Stop Pretending the Left Is on Putin’s Side
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is based on obviously reactionary pretexts. The Left has nothing to do with his agenda — and should make no apologies for opposing a US military response.
19423 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.
Ordinary Russians Don’t Want This War
Vladimir Putin has launched his invasion of Ukraine, seemingly expecting that his forces can subdue Ukrainian resistance. But the attack could severely destabilize his regime — with Russians already showing a notable lack of enthusiasm for war.
The Belmarsh Tribunal Is Demanding Justice for Victims of the War on Terror
The crimes of the War on Terror are an assault on justice and democracy across the planet. The Belmarsh Tribunal, inspired by the Vietnam War tribunals organized by Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre, is demanding accountability for those crimes.
With Putin’s Ukraine Incursion, Hawks in Washington Got Exactly What They Wanted
The latest escalation in the Ukraine crisis requires us to hold two ideas at the same time: that Vladimir Putin bears much responsibility for the immediate crisis, and that the long-standing US refusal to accept limits to NATO expansion helped bring it about.
Nonunion Workers Made Up a Surprising Share of Strikers in 2021
New data show that approximately 140,000 workers in the United States took part in work stoppages last year. Though the reality is far from the exaggerated hopes of a “Striketober” strike wave, there has been a noticeable uptick in worker militancy.
Big Pharma Front Group to Kyrsten Sinema: “We’ve Got Your Back”
Since Senator Kyrsten Sinema started undermining Democrats’ plan to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, Big Pharma has been her BFF.
Public Ownership of Energy Companies Is the Only Way to Solve the Energy Crisis
Energy bills are soaring, and the climate crisis is worsening. The one solution for the energy sector is to bring it under public ownership.
Pam & Tommy Is the Kind of Sharp, Funny, Class-Conscious Satire We Need
In Pam & Tommy, the story of the infamous Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape becomes an epic tale of thwarted American dreams.
Charity Can’t Fix What Neoliberalism Has Broken
A British bus company recently reversed its plans to cut a bus route, but only after a wealthy local offered to fund it himself. A decent society can’t rely on wealthy do-gooders to save public services.
Higher Inflation Doesn’t Reduce Real Wages
The Fed is now considering moves to tamp down inflation that risk spiking unemployment. Supporters of the idea are claiming that inflation itself is bad for workers because it “eats away at real wages.” They’re wrong.
Poverty Is a Choice — That the US Government Is Making
The child poverty rate has exploded, with over 3.7 million children sinking below the poverty line thanks to the expiration of Joe Biden’s Child Tax Credit program. The disaster proves that poverty in a rich country is a choice its government makes.
Beltway Media Hacks’ Attacks on the Squad Are Getting Pathetic
Last week’s paint-by-numbers attack on members of the Squad, vaguely sourced to “top Democrats,” is another sign that party leaders are resigned to defeat and looking to blame the Left — and that “nonideological” Beltway journalists are eager to help.
At a Texas Community College, the Attack on Free Speech Is Coming From the Right
Community college professor Michael Phillips spent the past year speaking out against a right-wing “purge” of progressive faculty at his college. Then he was fired.
Escalation in the Donbas Risks a Disastrous War
Russian president Vladimir Putin has sent tanks into the Donbas on dubious pretexts. But a far bigger danger awaits if the West seeks an escalation that will only pour fuel on the fire.
The PRO Act Won’t Solve Labor’s Woes
Let’s be real: the PRO Act isn’t going to pass anytime soon. Labor unions need to figure out how to organize under current conditions or perish.
Free Anna Delvey!
No one deserves riches, and yet we all do. This moral puzzle is key to our love for Anna Delvey, the con artist and “fake German heiress” who is the subject of Netflix’s flawed but irresistible series Inventing Anna.
After Decades of Repression, the Workers’ Party of Turkey Offers Hope for the Left
For decades, military repression and oligarchic control have kept the Left on the margins of Turkish public life. But the recently created Workers’ Party of Turkey has brought the far left back into parliament for the first time in half a century.
Alberta’s Jason Kenney Wants to Import American-Style Health Care to Canada
Alberta’s United Conservative Party is using the health care crisis caused by the pandemic to its ideological advantage. Citing backlogs in surgeries — resulting from overrun hospitals — the party is seeking to privatize the province’s health care system.
The Communist Manifesto Shows Why Capitalism Won’t Last Forever
Published this day in 1848, The Communist Manifesto didn’t offer blueprints for a communist future. But in showing that capitalism is not eternal or natural, Marx and Engels explained how the crises of the present prepare the way for our future liberation.
The Defeat of Progressive Movements in the Global South Made US Hegemony Possible
Following the Vietnam War, global progressive movements sought to refashion the world in the interests of the majority. The failure of this project, and the subsequent triumph of liberal interventionism, explains the arrogance of the US foreign policy elite.