An Open Letter to Steven Pinker (and Bill Gates)
Steven Pinker’s paeans to the poverty-reducing power of globalization are long on rhetoric and short on evidence. Neoliberal capitalism has actually made global poverty worse.
19086 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.
“Capitalism Is the Number-One Threat to Democracy Today”
From Plato to Marx, thinkers have insisted on the incompatibility between democracy and inequality. Filmmaker Astra Taylor explores that question and others in her new documentary, What Is Democracy?
Bernie Sanders Wants to Expand Social Security
Social Security is critical for massive numbers of Americans, yet many Republicans and Democrats have wanted to destroy it. Today, Bernie Sanders introduced new legislation to strengthen the program by taxing the rich.
A Media Fit for a King
Emmanuel Macron’s bid to silence his critics hasn’t stopped at repressing the gilets jaunes. He’s also pushing measures to straitjacket the whole media.
Howard Schultz’s #MeToo Problem at Starbucks
Starbucks employees have faced rampant sexual harassment for years. Why hasn’t Howard Schultz faced scrutiny for it?
El Salvador’s Backslide
With its loss of the presidency in El Salvador’s recent elections, the gains of the revolutionary project launched by the FMLN in 1980 are in serious jeopardy.
The Republic on Trial
This week nine Catalan leaders will be put on trial for sedition. With the 2017 bid for independence thwarted, the Catalan left finds itself more divided than ever.
Ilhan Omar Was Right
Ilhan Omar is being attacked for telling the truth: the influence of AIPAC on US policy toward Israel has been a disaster.
Why the Tories are Losing the Online Arms Race
From their comical outrage over dick pics to their failed social media youth arm, Britain’s Conservatives have made themselves online laughingstocks. But the reason isn’t technological — it’s political.
Mexico’s Fourth Transformation
We’re roughly three months into AMLO’s term as president of Mexico. The challenges and opportunities his administration and the Mexican people face seem equally epochal.
The Party Has Logged On
After decades of decline, left parties are in the midst of a renaissance. But without a commitment to social roots in the working class, twenty-first century “digital parties” could decline just as their predecessors did.
Denver Teachers Strike Back
A public education strike wave continues to sweep the country. Today, it’s the turn of Denver teachers to fight back against the privatizers.
Policy for the Many
As the socialist movement picks up steam, we’ll need to translate our ideals into workable policies. Two democratic socialist legislators in Maryland are doing just that.
All Ideas Are Political
As socialists, we believe that all ideas are political. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t subject our claims to rigorous, empirical scrutiny.
What MLK Actually Thought About Israel and Palestine
Some try to paint Martin Luther King Jr as an unswerving supporter of Israel. They’re wrong.
What a Teachers Movement Can Look Like
By following the example of Los Angeles teachers in their recent victorious strike, teachers around the country can roll back free-market education reform.
A Life of Contradiction and Clarity
Erik Olin Wright understood the necessity of clearly articulating what’s wrong with society, what a better society could look like, and how we could get there.
Nancy Pelosi, Which Side Are You On?
Nancy Pelosi and the rest of institutional liberalism has to decide whether they’re on the side of working people or health insurance companies.
The “Skills Gap” Was a Lie
For years, capitalists and their journalistic mouthpieces blamed joblessness on a “skills gap.” But there wasn’t a skills gap. There was a gap between what society owes people and what it’s willing to offer them at the expense of corporate profits.
“There Are So Many Things That We Can Learn From This Strike”
The Los Angeles teachers strike showed that bottom-up organizing can overcome extraordinary odds. We can do the same throughout the health and education sectors — and at Amazon.