Sick Pay Should Be Enough to Live On
Faced with the threat of coronavirus, Boris Johnson has said statutory sick pay will apply from the first day off work. But the meager payment isn’t enough to live on — and won’t even be made to all workers.
20401 Article(s) 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.
Coronavirus Calls for an Emergency Rent Freeze and Eviction Moratorium
It is indefensible that people should have to fear eviction during a health crisis. Coronavirus calls for emergency controls on the housing market now.
“Everyone Belongs Here”
For Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialists of America–backed candidate for the New York State Assembly, organizing victims of the foreclosure crisis and supporting threatened immigrants are part of the same fight: the struggle for the right to a home.
Bolsonaro’s “Fuck You” Coup
After more than a year of Jair Bolsonaro’s rule in Brazil, the country is hurtling toward authoritarianism. Now the president is calling on his supporters to take to the streets in a “Fuck You March” against the democratic institutions that are standing in the way of his far-right agenda.
“We’re Not Going to Work Through Coronavirus”
The European country hit hardest by coronavirus, Italy has announced a near-total shutdown of shops and public venues, but many nonessential workplaces are still running. Refusing to let bosses risk their safety, workers are now going on strike.
Austerity Is the Patient Zero of Coronavirus
The coronavirus is already exposing the profound damage a decade of Tory austerity has wrought on British society. And it’s about to get a lot worse.
Forget McGovern — We Need to Stop the Democrats From Nominating Another Mondale
For decades, the Democratic establishment has been determined to avoid “another George McGovern.” They’ve been perfectly willing to risk another Walter Mondale.
Ignoring the Fascist Threat
Fascists groups in Australia, though tiny, regularly threaten violence. The state is traditionally blind to terror from the Right; don’t expect it to intervene.
Smartphones Aren’t the Problem — Capitalism Is
All of the fretting about social media addiction and smartphones destroying our attention span misses the point. Capitalism and the profit-seeking of big tech is the real problem.
Joe Biden Can’t Hide for Much Longer
Joe Biden emerged victorious last night, but his disastrous interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell last week was yet another indicator of why Biden’s handlers have been trying to keep their candidate out of public view. Even in friendly exchanges, Biden can’t help but perform terribly.
Where Do We Go After Last Night’s Defeat?
The bad news is that the Democratic Party isn’t going anywhere. The good news is that today’s commonsense political demands are, almost unthinkably, democratic socialist ones. Our work continues today.
Bernie Supporters, No Surrender
Morbid despair won’t get us anywhere — win or lose, we should fight to the end for Bernie’s campaign.
Clare Boothe Luce, From Broadway to the Cold War
Author of Broadway hit The Women, the Vanity Fair managing editor Clare Boothe Luce was a dogged anticommunist. As US ambassador to Italy, she worked tirelessly to keep the Left out of office — and set a precedent for Washington’s meddling in democracies abroad.
Noam Chomsky: “Bernie Sanders Has Inspired a Mass Popular Movement”
Noam Chomsky says that Bernie Sanders is vilified by the media because he’s trying to shape US politics in the interest of working people. We shouldn’t expect anything else.
Joe Biden Is No Friend of Public Education
We deserve a presidential candidate who will eradicate high-stakes testing, champion teachers and public schools, and help free students from the shackles of student debt. Joe Biden is not that candidate.
Sanders Is Offering a Science-Based Coronavirus Policy. Trump Wants a Cruise-Ship-Industry Bailout.
Bernie Sanders’s competent, evidence-based approach to the pandemic provides a much-needed contrast to the shambolic public health menace of Donald Trump. We need legislation providing for free COVID-19 tests, mandatory paid sick leave, free health care for COVID-19 patients, and quarantine pay.
Joe Biden Can’t Cure Cancer
Once again, Joe Biden has pledged to cure cancer. At the same time, his campaign is being bankrolled by the very industries that profit from keeping treatment prohibitively expensive.
To the Boomers We Love: Join Us Young People in the Movement Behind Bernie Sanders
Polls show that many older Americans don’t support Bernie Sanders. But we don’t want to write those boomers off — we want to warmly invite them to join our movement that’s fighting for dignified lives for us, for them, and for their children and grandchildren.
Joe Biden Is Not All There Mentally. Running Him for President Is Incredibly Dangerous.
Joe Biden’s boosters want to sell him as the safe bet against Donald Trump. But running a man in clear cognitive decline against a mean-spirited bully who relishes the exploitation of weakness is anything but safe — it would all but hand the election to Trump.
How Greece Became Europe’s “Shield” Against Refugees
Five years after Alexis Tsipras proclaimed his government’s solidarity with migrants, he has joined European Union leaders in calling for Greece to “close the borders.” The narrative of migrant “invasion” has mainstreamed far-right ideas — turning nationalist rhetoric into violent attacks on refugees.