Belarus Is Cracking Down on Worker-Led Pro-Democracy Protest
In Belarus, a populist government that long claimed the support of its people finds itself repressing a historic protest movement — and its demands for a more democratic politics.
21000 Article(s) by: Elizabeth Mahony
Bertolt Brecht’s Refugee Conversations Is a Book for Our Times
The German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht died on this day in 1956. His newly released book Refugee Conversations draws on his own years in exile to tear apart the anti-immigrant politics which still plague us today.
The Controversy Surrounding An American Pickle Is Better Than the Film Itself
Seth Rogen’s new film prompted him to ask some searching questions about Jewish education in the diaspora today and drew significant attention after his criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. But An American Pickle is a superficial portrait of Jewish experience in the New World and a corny rags-to-riches story of immigration.
Surveillance Corporations Are More Than Happy to Ride the Wave of Police Reform
Widely publicized cases of police brutality have led to an incredible uprising across the United States and the world demanding an end to police violence. But those cases can also mean big business for companies selling technology based on the empty promise of providing greater police accountability and improving public safety.
Belarus’s Workers Are Going on Strike Against the Election Fraud
In the days after Alexander Lukashenko stole Belarus’s election, the state has unleashed intense repression against all who dared to protest. But now workers from metro drivers to oil refinery employees have gone on strike against Lukashenko’s fraud — a powerful stand for their democratic rights.
Amadeo Bordiga Was the Last Communist to Challenge Stalin to His Face
Founder of the Communist Party of Italy in 1921, Amadeo Bordiga is little known today, even among scholars of that country’s Marxist traditions. Fifty years after his death, the first English-language collection of his writings shows why Bordiga shouldn’t be overlooked.
The Dangers of Letting Racecraft Displace Class During the Pandemic
I worry that the racial discourse on COVID-19 could help pave the way for a eugenics-state that will ultimately do damage to poor black and brown people.
Coronavirus Has Made a Fool Out of Every Single Critic of Medicare for All
When the pandemic began, defenders of our for-profit health system — including many Democrats — scrambled to insist we didn’t need a Medicare for All system. Yet new infections are still surging in the US while countries with national health care programs have long since gotten a handle on coronavirus.
The Left Needs to Stop Falling for Absurd Sex Panics
The absurd allegations against progressive Congressional candidate Alex Morse have now been exposed as a hoax. But they couldn’t have been better calculated to excite a Left prone to mindless sex panics.
Happy Birthday, Fidel Castro. We’ll Forever Remember Your Solidarity With Our Struggle.
Fidel Castro inspired revolutionaries around the world — and also provided them with direct material aid. On what would have been Castro’s 94th birthday, veteran anti-apartheid fighter Ronnie Kasrils salutes the Cuban leader’s solidarity with liberation struggles in Southern Africa and beyond.
Racism Isn’t an Unchangeable Fixture of American Life. We Can Dismantle It.
Thinking about racism as some kind of existential “original sin” that will always be with us no matter what we do, no matter what efforts we undertake to fight it, is a political dead end. Through organizing, we have struck blows against racism in the past — we can do so again today.
The Cosmopolitan Socialism of Michael Brooks
Michael Brooks, who would have turned 37 years old today, wanted the Left to do better. In the last year of his life, he’d started to write a book about what that might look like.
The Media Said Ilhan Omar Was Fighting for Her Political Life. She Won Easily.
Despite media warnings of imminent danger, Ilhan Omar, one of Congress’s most left-wing members, cruised to victory in her primary this week, defeating a well-funded primary challenger. It’s another clear indication that the Left’s electoral insurgency is here to stay.
Why Organizing Workers in the Book Industry Is So Damn Hard
Workers in the book industry often suffer poor conditions and low pay, but are supposed to feel grateful for the privilege of working near books. Casting off such illusions is the first step to organizing publishers and booksellers, and fighting the exploitation that thrives in the hallowed culture industry.
“There’s No Populist Instruction Manual for How You Nationalize Amazon”
From Podemos in Spain to Bernie Sanders’s bid for the nomination, recent left-populist campaigns inspired widespread hopes only to fall short. But overwhelming the fortresses of neoliberalism demands a long-term strategy — and mass mobilizations that last beyond the excitement of an election campaign.
In Colombia, Álvaro Uribe’s Immunity Is Finally Coming to an End
Colombia’s Supreme Court has placed former right-wing president Álvaro Uribe under house arrest on charges of manipulating witness testimony. Whatever happens to Uribe next, this will be a watershed moment for Colombian politics.
Joe Biden Has Found His Neoliberal Match in Kamala Harris
It should be no surprise Kamala Harris has been chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate. From her career-long pursuit of right-wing goals to her flexibility with the truth, the two are remarkably similar politicians.
Richard Neal Is a Congressman the For-Profit Health Industry Can Count On
Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal is one of the for-profit health industry’s favorite Democratic members of Congress. He’s a steadfast opponent of Medicare for All — and a big recipient of health industry donations.
Think Joe Biden Will Be the Next FDR? His Wall Street Donors Don’t Seem To.
Liberal pundits are touting Joe Biden as a potentially transformative president in the mold of FDR. His donor lists — and his own words — say otherwise.
We Need Sanitary, Free Public Bathrooms for All
Everybody has to go to the bathroom, yet toilet access is currently severely limited and essentially privatized throughout the United States. That must change — we need clean, free public bathrooms for all.