactical innovation originally pioneered by ISIS, the Republican Party is pushing bills that would empower motorists to run over protesters.

The Untold Stories of the Independence War in Bangladesh

Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan 50 years ago after a war that involved terrible atrocities against the civilian population. Selective nationalist mythologies still obscure the human stories of victims and perpetrators, and the lasting scars of the conflict.

Joe Biden’s Central America Plan Is a Cruel Joke

Joe Biden has pledged to pour money into Central America to address the root causes of migration. There’s just one problem: the aid dollars would be used to shore up the militarized, free-market model that is making people flee in the first place.

Uncovering the Many Eric Hobsbawms

Eric Hobsbawm’s work spanned everything from jazz to the history of banditry, in thousands of texts he wrote in several languages. A new project has brought together his writings in a searchable database — offering readers a goldmine of work by Britain’s greatest Marxist historian.

Armed Blackmail Will Never Bring Peace to Eastern Ukraine

The Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border in recent weeks aimed to demonstrate the Kremlin’s muscle and force concessions over disputed regions. The threat of military force will never bring a viable peace — and for the Left, the first task is to de-escalate the rising nationalist tensions.

On Key Issues Like the Civilian Climate Corps, Joe Biden Is Still Thinking Far Too Small

Joe Biden’s first 100 days proposal for a Civilian Climate Corps to put Americans to work revamping infrastructure and fighting climate change, is nowhere near as ambitious as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, and nowhere near large enough for the crises we face.

I Was a 1970s CIA Brat

At the height of the Cold War, my father was a station chief for the Central Intelligence Agency. It was a front-row seat for the last gasp of the WASP spy.

The Political Wing of American Capital

After the upheavals of the 1960s, business leaders were losing control. They fought back through the Chamber of Commerce.

An Army of Pete Buttigiegs

McKinsey consultants have packaged capitalism for decades, offering a glimpse into the moral compass of the ruling class.

Naming the Enemy

Twilight of the Boarding School Boys

East Coast boarding schools once prepared “ordinary” boys from the elite for national leadership — helping them forge friendships, networks, and marriages to rule the country.

How Big Law Became Big

As US capitalism boomed, attorneys from a handful of New York law firms became powerful viziers of America’s elite.