Recession or No Recession, This Economy Sucks
For politicians and the media, the big question seems to be, are we technically in a recession or not? For the millions of people struggling, the question is: What’s the difference?
19073 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.
Elon Musk and Silicon Valley Don’t Know How to Fix the Transportation System
Elon Musk and his billionaire brethren have all sorts of harebrained solutions to fix US transportation. But we already know what would benefit workers: well-funded public transit and fast trains, powered by a renewable energy grid that serves everyone.
The Australian Labor Party’s Climate Bill Is Empty Symbolism
Labor’s climate bill is little more than symbolism. With escalating climate disasters and soaring inflation, it’s bad policy and even worse politics.
The 1877 St Louis Commune Was a Landmark Event for the International Workers’ Movement
For a few days in July 1877, workers took over St Louis and a communist party ruled the Midwestern city. The often forgotten St Louis Commune was a landmark event that showed the US isn’t immune to Paris Commune–style eruptions of class consciousness.
Corporate Interests Are Inflaming US-China Tensions
In a global economy defined by overproduction and underconsumption, American and Chinese corporations are struggling to extract profits from developing nations. Without massive wealth redistribution, consumption won’t return to stable levels.
Tabitha Arnold: Art Should Not Be an Investment Vehicle for Rich People
Tabitha Arnold is a socialist textile artist whose work focuses on working-class organizing. In an interview, she discusses her work, how art is warped by wealthy patrons’ dictates, and why artists shouldn’t confuse their art with political organizing.
Abortion Rights Are a Labor Issue
Both labor and the reproductive rights movements are fighting for the same thing: the right to control our own lives.
To Solve Australia’s Cost-of-Living Crisis, Labor Should Tax Superprofits
Inflation is eroding paychecks and rising interest rates are hurting people with mortgages. Anthony Albanese’s government could defend workers’ living standards by taxing the rich and controlling prices, but Labor’s neoliberal orthodoxy stands in the way.
What Chinese Capitalists Owe to Mao Zedong
China did not develop capitalism during the 18th century, despite having a market economy as strong as Britain’s. The raw material for China’s 20th-century capitalist takeoff came from an unlikely figure: Mao Zedong.
The Canadian Starbucks Unionization Wave Has Scored Another Victory
Canada’s Starbucks organizing wave is moving eastward from British Columbia, with a store in Alberta going union earlier this month. Poetically, the Starbucks union win is on anti-labor Alberta premier Jason Kenney’s home turf.
Antiabortion Democrat Henry Cuellar Is Now Seeking to Gut Labor Rights
Henry Cuellar, the conservative, antiabortion Democratic congressman — who Nancy Pelosi called a “fighter for hardworking families” — has shocked the labor movement with a radical bill seeking to eviscerate workers’ rights.
Mick Lynch Is Tired of Workers Getting Screwed
The British rail union leader Mick Lynch has recently gone viral for his media appearances defending his union’s strike. In an interview, Lynch discusses that strike, the media firestorm he’s helped spark, and how workers can defeat Britain’s superrich.
Jordan Peele’s Nope Is a Triumph
Writer-director Jordan Peele’s mysterious third film, Nope, draws on genre tropes from both alien invasion films and Westerns, but it ends up with something altogether original: a Hollywood spectacle about spectacle.
The Internet Doesn’t Have to Be This Bad
The internet feels like an antisocial, dystopian wasteland. Capitalism made it this way. But if we can pry the web out of the hands of the profit motive, we can build a better internet.
Joe Manchin’s Deal Does Not Mean the Fight for Democrats’ Agenda Is Over
Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin have reached a deal for an energy, health care, and tax policy bill after Manchin has delayed and watered it down. But the exact details of the bill, as well as its passage, are still far from guaranteed.
We Should Have Listened to Bernie Sanders About Ukraine
In early February, Bernie Sanders advocated US involvement in peace talks to head off an “enormously destructive war” in Ukraine. We should have listened.
The Biden-Manchin Climate Bill Isn’t Very Good, but It’s All We’ve Got
Biden’s climate bill is better than nothing — but just barely. “It’s a renewable energy revolution on top of a fossil fuel build-out,” says one climate advocate: in other words, a historic clean energy investment chained to a fossil fuel giveaway.
How Italy’s Far Right Fell in Love With the United States
In 1945, Italian fascists saw US forces as occupiers, not liberators. Yet in postwar decades, neofascists sought to insert themselves into the Western anti-communist alliance: an “Atlanticism” that continues to inspire the far right today.
Under Capitalism, the Colonization of Space Means the Destruction of Earth
Over 50 years ago, German philosopher Günther Anders warned that space travel was in danger of being used for power and profit. Against the “provincialism” of space capitalism, he wanted the view of outer space to meaningfully expand our horizons on Earth.
Congressmembers Constantly Violate Job Disclosure Ethics Laws Before Leaving Congress
After retiring from Congress, many lawmakers go on to lucrative gigs as corporate lobbyists or lawyers. They’re required by law to notify a congressional ethics committee when they begin negotiating for a new job — but next to none of them do.