Anti-Capitalist Politics in the Time of COVID-19
As Marxist geographer David Harvey argues, forty years of neoliberalism has left the public totally exposed and ill prepared to face a public health crisis on the scale of coronavirus.
19650 Articles by: James Bloodworth
James Bloodworth is a writer and journalist from London.
Our Public Health Infrastructure Is Losing a Fight With Capitalism
COVID-19 teaches us why Medicare for All should be the floor of our demands, not the ceiling. As an epidemiologist argues, we need to radically rebuild our entire public health infrastructure.
Europe Can’t Decarbonize Without Democracy
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen claims to represent the “spirit of Greta,” yet corporate lobbyists have more influence over Europe’s Green Deal than ordinary citizens do. The green transition ought to be controlled by the social majority, so it serves all our needs — not just the businesses who hold sway in Brussels.
We Can Retool the Economy to Fight Coronavirus — With Labor Playing a Key Role
During World War II, UAW leader Walter Reuther had a plan to reorient the economy toward needed production, centering the interests of labor rather than markets. As the global health system faces massive shortages in vital medical equipment, Reuther’s blueprints can help us generate our own mass-scale response to the crisis.
Mitt Romney’s $1,000 Isn’t Our Universal Basic Income
The “UBI” ideas being thrown around as a response to the coronavirus are, in many cases, neither universal, basic, nor an income. But they do show how much the Left has shifted what’s considered possible over the past decade.
Capitalism Has Always Been “Rogue”
Companies like Google and Facebook make money not just by predicting our behavior, but by influencing our choices. It’s an intensification of the surveillance that has always been at the heart of capitalism, not a new economic system.
Bernie Sanders Is Trying to Rescue America’s Frail Democracy
The Democratic Party elite insists nothing can be done to mobilize working-class nonvoters. By challenging their cynicism, Bernie Sanders is rendering a profound service to American democracy.
Norway’s Workers Insisted They Shouldn’t Pay for Coronavirus — And They Won
At the start of the coronavirus epidemic, Norway’s government said it would help businesses by making it easier for them to get rid of workers. But trade unions and left-wing parties fiercely denied that these measures were “inevitable” — and they won a bailout to serve working people, not just their employers.
We’re at War With Coronavirus. And Bernie Should Be Our General.
Containment isn’t enough. We need a wartime mobilization to expand coverage, capacity, and production in order to test, trace, and treat coronavirus. And Bernie Sanders must play a major role in advocating for more aggressive measures.
The Coronavirus Crisis Is Political
In 2008, they told us not to “politicize” the crash. We ended up with a decade of austerity. The coronavirus crisis will reshape the economy in profound ways — now is the time to make socialist arguments about how to respond.
How to Beat Back Gentrification
The Oakland group Moms 4 Housing is leading a movement to halt gentrification and de-commodify housing. Their victory in California helps pave the way for a militant housing strategy that we can use across American cities.
Yesterday’s Elections Were a Disgrace
On Tuesday, despite urgent pleas from public health experts for postponement of the balloting, voters reported being forced into unsanitary environments and jumping through arduous hoops to vote. The culprit was the party that believes in science and voting rights.
Go on Strike for Your Health and Safety
Now isn’t the time to blindly follow orders from bosses. To make sure our response to coronavirus is safe and just, workers need to take on-the-job action like sick-outs and strikes — as New York City educators have over the past week.
Keep Calm and Fight for Medicare for All
As COVID-19 continues to expose the failings of the fragmented, profit-driven health system in the United States, the case for Medicare for All is stronger than ever.
Social-Democratic Denmark Shows How to Respond to Coronavirus
The US and UK responses to coronavirus have failed miserably. But Denmark has moved swiftly to help workers by protecting wages and preventing layoffs — showing yet again, in the midst of a pandemic, that we’d all be better off living in a social democracy.
Dealing With Coronavirus Requires Bold Action. The Democratic Leadership Won’t Take It.
The Democrats have an opportunity to push for desperately needed, sweeping economic change in response to coronavirus. Instead, they’re letting themselves be outflanked by Republicans.
Ilhan Omar: “Real Change Is Possible”
You might be feeling down about how the primaries are going. But the socialist left is stronger than ever. We spoke with Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar for some words of inspiration.
Australia’s Coronavirus Travel Bans Feed Old Fears
With the spread of coronavirus now global, arbitrary travel bans such as those implemented by the Australian government are ineffective and nourished by old xenophobic anxieties. The solution to this crisis can only be a coordinated, international effort.
“People Are Starting to Realize the Kind of City We Can Have If We Fight for It”
Robert LeVertis Bell is a public school teacher and socialist in Louisville, Kentucky running for city council. In an interview with Jacobin, he talks about his experience participating in the recent red-state teachers’ upsurge, fighting gentrification, and how campaigns like his can be used to build a broader movement that is bigger than any one candidate.
Bernie Has Shown the Way Forward With Latino Voters
Whatever happens in today’s primaries, Latino voters have made clear they have a strong appetite for leftist policies. By following Bernie Sanders’s lead and focusing on the pressing needs of rank-and-file Latino workers, democratic socialists can continue to unleash the power of this potent voting bloc.