Labor’s Tide Is Rising
North American workers are gearing up for pivotal labor actions. With a tight labor market and the tailwind of significant union wins, the coming months promise a royal rumble between labor and capital.
19118 Articles by: Jonathan Sas
Jonathan Sas has worked in senior policy and political roles in government, think tanks, and the labor movement. He is an honorary witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. His writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, National Post, the Tyee, and Maisonneuve.
No Union Democracy, No Union Revitalization
Union democracy shouldn’t be seen as an abstract good separate from more important strategic considerations about rebuilding labor. Without democratizing labor, we can’t rebuild labor.
How Italy’s Post-Fascists Fell in Love With J. R. R. Tolkien
A lifelong fan of J. R. R. Tolkien, Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was first in line for last year’s exhibition on him in Rome. Like others before her, Meloni has appropriated Tolkien’s fantasies to refashion fascism for the 21st century.
Long Waves Are Key to the Development of Capitalism
Belgian Marxist Ernest Mandel explained long waves as a key factor in capitalism’s development. Mandel’s theory is one of the most sophisticated attempts to show why capitalism goes through extended periods of expansion and stagnation.
Big Money Is Taking Over MDMA-Assisted Therapy
Nonprofit MAPS promised to bring therapeutic MDMA to market on the back of philanthropic donations. But then it morphed into a for-profit concern — and with FDA approval looming, Big Pharma is trying to get in on the act.
Daniel Bensaïd Was One of Marxism’s Great Renovators
Daniel Bensaïd rejected the idea of historical inevitability, seeing history as a series of crossroads, not a single path. For Bensaïd, class struggle will remain central as long as capitalism exists, but the outcome is always unpredictable.
It’s Time to Dismantle the US Sanctions-Industrial Complex
The US has built up an elaborate machinery for waging economic warfare on its rivals with little or no public debate. This sanctions-industrial complex is a disguised form of imperialism and a dangerous source of global instability.
US Elected Officials Keep Explicitly Supporting Genocide
Rep. Andy Ogles’s comment that “we should kill them all” in Gaza has drawn little outrage, to say nothing of public censure like what Rep. Rashida Tlaib has faced. That’s because openly calling for genocide of Palestinians has become normalized in America.
Four Problems for the Degrowth Movement
Though increasingly influential in activist circles and policy discussions, the degrowth perspective on addressing climate change suffers from serious analytical and political flaws. We need a program of green growth to decarbonize the planet.
If Michigan Primary Voters Snub Joe Biden, Blame Joe Biden
Rashida Tlaib is getting blowback for urging Michigan Democratic primary voters to cast their ballots as “uncommitted” rather than for Joe Biden. But if voters take issue with Biden’s support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, that’s no one’s fault but his own.
Effective Altruists Are Stoking Tensions With China
The Biden administration has had an open-door policy for effective altruist think tanks in the White House — who have in turn used their influence to push a hawkish anti-China agenda by casting the development of AI as the new arms race.
Big Pharma Is Cheating Americans Out of Publicly Funded Drugs
A new report reveals that Americans funded the development of all ten drugs up for price negotiations with Medicare, but Big Pharma still wants to keep prices for those publicly funded drugs sky high.
Get These Rich People Off the Moon
Texas start-up Intuitive Machines has achieved the first moon landing by a private firm. It’s dumping rich people’s detritus on the lunar surface — a grim sign of how the superrich plan to plant their flag beyond our own planet.
Historian José Gotovitch Chronicled Belgian Communism
José Gotovitch, who died last week, was one of Belgium’s leading historians. In a recent interview, he discussed his final book on the interwar Belgian Communists, and the youth who filled the ranks of the Resistance against Nazism.
Colombia’s Left Government Is Pursuing Ambitious Labor Reform
Colombia’s left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, is fighting for a comprehensive labor reform package that will protect workers and restore unions after decades of violence and suppression. Conservative forces are intent on stopping the reform in its tracks.
Indonesia’s New President Is Dangerously Authoritarian
Indonesia’s new president, Prabowo, has a gruesome track record of human rights violations and hostility to democracy. But a slick campaign successfully presented him as a cuddly grandpa figure, with crucial assistance from outgoing president Jokowi.
The Internet Archive Provides a Model of Free Knowledge for All
The ongoing legal battle between the Internet Archive, an online library, and the Big Four publishers over licensing and copyright should concern everyone. At stake in the dispute is the possibility of free access to knowledge for all.
Why Are So Many Democrats Ready to Nuke Canada?
New York governor Kathy Hochul recently invoked US annihilation of Canada as an analogy for Israel’s brutal war on Gaza. Her comments may have been outlandish, but they exemplify Democratic Party leaders’ use of absurd justifications for slaughter.
For Aki Kaurismäki, Class Politics Shape Everyday Life
From Shadows in Paradise to Fallen Leaves, Aki Kaurismäki’s films show ordinary Finns in minimalist, near-timeless settings. But they’re also a response to changes in working-class life since the 1980s, as consumerist values edge out Finland’s social model.
Populism Belongs to the Left
In an interview, writer Thomas Frank discusses how populism brought together workers, farmers, and all those struggling against the wealthy for a more egalitarian society — and why that’s made it a dirty word for the elite, both in the 1890s and today.