How War Changed Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky was a great poet of the October Revolution. Yet at the start of World War I, the young futurist had embraced the spirit of war — before seeing what it really meant.
20383 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.
Trump’s Trade War Is a Political Dilemma for Democrats
Donald Trump is hoping his tariffs will goad his liberal opponents into touting free trade and scoffing at the working class. Democrats don’t have to take the bait.
The Call to Execute Luigi Mangione Is Indefensible
Donald Trump’s attorney general Pam Bondi’s call for Luigi Mangione to receive the death penalty is a dangerous political intervention in support of the indefensible.
The “World’s Coolest Dictator” Visited the White House
In Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, Donald Trump sees a far-right authoritarian who has something he doesn’t: an actual popular mandate.
Don’t Cheer a Recession
Democrats are hoping Trump will discredit himself with a recession, while the Left sometimes fantasizes about crisis destabilizing capitalism itself. But economic crises cause massive human suffering and have recently redounded more to the Right than the Left.
Marxism, an American Tradition
In the United States, like in most countries, critics of Marxism present it as a rootless foreign import. Yet both American admirers of Karl Marx and conservatives’ attacks on him have granted Marxism a distinctive place in US public life.
In Defense of Progress
Socialists can’t give up on the future.
Like the Gun Industry, Big Oil Wants Legal Immunity
The fossil fuel industry is pushing Congress for immunity from climate lawsuits that could force the industry to pay billions for misleading the public about the dangers of fossil fuels — attempting to lock in the same legal shield that protects gun manufacturers.
Omer Bartov on Gaza: “It’s a Misnomer to Call It a War”
Historian Omer Bartov spoke to Jacobin about why scholars of the Holocaust are struggling to talk frankly about Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Even in Government, Spain’s Left Struggles to Get a Hearing
Spain’s left-wing alliance Sumar sought to use high office to deliver workers’ rights and lower the cost of living. During the pandemic, it made progress — but now that the broad-left coalition has no majority, Sumar is struggling to make itself heard.
Tuning Out the Algorithm at WFMU
New Jersey’s storied WFMU is not just another independent radio station. It’s a rejection of algorithm-driven playlists and a lasting commitment to music as a collective experience.
In Defense of Rowdy Fans
The experience of thousands of people watching soccer together is at the heart of the game. After decades of being demonized as thugs, the crowd’s absence during the pandemic revealed nothing but a void.
The Method in the Far Right’s Madness
Today’s far right manages to combine the call for economic freedom with pseudoscience about natural hierarchies of race and IQ. Historian Quinn Slobodian explains how these ideas can be fitted together.
Putting Tariffs on Your Nose to Spite Your Face
Donald Trump’s erratic tariff rollout seems likely to deepen the world’s dependence on China and scare off investment in US reindustrialization, undermining his own administration’s stated goals. There’s no art to this incoherent, self-destructive deal.
Mahmoud Khalil’s Battle Is Not Over
Yesterday an immigration judge ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be lawfully deported for his pro-Palestinian political speech. It sets a dangerous precedent for the future of free speech in America.
Deported From Europe, Murdered by Israel
Gazan brothers Haytham and Bashar spent most of their adult lives in Europe — but after being deported, they returned to Gaza, where they were killed by an Israeli rocket. Their story shows the deadly nature of Europe’s growing anti-refugee policies.
Thailand Is Clamping Down on Critics of the Monarchy
Paul Chambers, an eminent US scholar of Thailand, has been arrested on charges of criticizing the Thai monarchy. Chambers is one of the most high-profile targets of a clampdown on dissent against the world’s richest king.
Trump’s War on Abortion Rights Faces a Resilient Movement
As the antiabortion movement pursues harsh restrictions and fetal personhood laws, abortion providers and activists are fighting back. Despite deadly state bans and attacks on medication access, reproductive health care victories offer light in the darkness.
A New Plan to Fix Mexico’s Housing Crisis
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum wants to bring social housing back to Mexico City’s core. It may be the capital’s best shot at making affordability more than just a slogan.
Young Men Are Not Lazily Opting Out of Work
Republicans are citing a supposed epidemic of young men opting out of work as a rationale for cutting Medicaid. But the data shows that only a small percentage of young men are absent from the labor force in a long-term way.