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.
Narendra Modi’s government is clamping down on political dissent as part of its Hindu-nationalist project. The Indian authorities have used bogus charges of “terrorism” and “conspiracy” to keep critical intellectuals locked up for years at a time.
Coronavirus has brought the United States to its knees not only due to our system’s countless weaknesses, but also because of our delusional self-assessment. Despite all evidence to the contrary, many believed that this country was invincible. That fantasy has been destroyed.
Trump’s recent flurry of executive orders on “anarchist jurisdictions” and diversity training have him moving hard to the right to shore up his base — but, perhaps more worryingly, moving further left to keep Americans from losing their homes during a crisis than Obama did.
Donald Trump hysterically considers it a Marxist plot, but corporate “anti-racism training” isn’t a practice that anyone should defend. It doesn’t actually combat racism and it helps bosses consolidate their power over employees under a veneer of social justice.
Kanye West’s bid for president didn’t come out of nowhere. He’s always been a contradictory figure, and arrogance always mingled with his nuance and consciousness.
Democrats use Selma, Alabama as a political prop and ignore the city’s current struggles. Residents told Jacobin that they need real help, not just annual photo ops with Oprah and Joe Biden.
Donald Trump’s plan to suspend the collection of the payroll tax risks both the financial well-being of workers and Social Security. Instead of outsourcing the case against Trump to Republican opponents of Social Security in the Lincoln Project, Democrats need to stand up for popular social programs.
Ellen DeGeneres’s reputation as the kindest celebrity in America has finally been shattered. But it’s not just her “mean streak” that’s the problem — it’s that she’s an exploitative boss, who cheated her employees at the height of the pandemic.
Reopening schools right now is extremely dangerous — which is why many colleges and universities are lobbying in Washington for immunity from COVID-related lawsuits.
As the political center has withered in recent years, self-described moderates have often expressed nostalgia for the “normal” politics of the 1990s. But the era of Blair and Clinton really wasn’t a golden age of progress — and it brought a wave of market fundamentalism still sowing havoc today.
Joe Biden may indeed win in November. But he has run an inconsequential and pathetic campaign — one that could pose enormous dangers in the coming years.
On this Labor Day, remind everyone you can that if we hope to ever rebuild an economy that works for everyone, we’re going to need many more workers in unions and a much stronger labor movement.
David Graeber will remain for me a model for how to live to the fullest a scholarly and activist life.
We’ve got some bad news for you on Labor Day: your boss is exploiting you. Karl Marx explains how.
When managers at a major retail warehouse in Melbourne concealed information on the spread of COVID-19 among the workforce, casual and permanent workers united to walk off the job. The result was a powerful victory in the fight against unsafe conditions.
Because socialists were marginalized for decades, we’ve had to build a new left almost from scratch. It’s understandable to feel demoralized by defeats. But the movement we’re building is one that can still win real change.
Simply put, Jessica Krug was a minstrel act, a racist caricature. But while Krug’s persona was certainly offensive, what’s far more offensive is that there is a demand for this kind of performance in liberal academic circles.
Joe Biden is trying to use Martin Luther King’s legacy to make the case for a law-and-order crackdown on protests. But King drew a distinction between violence against people and violence against property — and he viewed riots as the product of an unjust social order.
The negotiations over a European Union bailout were riven with splits on whether “frugal” Northern states should have to assist their coronavirus-hit Southern partners. But while the eventual €750 billion deal was widely hailed as a victory for European solidarity, its details show that it will aggravate the EU’s inequalities even further.
At the Spotless Laundry in Melbourne’s southeast, employers demanded that work continue despite escalating numbers of COVID-19 cases. The workers refused to allow the company’s profit to be placed above their safety — and won.