Nomads in Search of a Villain
The new film Nomadland is a heartfelt look at the lives of itinerant Americans cast aside by the Great Recession. But it ignores how employers like Amazon are raking in profits off this new class of worker.
20389 Article(s) by: Karl Leffme
Karl Leffme is a socialist in New York CIty.
How Korea Became a Forgotten War
During the Korean War, the United States inflicted unimaginable horrors on the Korean people. Yet today Americans know almost nothing about their government’s role in war crimes and atrocities.
As German Unions Struggle to Save Jobs, Worker Buyouts Are on the Rise
Germany’s employment model is under attack, as mass closures and cost-cutting businesses make once-stable engineering jobs ever more precarious. Some trade unionists have turned to worker buyouts as a means of saving jobs — a move that hands workers more control of their situation, but also brings dangers of its own.
Kamala Harris Needs to Act Now to Advance a $15 Minimum Wage
A confidential memo now circulating spells out exactly how Vice President Kamala Harris to help push through a $15 minimum wage. There are no excuses for inaction.
Hedge Funds to Newspapers: Drop Dead
After more than two decades, New York’s storied tabloid, the Daily News, finally has a staff union again. But with the paper’s sale to Alden Global Capital, a rapacious hedge fund notorious for crushing newsrooms, the union is going to have its work cut out for it just keeping the paper alive.
The Roman Road to Capitalism and the Rise of the West
Historian Walter Scheidel claims to have found the surprising secret of Europe’s rise to world domination: the collapse of the Roman Empire. Scheidel’s work is an impressive, globe-trotting feat of scholarship, but his argument ultimately fails to convince.
The US Immigration System Treats Workers as Disposable
Countless sectors in the US, like the dairy industry, couldn’t run without undocumented workers. Yet those same workers are denied their basic rights and subjected to the constant threat of deportation — dehumanizing and terrorizing them while weakening the power of the broader working class.
The PRO Act Is the Most Ambitious Labor Law Reform Bill in Generations
Unions are pushing Congress to pass the most comprehensive labor law reform bill in decades, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. What exactly would it do? We spoke to a labor lawyer about how the act would help workers organize unions — and strengthen the power of those unions once they’re organized.
Corporations Are Making Billions in Profits — Yet American Workers Have No Paid Sick Leave
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world not to federally mandate paid sick leave. Walmart, McDonald’s, and other giant corporations are trying to keep it that way.
An Interview With Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes
Legendary indie singer-songwriter Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes talks to Jacobin about the Iraq War, protest music, and what a more egalitarian music industry would look like.
Curt Sørensen (1938–2021)
Born into a blue-collar family on the eve of World War II, Curt Sørensen became Denmark’s most prominent Marxist intellectual. He insisted that Marxism wasn’t just a tool for academic analysis — rather, it had to be an aid to the workers’ movement, learning from and feeding back into practical efforts to achieve socialism.
Texas’s Energy Crisis Shows Why We Need to Reform Our Privatized Energy System
The recent meltdown of Texas’s energy grid during a spell of extreme weather made it extremely clear for everyone to see: a for-profit, free-market-oriented energy system is bound to fail massive numbers of people.
It Didn’t Take Long for Joe Biden to Betray the Labor Movement
After promising to be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen,” Joe Biden is staying silent as Amazon workers try to unionize in Alabama. It could be because he’s just being Joe Biden — or it could be because of the massive leverage and influence the company exerts through its size.
As Japan Prepares for the Postponed Olympics, a Conservative Old Guard Is Dragging the Country Down
A sexist outburst from Japan’s Olympics chief derailed preparations for the rescheduled Tokyo Games and provoked an international furor. Mori Yoshiro’s antiquated attitudes are rooted in a conservative, authoritarian worldview that’s deeply entrenched on the Japanese right.
A Moment of New Leadership in the International Association of Fire Fighters
The 320,000 members of the International Association of Fire Fighters have begun voting for a new president. In Mahlon Mitchell, they have a chance to elect a 2016 DNC delegate for Bernie Sanders from Wisconsin who fought back against former governor Scott Walker’s vicious union-busting.
Amazon’s Anti-Union Drive Shows Why US Labor Law Is Broken
Amazon workers in Alabama are voting on whether to unionize, but the company is able to bombard them with anti-union propaganda. In Canada, by contrast, union votes are held quickly, making it harder for companies to stack the deck — a model that can work in the United States.
Democrats Are Subsidizing Health Insurance Predators
Democrats want to pay billions to put Americans on expensive corporate health insurance plans rather than expand Medicare or create a public option. It’s a gift to a criminal private insurance industry that needs to be completely abolished.
When Poland’s Unrepentant Stalinists Defended Their Regime
As Polish state socialism entered its death spiral, journalist Teresa Torańska interviewed the figures who had first created the regime after 1945. The resulting book gave retired Stalinist statesmen a platform to defend their actions — but also showed why their antidemocratic model of socialism could never have achieved popular support.
In the “Renter From Hell” Narrative, Landlords Are the Real Victims
The COVID-19 era eviction moratorium has given rise to a new journalistic genre: the “renter from hell” narrative, portraying landlords as the real victims of the crisis.
It’s Looking Like the Department of Justice Under Biden Will Have Major Influence from Corporate Law
Jamie Gorelick, a high-powered lawyer who defended the city of Chicago after the police murder of Laquan McDonald and sits on the board of Amazon, is a case study of the influence big corporate law firms wield behind the scenes in Washington — and she has friends like Merrick Garland in high places in the Biden administration.