The American Federalist System Is Killing Our Ability to Respond to Coronavirus
The US’s federalist system undermines even the most basic attempts to carry out effective national action. In pandemics, that’s a recipe for death and disaster.
19352 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.
The American Federation of Teachers’ Endorsement of Joe Biden Was Blatantly Undemocratic
The American Federation of Teachers recently announced its endorsement of Joe Biden for president. Even by the dismal standards set by the rest of the labor movement, the AFT’s endorsement was comically undemocratic.
The Coronavirus and Workers’ Democracy
The massive concentration of wealth and power at the apex of American society is not just obscene from the abstract standpoint of justice. It is a threat to our common health.
Tony Benn Spent His Life Fighting for Democracy and Socialism
Today would have been British Labour MP Tony Benn’s 95th birthday. We remember his contributions to the struggle for democracy and socialism, a struggle that we must continue today.
Jeremy Corbyn Showed the Way. But We Must Learn the Right Lessons.
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party ends this weekend. We need to defend his legacy and carry on his noble democratic-socialist program, while being honest about where and why he fell short.
The Coronavirus Has Created Record Support for Medicare For All
A new poll shows a solid majority of Americans in favor of Medicare For All. It should come as no surprise — the horrors of the private health insurance system are now being put on full display.
Austerity Is Fueling the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Orleans, Not Mardi Gras Culture
Mainstream outlets are claiming the mounting coronavirus crisis in New Orleans is the result of cultural practices like Mardi Gras. That’s nonsense — it’s a consequence of deep class divides and decimated public health infrastructure.
“The Collective Work of Art We Call the City”
We pay tribute to Michael Sorkin, the architect and writer who died last week after contracting COVID-19. Sorkin spent his life both interpreting and changing cities in the interest of economic justice.
Abdul El-Sayed: “We Need to Remember This Is About People, Not Numbers or a Curve”
In an interview with Jacobin, Medicare for All advocate and former Michigan governor hopeful Abdul El-Sayed explains why the COVID-19 pandemic was avoidable — and why the cruelties of the US’s for-profit health and economic system are making everything worse.
Pandemic Bonds Are a Scam Holding the Global South Hostage
The World Bank’s “pandemic bonds” demonstrate how global capital has an uncanny ability to profit from social ills. So far, investors have earned about $96 million in interest on the pandemic bonds, but developing countries have yet to receive desperately needed money.
Faced With Coronavirus, Portugal Is Treating Migrants as Citizens — We Should, Too
Portugal’s center-left government has announced that all migrants with open residency applications will be given regularized status, allowing them full access to health care and social services. Its example shows that our collective response to the coronavirus outbreak has to include everyone — regardless of where they were born.
Britain’s Conservative Party Is the Patient Zero of the Country’s Worsening National Health Crisis
A decade of Tory austerity, now compounded by the COVID-19 crisis, is pushing Britain’s National Health Service to a breaking point.
“We Can Use This Crisis to Reconceptualize the Economy”
Australian workers are finally being addressed in the government’s rescue packages, but the measures go nowhere near far enough. National Secretary of the United Workers’ Union Tim Kennedy argues that the crisis offers an opportunity for genuine pushback and transformation.
We Can’t Have An Economic Recovery If We Don’t Improve Health Care Right Now
We must not choose between staving off economic catastrophe or a public health disaster. We can do both — if we immediately expand Medicare to cover everyone while safely and simultaneously rebuilding our healthcare infrastructure.”
You Can’t Go Home Again
We didn’t know we were entering a new era until it arrived. We can never go back.
When the Black Political Class Betrayed Black Workers
Martin Luther King Jr died supporting striking black sanitation workers in the South. Less than a decade later, a black Atlanta mayor and King’s own father were attacking that same group of workers and breaking their strike. Black urban governance is meaningless without a commitment to strengthening the public sector and rejecting the logic of austerity.
Manolis Glezos, 1922–2020
Manolis Glezos was just 19 when he sparked Greece’s anti-Nazi resistance by tearing down the swastika from the Acropolis. This was the beginning of a life dedicated to the cause of the oppressed — in which, as he put it, “No struggle for what you believe in is ever futile.”
Spain Needs Social Solidarity as Well as Social Distancing
Last month’s revelations of the Spanish monarchy’s illicit financial dealings embarrassed official claims that “we’re all in this together.” Faced with COVID-19, citizens are forced to build their own collective response — replacing the empty rhetoric of “national unity” with the real practice of social solidarity.
There’s Never Been a Better Time for Us to End Private Health Insurance Than Right Now
The coronavirus crisis will lead to health insurance premium increases by up to 40 percent next year. We can’t afford that. Instead of seeing premiums skyrocket or bailing out private health companies, we need to seize this moment to abolish private insurance and create a single, national insurance plan.
Tech Firms Are Swooping in to Profit From COVID-19
As health systems around the world are thrown into crisis, tech firms are winning lucrative government contracts to roll out spurious apps and digital services. We need technological innovation to combat this pandemic, but it must be administered publicly to prevent the further commodification of our health care.