Privatization Helped Make Jackson, Mississippi’s Water Undrinkable
Mississippi is weighing the privatization of Jackson’s water. But parts of that water system have already been privatized — and the results have been disastrous.
20417 Article(s) by: Julia Goodman
Kim Stanley Robinson: We Need Democratic Socialism
Utopian thinking gets a pretty bad name. But for author Kim Stanley Robinson, we should resist the idea we’re simply doomed to climate disaster — and insist that there is a world beyond capitalism.
How Iran’s Theocrats Allied With — and Then Crushed — the Left
Sociologist Chahla Chafiq was a 25-year-old Marxist activist during the 1979 Iranian revolution. Now in exile in France, she looks back on the tensions between socialism, feminism, and anti-imperialism that have roiled Iran’s opposition politics for decades.
Socialism Won’t Get Rid of Work. But It Will Allow Us to Work Less Under Better Conditions.
Some leftists imagine a postcapitalist society will free everyone from the need to work. But the only realistic and fair way to manage production under socialism is to democratically distribute and share in the burdens of labor.
The Tories Are Trying to Cripple Rail Workers’ Ability to Strike
On Thursday, the Conservative UK government published a new bill that would impose draconian restrictions on rail workers’ right to strike — aiming to punish rail unions for their recent militancy and make future strikes as difficult as possible.
Biden Has Fired the First Shot in a New Kind of Anti-China Cold War
The Biden administration just ratcheted up “strategic competition” with China with a round of export controls aimed at hobbling China’s semiconductor industry. But the move could end up blowing back on the US and its allies.
Interest Rate Hikes Will Make Climate Change Worse
Raising interest rates won’t just push Britain into a recession and make the cost-of-living crisis worse for working-class people — it will discourage badly needed investments in green energy, undermining the UK’s efforts to address climate change.
Canada’s New Democratic Party Is Finally Backing Palestinian Rights
Canada’s social democratic New Democratic Party has a poor track record on the issue of Palestinian dispossession. As a result of grassroots organizing and a push from the party’s left, leader Jagmeet Singh is finally signaling support for Palestinian rights.
Billionaires Are Shoveling Money Into a Los Angeles School Board Race
Outside billionaires have flooded a single school board race in Los Angeles with $10 million. That’s because they know the race is about more than just the swing vote on the LA school board — it’s about the future of public education.
There Is No Leftist Case for Crypto
Most of us sense cryptocurrency is a scam. But some boosters claim progressives shouldn’t abandon crypto. Examine those claims closely, however, and you won’t find much — perhaps because there really isn’t an argument for crypto from the Left.
Britain’s Political Crisis Is Further Proof That It Is a Nation in Decline
The UK’s former prime minister Liz Truss came to power promising to restore growth to the British economy. During her 45 days at the helm, she crashed it. Calamity is pending, and the country’s political elite are out of ideas.
Public-Service Broadcasting Is a Noble Ideal, but the BBC Needs Radical Change
The BBC marked its centenary this week, but its long-term future is deeply uncertain. We should defend the idea of public-service broadcasting while sharply criticizing the BBC in its current form for its conservativism and deference to the British state.
Liz Truss Is Gone, but the Tory Terror Continues
Liz Truss has accelerated the UK’s decline faster than many thought possible. She’s been swiftly disposed of by her own party, but the long-run meltdown of British politics shows little sign of easing.
Canadian Conservatives Are Leaning Into Their Own Brand of Identity Politics
The Canadian right has committed to its own brand of angry identity politics, pitting “regular” folks against the depredations of elites. The Left has to fight back with a class politics opposing economic exploitation — not its own version of tribalism.
Teachers Don’t Need Improved Self-Care Techniques. They Need a Raise.
Compared to similarly educated peers in the workforce, teachers earn 76 cents on the dollar. Bubble baths and mindfulness apps can’t make up for the systematic denial of life-sustaining wages.
How Capitalists Created International Financial Institutions to Rule the Planet
Long before Bretton Woods, powerful capitalist nations perfected the art of exploiting other countries without formally colonizing them. They’ve done this through a rigged international economy, governed by institutions like the World Bank and the IMF.
Oregon Might Get a Republican Governor for the First Time in Decades
Thanks to Nike CEO Phil Knight’s cash, the ripple effects of the George Floyd protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, and a deepening housing crisis, Oregon is on the brink of electing its first Republican governor since the 1980s.
Peter Singer Is the Philosopher of the Status Quo
Effective altruist Peter Singer argues that individuals should do more to alleviate the world’s poverty. But his emphasis on giving to charity disregards the structural causes of inequality, suggesting that nothing fundamental can be changed.
Floods Have Hit Australia Again. Thanks to Budget Cuts, the Authorities Aren’t Prepared.
Over the last week, record rains have again caused flooding in Australia, this time impacting Victoria. Although the disaster was easy to predict, the authorities took few preventative measures, and now residents are expected to bear the costs.
A New Doctors’ Union in the South Is a Model for Health Care Organizing
Doctors’ unions are rare in the US, and unions comprised of both physicians and other medical providers are even rarer. But in North Carolina, a group of medical providers has successfully organized an interprofessional union.