Building a Community of Disabled Workers Changed My Relationship with My Union
Unions aren’t just for fighting for better pay and benefits. They can also be tools for disabled solidarity.
19274 Articles by: Frances Abele
Frances Abele CM is Distinguished Research Professor and Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy Emerita at Carleton University. She is a research fellow at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation and the Broadbent Institute. Much of her work focuses on indigenous-Canada relations.
Trickle-Down Economics Has Always Been a Scam
Despite being proven wrong time and again, trickle-down economics keeps limping forward, resurrected by governments to justify tax cuts for the rich with false promises of prosperity for all.
Democrats Are Trying to Smother New Yorkers with Methane Gas
An effort to weaken New York’s climate law was defeated last week by the environmental left. That weakening was backed by State Sen. Kevin Parker, one of the fossil fuel industry’s favorite Democrats.
The Dark Money–Backed Front Group No Labels Is Buying Its Own Ballot Line
Laying the groundwork to launch a centrist, third-party “unity” ticket in 2024, the billionaire-funded group No Labels is buying its own ballot line — which is secretly being purchased outside disclosure rules that have long governed US election campaigns.
The Myth at the Heart of Modern Economics
A fabricated story about the causes of 1970s inflation — repeated in high school textbooks and the New York Times — plays a surprisingly important role in shaping economics today. It may well have helped spur the Fed’s ongoing campaign to engineer a recession.
The Gentrification Scheme Behind Los Angeles’s “No-Build” Olympics
Olympic host cities face accelerated gentrification, displacement, privatization, debt, environmental harm, and police militarization, while developers reap cold hard cash. The outcome of Los Angeles’s 2028 Summer Olympics will be no different.
Libertarians Weren’t Always Apologists for the Rich and Powerful
A new history of libertarianism challenges the conventional understanding of the tradition by spotlighting its radical currents. Unfortunately, there’s barely a remnant of that history today — most libertarians threw in their lot with the Right long ago.
The California Christian Socialist Who Thought Socialism Was “Christianity in Overalls”
In the early 20th century heyday of US socialism, J. Stitt Wilson was elected mayor of Berkeley, California. He was a Christian socialist who held up Jesus the Carpenter and the Bible as radical injunctions to create a society of cooperation and democracy.
For Father Luis Olivares, Christianity Was a Radical Doctrine
This Easter, we remember the life of Father Luis Olivares, a leader in the sanctuary movement of the 1980s and a proponent of liberation theology. To him, Christianity was a call to stand with the poor and oppressed of the world.
No, Socialists Don’t Hate Religion
Despite what conservative pundits say, socialists don’t hate religion. In fact, only democratic socialism can realize the religious promise of a brotherhood of man.
British Columbia Just Gave Us More Proof: Card Check Helps Union Efforts
Card-check unionization, reinstated by British Columbia last year, proved highly effective, with a 59% surge in union certification applications and a vast majority resulting in new bargaining units. It’s indisputable: card check is a huge boon to labor.
Chinese Workers Are Facing Escalating Repression
The new working class created by China’s transformation has been learning how to organize and demand a better deal with help from labor NGOs and left-wing activists. But a crackdown on oppositional activity under Xi Jinping has made their job a lot harder.
In Texas, Water Infrastructure Problems Mean More Bottled Water — and Extra Costs
Hundreds of thousands of low-income Texans lack access to public water utilities, relying on expensive water delivery. Many more are skeptical of their water quality and opt for bottled water — a huge expense for people already living in poverty.
The Cataclysmic Iraq War in 6 Charts
The US invaded Iraq 20 years ago this spring. From killing hundreds of thousands of civilians to redistributing wealth to the rich and powerful, it was an unmitigated disaster. These charts show how.
Is This the Best Way to Prosecute Trump?
Sure, lock him up. Trump certainly deserves it. But it’s not clear this indictment is the best way to prosecute him.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court Victory Is a Major Opportunity for Rebuilding Working-Class Politics
For more than a decade, Wisconsin Republicans have taken a battering ram to labor and democracy itself. The resounding victory in the Supreme Court election this week finally opens up space for reviving a working-class politics that can benefit the majority.
At Twitter, Elon Musk Is Doing a Great Job of Disproving the Idea of Meritocracy
Elon Musk is definitive proof that our capitalist overlords have absolutely no idea what they’re doing.
Don’t Fall for the Myth of the “Job Creator”
Billionaires like Howard Schultz like to claim that that we should be grateful for all the jobs they create. But the ultrarich don’t create jobs in any meaningful sense — they just reap the rewards of asset ownership and the labor of their workers.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar’s End Child Poverty Act Is a Political and Policy Home Run
US reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar just introduced the End Child Poverty Act, which would set up a universal child benefit. It’s a major improvement on previous proposals to help poor and working-class families — and would instantly slash child poverty.
Clarence Thomas Is Exactly What He Appears: a Corrupt, Plutocrat-Backed Ruling-Class Elite
A blockbuster new story reveals that Clarence Thomas has been traveling around the world on a superyacht and private jet owned by billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow. Yet somehow, right-wingers continue to pretend that Thomas is an enemy of “the elites.”