The GameStop Revolt Exposed Capitalism
The Reddit-led GameStop short squeeze wasn’t a threat to capitalism, but it did reveal to a huge number of people that the system is rigged. That’s popular education socialists should be grateful for.
19641 Articles by: Kool A. D.
Kool A.D. is a rapper, author, and astrological navigator.
How a Russian Nationalist Named Alexei Navalny Became a Liberal Hero
The arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has sparked mass protests against Vladimir Putin’s authoritarianism. Navalny’s journalism has highlighted the cronyism of Russia’s elites — but his chameleon-like shifts between liberalism and anti-immigrant nationalism show he’s no champion of working-class Russians.
If Anthony Albanese Steps Down Now, His Replacement Will Be Even Worse
Australian Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese could be facing a leadership contest. Albanese’s record has been unimpressive, but changing leaders won’t be enough to turn the party’s fortunes around. Real party democracy and a break with neoliberal dogma are the only remedies for Labor’s malaise.
After Trump’s Colonial Carve-Up, Western Sahara Has Risen Up
In one of his last acts as president, Donald Trump gave US recognition for Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara in exchange for Moroccan recognition of Israel. It’s unclear if Joe Biden will reverse the move — but the Saharawi population has now risen up against the occupation, refusing to let foreign powers dictate its future.
Remember: The FBI Declared War on and Tried to Destroy Martin Luther King
In all the celebrations of Martin Luther King’s life, we tend to forget something very important about our country’s greatest civil rights leader: when he was alive, institutions of the US state, especially the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, constantly harassed, surveilled, and attempted to destroy King.
The GameStop Fiasco Exposes the Fantasy That Capitalism Can Be Democratic
When tech platforms, regulatory agencies, and social media companies conspire to swat down share purchases that get in Wall Street’s way, they’re doing us all a favor: they’re showing us the ruthlessly hierarchical reality of neoliberalism behind the friendly mask.
The Growing Pains of Marseille’s New Left-Wing Government
Last June, France’s second city voted for the “Marseille Spring,” a left-wing coalition that put an end to two decades of conservative rule. But difficult pandemic conditions — and now the abrupt exit of mayor Michèle Rubirola — have raised questions over its ability to put ordinary citizens in charge of city hall.
How Cuba Survived and Surprised in a Post-Soviet World
After the fall of the USSR, most observers expected Cuba to follow in its wake. But the Cuban system has now lasted for 30 years since the Soviet collapse. To explain its persistence, we need to drop Cold War stereotypes and look at the Cuban experience in its own right.
Why the Minimum Wage Won Where Biden Couldn’t
In conservative Florida, where Trump edged out Biden last year by 51 percent to 48 percent, a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026 passed with nearly 61 percent of the vote. By appealing to Floridians’ material interests across lines of race and geography, the campaign shows how left economic policies can win even in right-wing contexts.
On the Daily Show, Jacobin Contributor Doug Henwood Talks GameStop and Wall Street
Watch Doug Henwood talk with the Daily Show’s Trevor Noah about GameStop, the lies companies like Robinhood tell about their “democratic” empowerment of small investors, and why the absurdities and inefficiencies of Wall Street are a “racket.”
To See the Danger of a Domestic “War on Terror,” Look No Further Than This Florida Case
Convinced his state capitol was set to be attacked by violent, far-right extremists, a Florida man called for armed resistance on social media and was promptly jailed. The episode is a case study of how easily a domestic “war on terror” will be turned on the Left.
The Clintons Are Making a TV Show About Female Kurdish Fighters. That’s Absurd.
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are producing a new TV series about female Kurdish fighters. We can expect a sanitized production that somehow fails to mention that YPJ forces in Rojava are leftists who oppose everything the Clintons represent.
BlackRock and Wall Street Firms Like Them Are No Friends of the Environment
BlackRock is being depicted as an environmental hero for its recent commitment to fight climate change — at the same time the Wall Street firm undermines climate action and helps companies hide dark money political spending.
The Response to the GameStop Fiasco Shows It’s Still Wall Street’s Economy
Now that hedge funds are losing billions to Redditors buying stocks like GameStop, Wall Street wants heavy-handed intervention into the market, and brokerages have clamped down on the upstarts. It’s a reminder that there’s no such thing as “people’s capitalism” or “shareholder democracy” — the capitalist economy is structured to do what’s best for the business elite.
Livorno, the Rebel City Where Italy’s Communist Party Was Born
A hundred years years ago, Italy’s Communist Party was founded in Livorno. The Tuscan port city had a long history of defying authority — and in the 1920s, its working-class neighborhoods were heartlands of the resistance against rising Fascism.
When Prisoners in New Zealand Rose Up Against Rotten Conditions, Jacinda Ardern Ignored Them
Inmates at New Zealand’s Waikeria Prison staged a six-day protest against abusive conditions and collective punishment. Despite her campaign promises to reform a dysfunctional justice system, Labour prime minister Jacinda Ardern is ignoring their demands.
The Biden Administration Is the Californication of the Democratic Party
California’s post-Reagan drift into the welcome arms of the corporate-friendly Democratic Party has meant a politics that looks like an elite lifestyle brand. It’s a state where social liberalism reigns, but so does staggering poverty and inequality. The Democratic Party has failed California and unless things change, it will continue to fail our nation.
Joe Biden Is Refusing the Alternatives to Mass Deaths Across America
Not long after his inauguration, where he assured Americans that they “can overcome this deadly virus,” Joe Biden announced that as many as hundreds of thousands of coronavirus deaths are unavoidable in the coming months. But there’s only one reason for that — Biden preemptively ruled out pursuing a national stay-at-home order two months ago.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about QAnon But Were Too Weirded Out to Ask
Much of the news these days is unhinged, but nothing can compare, in terms of pure lunacy, with QAnon. The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer, longtime observer of the far right, spoke with Jacobin to explain QAnon’s origins and evolution — and why he thinks the movement is here to stay even if “Q” and “The Storm” are never heard from again.
Okla. Rep. Markwayne Mullin’s Companies Are Evicting Renters During a Pandemic
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and has refused to wear a mask around other Congress members. Now, despite the CDC’s moratorium on evictions, his companies are trying to evict renters in the middle of the pandemic.