Want to Reduce Crime? Stop Evictions.
Contrary to the New York real estate industry’s propaganda, reducing evictions and strengthening affordable housing protections actually reduces crime and violence.
207 Articles by: Liza Featherstone
Liza Featherstone is a columnist for Jacobin, a freelance journalist, and the author of Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart.
Finding Solidarity in a Mexican Immigration Detention Center
Belén Fernández didn’t plan on ending up in a notorious detention center for immigrants in Mexico. But when an unfortunate series of events led her to Siglo XXI prison, she discovered a tremendous sense of human solidarity and collective resilience.
Bernie Sanders Is About to Publicly Roast Capitalists in Front of the Nation
Bernie Sanders will soon use his new role as chair of a key Senate committee to put CEOs in the hot seat. Progressive elected officials should look to Sanders for how to keep public attention laser-focused on the crimes of the executive class.
The New York Left Is Continuing to Make Gains at the State Level
Last week brought signs that the balance of power in New York state politics is shifting left.
The Jesus of Tonight’s Super Bowl Ads Can’t Be Found in Right-Wing Churches
During tonight’s Super Bowl, ads funded by pillars of conservative Christianity will promote a compassionate Jesus aligned with young people’s left-wing values. They’re compelling — but those values can’t be found in conservative churches.
Democratic Leaders Join House Republican Attack on “Socialism”
House Republicans have wasted no time in red-baiting the Left, and the centrist leadership of the Democratic Party has apparently been happy to join them.
Eric Adams’s “Working People’s Agenda” Is Just an Austerity Budget for New York City
Eric Adams loves to style himself as a mayor for the working class. But with his new budget’s long list of cuts to education and health programs that millions depend on, he’s putting forward an austerity agenda that only a plutocrat could love.
New York Leftists and Liberals Just Defeated Hector LaSalle. What Else Can They Win?
By defeating Gov. Kathy Hochul’s conservative judicial nominee, Hector LaSalle, New York liberals and leftists just learned an important lesson: with a confrontational approach, they can beat a centrist governor and wield significant power at the state level.
New York’s Socialist Bench Just Got Even Bigger
Democratic Socialists of America now boasts eight representatives in New York’s state government and an ambitious legislative agenda focused on working-class issues like childcare, transit, and housing.
Yesterday, Striking Uber Drivers Confronted a Tech Behemoth in New York
In a one-day action on Thursday, New York City Uber drivers continued their campaign to pressure the tech company to finally comply with the law and give them a raise.
2022 Was the Year Republicans Got Too Weird for America
With the rise of polarization, the hard-core ideological right and left have become more visible to normie voters than ever before. In 2022, American voters made it clear which side’s ultras it finds more unacceptable: the weirdos of the Trumpian right.
She Said Misses an Opportunity to Expose Harvey Weinstein’s Elite Enablers
She Said, the new film about the exposure of Harvey Weinstein, keeps its focus on the disgraced movie producer and poster villain for #MeToo — but misses a chance to expose the “girl bosses” who protected him for years.
NYC’s Proposed Private Helicopter Ban Is One of the Best Ideas in Years
Banning private nonessential helicopters would be a political and environmental masterstroke: curbing the wasteful narcissism of the rich, while improving life for everyone else.
The Selling of “the Journalist”
The lionization of mainstream media is just sentimental marketing.
By Fighting for Paid Sick Leave, the Railworkers Are Fighting for All of Us
Paid sick leave is a right we all deserve — and an urgent public health issue. Win or lose, we’re indebted to the railworkers for their fight to achieve it.
As Inflation Ruins American Thanksgiving, Look Abroad to Find the Right Political Response
In other countries, workers and unions have been walking off the job to demand higher wages to keep up with the cost of living. But in the US, where unions are weak and strikes are rare, the cost-of-living issue has been ceded to the Right.
Crypto Bro Sam Bankman-Fried Was the Perfect Liberal Hero
Liberals tend to worship a specific kind of hero: highly credentialed, media-friendly, foe of both conservative Republicans and “liberal pieties” — someone exactly like former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, cryptocurrency failure extraordinaire.
Voters Went Left on Health Care in Tuesday’s Midterms
In this week’s midterms, Medicaid expansion and abortion rights proved popular, even in red states. It shows how popular left-wing views on health care can be and why socialists should keep talking about them.
Girlboss Politics Won’t Beat the Right
Facing a close race in New York’s gubernatorial contest, Democrats are doubling down on elite feminism. But at a time when many voters feel beleaguered by crime and inflation, you-go-girl pep rallies won’t stem the rightward trend.
The Democrats Will Probably Lose the Midterms, Because Our Society Is Falling Apart
The Democrats are too beholden to the rich, and they face structural obstacles that are too daunting, to address the profound sense of social collapse that afflicts the US today. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.