Leo Panitch and the Socialist Project
Leo Panitch will live on in the democratic socialism he espoused and the lives he touched.
19134 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.
At Chipotle, They Ignore the Rats and Punish the Workers
We spoke to a Chipotle employee forced to work amid rodent infestations so extreme that he and several colleagues were bitten by rats. All this while COVID devastates their ranks. No one should have to risk their health for the sake of corporate profits.
Joe Biden’s Love of Austerity Cut the Stimulus Bill in Half
We’re in the middle of a brutal pandemic during which millions are suffering. Yet according to the New York Times, Joe Biden actually moved to undercut progressives demanding greater economic aid in the stimulus negotiations, giving “Democrats confidence to pull back on their demands” — and surrender to Mitch McConnell.
Thank Socialism for the Vaccine. Blame Capitalism for Its Distribution.
The jaw-dropping speed of COVID-19 vaccine development is a glorious marvel of science, cooperation, and economic planning — a glimpse of how much more an egalitarian world could produce and achieve. But the lifeboat ethics of vaccine rollout is a horrifying display of the inefficiency and cruelty of capitalism.
Stop All Evictions in New York — It’s a Matter of Life and Death
New York must immediately reinstate a complete eviction moratorium, incoming New York state legislators and socialists Jabari Brisport and Marcela Mitaynes argue. You can’t stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 if you’re forced out of your home.
What the Antebellum Abolitionists Can Teach Us about AOC and Medicare for All
Should left-wing House members try to force action on Medicare for All by threatening to withhold their votes for Nancy Pelosi as House speaker? The idea has sparked controversy, but it’s nothing new. In the decades before the Civil War, it was a key tactic for antislavery radicals as they struggled to keep the slavery issue on the national agenda.
Leo Panitch (1945–2020)
The global left has suffered an irreparable loss with the passing of Leo Panitch this weekend. He was incredibly warm, inviting, and generous to others. And he remained committed to the end to the cause of socialism and human emancipation.
Sen. Pat Toomey’s Last-Minute Addition to the Stimulus Bill Will Be a Big Boon to His Wall Street Donors
The Federal Reserve could provide low-interest loans to small businesses and governments struggling under the pandemic as part of the stimulus. But the Fed providing those loans would mean Wall Street wouldn’t get that business, at much higher rates — something Republican Pennsylvania senator Pat Toomey decided on Thursday could not happen.
How Australian Workers Prepared to Socialize Industry During the Great Depression
In the 1930s, working-class radicals in the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party established Socialization Units, mass organizations parallel to the party. Their goal was to prepare for the democratic takeover of industry, and to build “socialism in our time.”
A New Documentary Shows the Pandemic’s Toll on One City’s Restaurants
The documentary One Long Shift in the Weeds captures the devastation of Pittsburgh’s culinary industry since the pandemic began. But it also shows the life-changing effect of enhanced unemployment benefits, which offered millions a temporary respite from life on the edge of financial ruin.
Radicals and the Berkeley Free Speech Movement
The Berkeley Free Speech Movement is rightly remembered as a crucial moment in the upsurges of the 1960s. Less remembered is the role that radicals, especially members of the Independent Socialist Club, played in that movement.
There’s No Solution to Big Tech Without Public Ownership of Tech Companies
Antitrust lawsuits against companies like Facebook stand little chance of effectively breaking them up. Bringing Big Tech into public ownership is the only way to fight monopolization under surveillance capitalism.
John le Carré Captured the Paranoid Mood of the Cold War
John le Carré was the Cold War’s finest novelist. He was no leftist, but Le Carré’s portrayals of the British security establishment offer an enduring insight into the mindset of the ruling class.
Barack Obama Has Nothing to Say About Central America
In his recently released memoir A Promised Land, Barack Obama has neatly removed Central America from his narrative of the first years of his presidency. Perhaps he thought no one would notice.
We Can’t Survive on $600. The New Relief Bill Is Not a Victory.
Democrats refused to seize a rare opportunity to outmaneuver Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. They settled for a COVID relief bill that skimps on benefits, provides tax breaks to the rich, and pulls us toward austerity extremism.
Walmart and Amazon Are Making Record Profits. Their Workers Are Getting Scraps.
Walmart and Amazon, millions of whose workers and suppliers have struggled to make ends meet amid the pandemic, are flush with cash — and just as virulently anti-union as ever.
Bring Back the Superdole!
By providing workers an extra $600 every week in unemployment insurance, the CARES Act delivered the most significant expansion of the welfare state since the 1960s — and delivered the Left its most impressive policy victory in years. We should demand that the government do it again.
Why Workers Everywhere Should Read Labor’s Untold Story
Reading and study are required for militants in any labor union. And there are few better resources for telling the heroic story of American class struggle to workers today than the classic labor history book Labor’s Untold Story.
Donald Trump Has Just Traded Western Sahara Like a Victorian Colonialist
The Trump-brokered deal between Morocco and Israel normalizes relations between the two states. But the outgoing president bought Morocco’s agreement by endorsing its ownership of Western Sahara — making the US the only major state to rubber-stamp an occupation regime condemned by international law.
The Coles Warehouse Lockout Is a Front-Line Struggle in the Battle Over Automation
Australia’s biggest supermarket chain has locked out its warehouse workers in New South Wales. The lockout is the first battle in a coming war over who will benefit from automation — solidarity with the Coles workers is vital.