Long Live Jacobin Radio

The Soapbox, Issue 33

The Lingo

This list won’t make your city any kinder, but it might help you crack its code.

Kreuzberg Against the Machine

How the West Berlin squatter scene produced Germany’s greatest rock band.

The Private Equity Press

We should demand a media that covers the lives and struggles of working people — homeless, on the verge of eviction, trying to hang on. And not the glamorous lives of property speculators.

The Zone Defense

What we need isn’t exclusionary zoning, inclusionary zoning, upzoning, downzoning, a zoning freeze, or no zoning at all. We need an anticapitalist planning movement.

The Housing Question

We talked to four tenant organizers about how to build working-class movements for housing justice.

The Great American Mortgage Fraud

How banks engaged in systematic forgery to prove ownership of foreclosed homes.

Mayor Pete’s War on the Homeless

Pete Buttigieg is a charming man who speaks some Norwegian and wears wool socks. He also oversaw a wave of evictions and waged a campaign against South Bend’s homeless.

The Joys of Home Buying

In case you’ve never tried to buy a home, I should warn you: if you’re not affluent, you’re heading into a world of pain.

What You Should Read

You’ll need to lug all these books with you every time you move in search of a cheaper apartment.

We Need a Green New Deal for Housing

What would a bold left-wing housing plan look like? Let’s build ten million new, public, no-carbon homes in ten years and guarantee housing for all.

Against Advertising

Advertisers thrive on perpetuating a system that is ravaging the planet. We can do without them — and a lot of the junk they’re trying to sell us.

Argentina in its Labyrinth

Argentina’s looming economic crisis is the result of extreme neoliberal policy: as implemented by the military dictatorship, the IMF, and current president Mauricio Macri.

“Responsible Conservatives” Won’t Save Us From Fascism

History shows that when working-class strength threatens the status quo, even moderate conservatives won’t balk at making common cause with fascists.

Taking What’s Ours From Walmart

This week, Bernie Sanders is going to Walmart’s annual stockholders meeting. He’ll be pushing the company to give the people who create Walmart’s wealth — its workers — representation on the company’s board.

“The World Is Divided in Two”

The rise of the far right in post-industrial France has led many to declare the end of the old class politics. For CGT union leader Philippe Martinez, the battle isn’t over — organized labor just needs to adapt to new forms of employment.

The New Scramble for Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s prime minister is making headlines as a Trudeau-like liberal reformer. But behind his progressive sheen, his economic policies are set to accelerate inequality and poverty.

“Neither Left nor Right” Helps the Far Right

From social democracy to Christian democracy, the old mass parties are dying. And it’s the far right that’s benefiting.

Newspapers Won’t Save Us

Newspapers are a key part of a healthy press that is vital to any democratic society. But we shouldn’t valorize the corporate media as our last line of defense against Trump or anything else.