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.
273 Article(s) 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.
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.
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.
The Rent Is Too Damn High for Joe Biden to Be Fundraising in Brentwood
As millions of Americans struggle with the high cost of living, the Democratic leadership seems out of touch. It could cost them in the upcoming midterms.
American Parents Are Pissed Off
Being a parent in privatized America, where you’re basically on your own, has never been easy. Since COVID, things have gotten even worse — but it doesn’t have to be this way. More social democratic policies can relieve the strain underlying parents’ rage.
Joe Biden Should Decriminalize Marijuana Right Now
Joe Biden campaigned on decriminalizing marijuana but has done nothing about it while in office. He has the power to stop the senseless persecution of weed — he should use it immediately.
Hillary Clinton’s TV Show, Gutsy, Is Obnoxiously Infantilizing and Cutesy
Gutsy, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s new TV series, showcases courageous women from an array of fields. But the show’s narrow lens suggests approval of women who show spunk, but not those who challenge abusive state power or capitalism.
Liz Truss’s Ascent Is Not a Victory for Women
Liz Truss, who has just become the next UK prime minister, calls herself a “Destiny’s Child feminist.” She is the latest reactionary hoping that her gender will distract the public from what is an appallingly right-wing agenda.
In a Political Climate Moving Right, New York Socialists Are Still Making Gains
The Democratic Socialists of America has made inroads across the country, but nowhere does it wield the kind of political power it does in New York. A new, more conservative political climate is putting the group’s inside-outside strategy to the test.
The Disinformation Scam
We shouldn’t embrace the war on disinformation just because the Right hates it.
Eric Adams Has Declared War on Socialism. So Far, the Socialists Are Winning.
Socialists are becoming a problem for New York’s Democratic establishment. Mayor Eric Adams declared war on the socialist movement and endorsed candidates to challenge the Democratic Socialists of America. For the most part, he failed.
Pathetically, Hillary Clinton Is Smearing Bernie Sanders as Sexist Again
Mainstream Democrats never tire of smearing the socialist senator from Vermont. Hillary Clinton is calling Bernie Sanders a sexist yet again. But his feminist credentials are solid — neoliberals like her are the ones failing women.
Socialism Makes Summer Better
In capitalist America, millions of workers never get a vacation. But for the past century, bringing sunshine and leisure to the masses has been among the socialist movement’s greatest achievements.
Meet the Fake Progressive Opposing Ilhan Omar
Ilhan Omar, one of the most left-wing members of Congress, faces a primary challenger, Don Samuels, backed by an unsavory circle of right-wing billionaires and cops. Despite being an enemy of public schools, he’s calling himself a progressive.
Antiabortion Democrat Henry Cuellar Is Now Seeking to Gut Labor Rights
Henry Cuellar, the conservative, antiabortion Democratic congressman — who Nancy Pelosi called a “fighter for hardworking families” — has shocked the labor movement with a radical bill seeking to eviscerate workers’ rights.
The Baby Formula Shortage Is a Crisis of Capitalism
The Right has seized on the US baby formula shortage to discredit the Biden administration. It’s correct to harp on the administration’s failures — but the crisis is due to the dysfunctions of an economic system of which Republicans are the biggest champions.