Rush Limbaugh Was a Repulsive Demagogue
Rush Limbaugh was a right-wing demagogue who also happened to have considerable talents as a broadcaster — and he used them to make the world a worse place for the ordinary people he claimed to speak for.
20401 Article(s) by: Frantz Durupt
Frantz Durupt is a journalist at French daily Libération.
How to End the GOP’s Attacks on State-Level Democracy
Republicans are gearing up to use gerrymandering yet again to entrench their power and smother democracy at the state level. But Congress has the constitutional authority to ensure a “republican form of government” prevails at the state level — and it should act immediately to quash partisan gerrymandering and attacks on voting rights.
Teachers and Their Unions Are Demanding Truly Safe Schools Reopening — Not “Ignoring Science”
Some prominent academics have taken to lecturing teachers and their unions for insisting that reopening schools is still too dangerous. Those academics are wrong: teachers are insisting on a safe, solidaristic approach to opening schools back up that protects parents, students, staff, teachers, and all of us.
In Our Corona-Capitalist Dystopia, You Can Have Multiple Star Wars Helmets, But No Health Care
If you’ve found yourself impulsively shopping online during quarantine, you’re not alone. And there’s no shame in it. But this is our corona-capitalist dystopia: purchasing things we may or may not need while desperately needed public services are left to rot.
The Myth of Andrew Cuomo the Competent, Steady Statesman Is Finally Being Punctured
For the better part of a year, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has basked in an absurdly undeserved, media-driven reputation as a wise and competent COVID-19 statesman. Now reality is finally catching up with him.
Ecuador’s Election Was a Massive Repudiation of Neoliberalism
The first round of Ecuador’s presidential election handed first place to left-wing candidate Andrés Arauz. It was a total repudiation of Lenín Moreno’s neoliberal agenda. But more work is needed to cement a coalition that can win power and an anti-austerity program.
State Sen. Julia Salazar on How Socialist Legislators Are Standing Up to Andrew Cuomo
Socialist New York State Sen. Julia Salazar has some harsh words for Andrew Cuomo’s botched handling of COVID-19, his “power grab” at the pandemic’s beginning, and his refusal to tax the rich: “It is dangerous for Gov. Cuomo to continue to be the most powerful person in our state.”
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Has Blood on His Hands
An attack on El Salvador’s main opposition party has left two people dead and amounts to one of the worst acts of political violence since the peace accords signing in 1992. The country’s right-wing president, Nayib Bukele, should be held responsible for helping to stoke the violence.
Andrew Cuomo Is New York’s Richard Nixon
Governor Andrew Cuomo is threatening retribution against progressive elected officials demanding answers about underreported COVID-19 deaths and his effort to help an industry group shield nursing home executives from liability. Between his cover-ups and his bullying, Cuomo might as well be New York’s Richard Nixon.
John Sweeney: The Man Who Wanted to Be a “Big Labor” Leader
Despite the best efforts of former AFL-CIO leader John Sweeney, organized labor has continued its decline. Not only have we been politically defeated, but our very historical memory of struggle is under assault. We desperately need to find a way to make “big labor” truly big again.
Joe Biden Spread COVID Misinformation in Last Night’s Town Hall. The Media Praised Him for It.
In a viral moment last night, Joe Biden told an eight-year-old girl at a CNN town hall that kids rarely contract or transmit the coronavirus. But the science says otherwise — yet the media recklessly let Biden get away with spreading misinformation.
Why the Democrats Tied Themselves in Knots During Donald Trump’s Impeachment Trial
The Democrats’ confused and inept handling of the final stage of the impeachment trial revealed the contradiction at the heart of the party’s politics: whether it’s trying to represent bold change or simply a return to the pre-Trump status quo.
The “Amazonification” of Higher Education Has Arrived. It’s Not Pretty.
At Collin College, an institution of higher learning in McKinney, Texas where two professors involved in union organizing were recently fired, the president proudly boasts of the school’s “Amazonification.” The episode offers a dire picture of the direction higher ed is rapidly heading nationwide.
Millions of Texans Are Freezing Right Now — Our Deregulated Electrical Grid Is to Blame
What Texans are suffering through is a failure of deregulation and markets — a neoliberal ideology promoted not just by the fossil-fuel-loving right, but even many environmentally conscious liberals.
Under Capitalism, “Labor-Saving” Technology Only Adds to Our Workload
Upon its launch ten years ago, Germany’s Industry 4.0 program promised a fourth industrial revolution changing the way we work. Yet for all the talk of novelty, it followed age-old capitalist imperatives: using labor-saving technology not to lessen our workload but subject us to even tighter workplace discipline.
The Politics of a Second Gilded Age
The mass inequality of America’s first Gilded Age thrived on identity-based partisanship, helping extinguish the fires of class rage. In 2021, we’re headed down the same path.
Joe Biden’s Climate Policies Are a Step Back From “Death Wish.” But We Need More Than That.
So far the Biden administration’s stated climate policies have shifted the US government from a stance of death-wish climate nihilism to one that resembles a typical center-right European government. But without a sharp move to the left on the economic aspects of climate transition, even that much progress won’t materialize.
We Can’t Go Back to a Golden Age of Capitalism
Inequality is on the rise in the West but globally it’s in decline. Economist Branko Milanovic speaks to Jacobin about the shifting dynamics of capitalism, and why going back to its so-called “golden age” is not an option.
It Would Be Great if the United States Were Actually a Democracy
The pervasive mythmaking about the supposed wisdom of the founders has covered up a central truth: the US Constitution is an antidemocratic mess. Our task is to push a program of political and economic transformation — so the United States can become, for the first time, a truly democratic society.
Canada’s Government Has No Problem With Canadians Milking Pandemic Subsidies — As Long as They’re Rich
In response to the pandemic, politicians in Ottawa set up an emergency wage subsidy scheme that was meant to help workers. But some of Canada’s biggest firms have milked the subsidy scheme for billions while paying out dividends and laying off staff.