Capitalism Caused the COVID-19 Crisis
We cannot let capitalists absolve themselves of blame for the COVID-19 crisis. Their choices have turned an emergency into a disaster.
19650 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.
We Can’t Shut Down Democracy in a Crisis
As an apparent safety measure, the Australian government has decided to suspend Parliament for an extended period of four months. As Greens Party leader Adam Bandt argues, in a time of crisis, we need more democracy, not less.
This Is a Global Pandemic — Let’s Treat It That Way
Media coverage has focused heavily on the impact of COVID-19 in Europe and North America. But countries in the Global South are far more vulnerable to the pandemic and its economic fallout. The Left needs to develop a truly global view of the crisis — and act accordingly.
Capitalism Causes Disasters, Socialism Can Solve Them
The devastation brought by the coronavirus has been hugely magnified by an irrational system that measures human life in terms of profits and loss. Faced with collapse, states have already had to intervene in the markets — now, we need them to plan to rebuild our societies for the future.
J. Posadas, the Trotskyist Who Believed in Intergalactic Communism
From his hopes in human-dolphin socializing to his claims that UFOs were sent by alien communists, J. Posadas’s quixotic beliefs are today legendarized in countless memes. But a new biography suggests that the Argentinian Trotskyist was not such an outlier — and explains why his revolutionary optimism draws such ironic veneration today.
Bill Gates’s Philanthropic Giving Is a Racket
Bill Gates recently resigned from the board of Microsoft to focus full time on philanthropy. It’s a perfect time to remember: billionaire-funded philanthropy is a public-relations scam.
This Downturn Could Be Worse Than the Early 1930s
We could experience in months what took three or four years to unfold after the 1929 stock market crash. Things are going to be very bad unless we see some serious structural reforms.
Democratic Socialism Is Still the Future
Despite this weekend’s defeat for the Left in the leadership election, Jeremy Corbyn’s democratic socialism remains hugely popular among Labour members – and the only way out of the economic crisis we find ourselves in. As Corbyn himself put it: “There is no such thing as Corbynism. There is socialism.”
For Higher Education, a “Return to Normal” Isn’t Good Enough
It’s tempting for students and academic workers to hope for a quick “return to normal” at colleges and universities. But normality was misery for an increasing number of us.
Wisconsin’s Pandemic Primary Will Put Voters’ Lives in Danger
Despite the clear public health risk to voters, and despite the sensible delays enacted by fifteen other states across the country, Wisconsin is going ahead with its in-person primary election Tuesday. The coronavirus pandemic will almost certainly worsen — and state Democratic leaders aren’t stopping it.
Thaddeus Stevens, Revolutionary
Thaddeus Stevens was born on this day in 1792. A fierce, uncompromising opponent of slavery, he was a true American revolutionary.
After Corbyn, Socialists Must Continue the Struggle Within Labour
Today’s Labour leadership election is a defeat for the Left. But the real victory for our opponents would be watching the forces we have amassed in recent years scatter to the wind.
The Making of the Soviet Ruling Class
Yuri Slezkine’s portrait of the Soviet elite under Stalin is an eccentric masterwork. But his portrayal of the Bolsheviks as a religious sect is a travesty of history.
The Charade of Trump’s “Deal of the Century”
Earlier this year, Donald Trump presented his so-called peace plan for the Middle East, a travesty of a scheme that seeks to rubber-stamp Israeli land grabs and shatter the project of Palestinian sovereignty. Former Knesset member for the Arab Party list Haneen Zoabi on why it must be overturned.
Decades of Hospital Closures Led to This Disaster
The United States has been closing vitally needed hospitals for decades. Now, with a pandemic afoot and triage tents popping up in Central Park, we need to stop holding our hospital system hostage to the whims of the market.
“They Don’t Think Our Lives Matter as Much as Theirs”
On Monday night, workers at a Chicago Amazon warehouse joined a nationwide wave of walkouts over what they say is management’s inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic. One of the action’s organizers spoke to Jacobin about it.
We Should Use the Coronavirus Pandemic to Fight Mass Incarceration
Coronavirus is colliding with American mass incarceration, making clear that warehousing human beings en masse is an often deadly decision. We should use this crisis to push for decarceration.
“If You Want to Keep Your Car, You Drive”
Thousands of drivers have rented vehicles through Lyft’s Express Drive program, working long hours for the company to pay off weekly rental bills. Now there aren’t enough rides on the road, and drivers can’t pay. We talked to Lyft drivers in three cities about how they’re managing the possibility of losing their cars in the middle of a pandemic.
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.
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.