The Hell of Meritocracy
Today, meritocracy doesn’t actually challenge hierarchy but grounds it and allows for its reproduction. But liberals and leftists have different ideas about how to break the cycle.
20387 Article(s) by: Gezi Platform NYC
Gezi Platform NYC is an alliance of activists that engage in actions to support public protests in Turkey.
Chicago Schools Are on the Verge of Two Strikes
In their 2012 strike, nearly 30,000 Chicago Teachers Union members planted a flag for labor militancy in public education. Today, they’re again on the verge of another strike — and they may be joined by 7,000 SEIU education workers.
The Walls Are Closing in on Boris Johnson
A historic election is looming in Britain and panicking Tories will be tempted to tack to the far right. It’s starting to dawn on Boris Johnson that no one will be coming to clean up the mess he’s made of Brexit.
Why Poor People Don’t Pay Attention to Politics
The poor and oppressed tend to pay less attention to politics. But it’s not because they’re dumb — it’s because they know the political system doesn’t work for them.
Donald Trump Is Worried About Socialism. He Should Be.
In private meetings, Donald Trump has worried that socialism won’t be so easy to beat in 2020. His political intuition was right in 2016, and it’s right now: socialism is popular, and it’s the biggest threat to Trump’s reelection.
What Salvador Allende Feared
On September 11, 1973, Chile’s socialist president Salvador Allende was overthrown in a CIA-backed military coup. In this 1971 interview, published in English for the first time, Allende expressed his fears of internal destabilization and US interference.
Allende in Chile Today
Nearly five decades after the coup that overthrew leftist president Salvador Allende, the Chilean left is starting to rebuild power. But it still wrestles with the legacy of the bloody defeat of Allende’s democratic revolution.
Immanuel Wallerstein’s Thousand Marxisms
Immanuel Wallerstein saw his scholarship as a “political task” in the fight against the capitalist system. In this interview — published for the first time in English — he reflected on the historical impulses behind his work, in the age of the Vietnam War and the decline of Soviet socialism.
Requiem for a Chickenhawk
John Bolton is a glassy-eyed fanatic who wants to wage war on the entire world. Miraculously and thankfully, his tenure in the Trump White House before being fired by the president was largely a failure.
A Free Press Is Too Important to Trust Capitalists With
Bernie is right: corporate ownership of news outlets is a problem, and we need to promote independent journalism. But we can go further and imagine truly independent and free socialized media.
Rescuing Nkrumah
In today’s Ghana, the socialist ideas of the country’s first president Kwame Nkrumah have been declared irrelevant by the major parties. But a new generation is reviving them and giving them an organizational home.
Emmanuel Macron’s Presidency Is Still Doomed
Emmanuel Macron’s many loyal outriders in the media are trying to paint the picture of a “comeback” in his fortunes. But rising labor disputes and challenges to his environmental record show that the French president is anything but popular.
Don’t Trust Elizabeth Warren’s Big-Donor Ban
Warren was courting megadonors last year, and says she’ll do it again if she wins the primary. But working people deserve leaders willing to make enemies in high places — for life.
No, We Don’t Have the “Right to Be Islamophobic”
After a speaker at France Insoumise’s summer school invoked the “right to be Islamophobic,” the French left is again at war over secularism. But the real problem is a failure to take sides with the victims of racism — and defend Muslims against attempts to stigmatize them.
Climate Advocates Are Nearly Unanimous: Bernie’s Green New Deal Is Best
We asked longtime climate advocates which candidate has the best and boldest plan to halt climate change. The answer was nearly unanimous: Bernie Sanders.
A “Pathway to Citizenship” Is Not Enough
For years, the liberal establishment has advocated a “pathway to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants. That’s not enough. We need unconditional amnesty for all.
Leon Wofsy, the Organizer
With Leon Wofsy’s death last month, we lost a scientist and organizer who spent his near-century on earth fighting against racism and war and for free speech — and embarrassing Ronald Reagan to his face at the height of his attacks on student activism in California.
Argentina’s Brief Right-Wing Resurgence Is Waning
Last month’s primary elections in Argentina destroyed the basis for conservative president Mauricio Macri’s legitimacy. They also provoked a vicious backlash from financial markets, showing capital’s hostility to popular democracy.
Politics Is Not Arithmetic
UBI advocates have a habit of mistaking politics for arithmetic. Proving that a policy is mathematically possible isn’t enough — and it can distract from more compelling left priorities.
Before Sweden Was Social-Democratic
Swedish social democracy is often thought of as somehow eternal — the fruit of a solidaristic national culture, or even its historic homogeneity. But Sweden used to be just as unequal as other European countries — and making social democracy “normal” took a fight against what was once considered traditional.