The Debt Ceiling Deal Is Not a “Victory”
The deal that brought an end to the debt ceiling circus is not good — and Democrats didn’t have to let it become this bad.
20417 Article(s) by: James Bloodworth
James Bloodworth is a writer and journalist from London.
An Elite Soldier’s Downfall Has Created a Dilemma for Australian Politicians
Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has failed in his bid to sue journalists for exposing his war crimes in Afghanistan. His downfall is set to embarrass the political elites who championed him.
Chile’s Constitutional Fiasco Holds Lessons for the Left
The election of the far right to Chile’s Constitutional Council is another major blow to the hope of a new constitution. But the Chilean left isn’t defeated yet.
A Queens Hospital Just Saw the First NYC Hospital Doctors’ Strike in Over 30 Years
Last week at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, over 150 resident physicians walked out and won a tentative agreement, marking the first time hospital doctors in New York City have gone on strike since 1990. We spoke with an Elmhurst doctor about the strike.
Faced With Electoral Wipeout, Spain’s Left Has to Unite
After gains for the Right in Sunday’s local and regional contests, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election. Yolanda Díaz’s left-wing Sumar project can get a good result — but only if the Left can overcome its damaging splits.
Simone de Beauvoir Understood the Link Between Gender and Class Oppression
The Second Sex is rightly celebrated as a classic work of feminist theory. But it’s often forgotten that Simone de Beauvoir saw it as a socialist text carefully anatomizing the relationship between gender and class oppression.
The Debt Ceiling Deal Fast-Tracks the Approval of a Climate-Killing Fossil Fuel Pipeline
The deal struck by Joe Biden and congressional Republicans to avert a default on the national debt includes provisions that expedite construction of a greenhouse-gas-spewing pipeline and even attempt to block courts from hearing challenges to its legality.
Denmark’s Political Establishment Is Cozying Up to Israel
Denmark’s grand coalition government has potentially misled parliament to push through a deal to purchase billions in arms from Israel. The deal marks a high point in Danish-Israeli relations and is a sign that the Left has been marginalized on foreign policy.
Clarence Thomas’s Billionaire Benefactor Is Grateful for a Recent Supreme Court Ruling
Billionaire Harlan Crow’s firm advocated for rolling back the very wetland protections the Supreme Court just gutted. The obvious conflict of interest raises questions about not just the ruling’s legitimacy but the entire court’s.
At the National Conservatism Conference, Thatcher’s Ghost Was Haunting the Proceedings
I went to the right-wing populist National Conservatism Conference in London. I found a self-consciously “post-liberal” right grappling with the legacy of Margaret Thatcher and divided between pro- and anti-Thatcherites.
Martin Amis Resisted Every Cliché — Except for Lurching Rightward as He Aged
An often brilliant writer, Martin Amis dedicated himself to fighting a war on cliché. At his best, he produced comic parodies of upper- and working-class life. At his worst, he followed the dominant political currents to the right and embraced its platitudes.
Reproduction Isn’t Creativity, and AI Isn’t Art
Artificial intelligence is poised to suck the soul out of art — and make artists’ already precarious existence even worse.
Have Any of Karl Marx’s Critics Today Actually Read Him?
The Right never seems to stop talking about “Marxism” and its wily tricks. But for all their denunciations, conservative pundits really just keep proving they don’t even know the basics of Karl Marx’s thought.
Washington Is Using the Ukraine War to Rebuild Its Global Power
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has produced a moment of unity in the West — and helped Washington reassert its leadership in NATO. With no peace in sight, the war has provided the opportunity to rebuild America’s tattered “informal empire.”
Barboncino Workers Are Forming New York City’s First Unionized Stand-Alone Pizzeria
Workers at the Crown Heights pizzeria Barboncino are organizing a union with Workers United. It would be the first pizzeria of its kind to go union in New York — and perhaps not the last.
You Hurt My Feelings Is a Slice-of-Life Comedy for Rich People With No Problems
Even with a cast led by the hilarious Julia Louis-Dreyfus, You Hurt My Feelings struggles to find a single laugh in this comedy of manners about affluent New Yorkers learning the value of “little white lies.”
The Debt Ceiling Deal Is an “Eff You” to Poor People
The debt ceiling deal is a cruel agreement that imposes new work requirements on SNAP recipients and bureaucratic hurdles for those who still qualify. It will kick people off the rolls and inflict pain, seemingly randomly, with no regard for the human toll.
Everyday Resistance Is Not an Alternative to Politics
Following the defeat of the Arab Spring, leftists were quick to look for consolation in the small acts of resistance that took place during the revolt. This optimism was misplaced. In order to enact change, the Left must seize the levers of power.
Adam McKay: It’s Not Too Late to Demand a Sane Government Response to Climate Change
The world will soon cross 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming beyond preindustrial levels, meaning serious destabilization of the earth’s ecosystem. But we can still mitigate climate change’s worst effects with drastic government action.
In the Debt Ceiling Standoff, the Democrats Are Letting Themselves Get Pantsed by the GOP
In the debt ceiling standoff, Republicans have held the global economy hostage, demanding a ransom payment that consists of cuts to the US social safety net, rapid approval of fossil fuel projects, and more. Joe Biden is mostly letting the GOP get its way.