Why is Netflix Giving Us a Wednesday Addams Who Wants to Feel Feels?
Netflix’s new Addams Family show puts Wednesday’s teenaged emotional life front and center — and suffers for it.
20389 Article(s) by: Karl Leffme
Karl Leffme is a socialist in New York CIty.
A Catholic University With a Radical History Faces a Union Drive of Its Own
Catholic radical Louis J. Twomey’s labor institute at Loyola University New Orleans trained a generation of workers for class struggle. A new union drive among the university’s food service workers draws on that legacy of the best of Catholic trade unionism.
Kyrsten Sinema Is Playing Chicken With the Democrats
Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema’s switch from the Democrats to independent isn’t about political principle — it’s a last-ditch attempt to save her reelection prospects against a progressive challenger.
Labour Must Commit to Scrapping the Tories’ New Anti-Strike Law
Britain’s Conservative government has proposed a law that would effectively conscript public sector unions into breaking their own strikes. Yet Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has not committed to overturning these laws should his party win the next election.
Bernie Sanders’s Yemen War Powers Resolution Could Help End the Monstrous War
Bernie Sanders has introduced a new resolution to cut off US support for the horrific Saudi-led war in Yemen. The measure is a crucial step toward peace — but it will have to be backed up with serious pressure on Joe Biden, so he doesn’t flout the resolution.
Marceau Pivert Was a Key Figure in the History of French Socialism
Socialist leader Marceau Pivert played a central role in the turbulent history of French politics during the 1930s. Pivert’s inside-outside strategy toward the established workers’ movement is an important case study in how to win mass support for socialism.
Canada’s Military Trained Ukrainian Fascists. Now It’s Claiming “Russian Disinformation.”
A report from George Washington University reveals that the Canadian Armed Forces trained a far-right Ukrainian group. Despite corroboration by its own internal documents, the Canadian military is calling the report “Russian disinformation.”
In the UK, Public Sector Workers Are Striking Against Austerity
British public sector workers are striking to demand wage increases that keep up with the cost of living. The Tories claim the government can’t afford it ― but they had no problem lavishing cash on big business, banks, and landlords during the pandemic.
The Key to Understanding Kyrsten Sinema Is That It’s Always about Kyrsten Sinema
Cast as a principled rejection of partisan gridlock, Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to leave the Democratic Party is the latest act of shapeshifting to save her political skin. Once again, it’s all about Kyrsten Sinema.
For Mothers Like Me, Raising a Child Involves Managing a Constant Sense of Rage
The US lacks the most basic policies and infrastructure to support parents like me — and mothers bear the worst of it. At a time when we should be overjoyed at the life we’ve brought into the world, we feel anger at a system that’s hostile to us.
In Just One Year, Starbucks Workers Have Won 267 Union Elections
A year ago today, Starbucks workers in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize. Since then the campaign has exploded nationwide, with an impressive 267 Starbucks locations now unionized.
Despite Their Divestment Rhetoric, New York Pensions Are Still Supporting Coal
New York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has promised to divest pension funds from fossil fuel companies. But this money is still propping up big polluters: the pension’s $500 million dollar Blackstone investment funnels cash to a major coal plant.
The University of California Strike Is Approaching Crunch Time
Grad student workers in the UC system have been on strike for the last month, and they’re now facing a crucial moment in their battle for decent pay. The biggest academic strike in US history needs all the support and solidarity we can provide.
The Class Conflict Between Elites and Workers Goes Back to America’s Founding
You wouldn’t know it from the widespread glorification of America’s “founding fathers,” but the years around American independence were shot through with class conflict between elites and working people. And most of the founding fathers were on the wrong side.
Nationalize the Ski Slopes
Ski resorts should be public facilities available to all, not expensive luxuries for the wealthy few. Powder to the people!
Putting the South Carolina Primary First Doesn’t Make Any Sense
Democrats have won South Carolina once in 60 years, the state is getting older and whiter, and plenty of battleground states would be a better fit. So why do Democrats want to put the state’s primary first? Because it helps Joe Biden and hurts the Left.
One Year Ago Today, Starbucks Workers Successfully Unionized Their First Café
Workers at a Starbucks cafe in Buffalo, New York, were the first in the company to unionize one year ago today. The movement has grown rapidly since. We visited Starbucks union activists in five cities around the country to hear about the campaign.
How Capitalism Worms Its Way Into Every Aspect of Our Lives
Marxists have a powerful critique of exploitation in the capitalist workplace, but our analysis can’t stop there. A comprehensive analysis of capitalism, Nancy Fraser argues, must also account for the social relations that make the official economy possible.
Since Boris Yeltsin, Russians Have Been Living in an Imitation Democracy
After the Soviet Union’s fall, the West backed Boris Yeltsin as a paragon of democracy, even as his administration rigged elections and empowered a new capitalist class. Now, under Vladimir Putin, the crisis of Russia’s democracy is only intensifying.
The Failure of Reconstruction Is to Blame for the Weakness of American Democracy
A new book argues that the American right emerged out of a backlash to multiracial democracy following the Civil War. This is only partly true: reactionaries did not just fear democracy, they feared the economic redistribution former slaves associated with it.