Luke Savage is the author of The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History and a writer on Substack.
Open contempt for the progressive left, speeches from Republicans, and a liberal class hopelessly out of touch with the moment, this week was 2016’s DNC all over again — and the Democrats are at risk of the same result: failing to defeat Donald Trump.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party once vowed never to shut down the House of Commons for political reasons, as Trudeau’s conservative predecessor did. This week, as a major scandal continues to engulf his government, Trudeau did exactly that.
The recent news that the Democratic Party may abandon the public option after November’s election vindicates the Bernie Sanders strategy for pushing no half-measures on health care reform and demonstrates yet again why nothing short of unwavering support for M4A is enough.
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, a fleeting sense of radical possibility quickly gave way to a wave of cuts and privatization. After COVID-19, get ready for a repeat, as leaders around the world push for austerity again.
Despite media warnings of imminent danger, Ilhan Omar, one of Congress’s most left-wing members, cruised to victory in her primary this week, defeating a well-funded primary challenger. It's another clear indication that the Left’s electoral insurgency is here to stay.
Liberal pundits are touting Joe Biden as a potentially transformative president in the mold of FDR. His donor lists — and his own words — say otherwise.
American workers are sharing their stories of life on unemployment benefits. The horrors of our collective surrender to the market are on full display.
Conservatives have predictably tried to turn face masks into a pseudo-populist culture war issue. But the people aren't buying it: new polling shows a solid majority of Americans support enforcing tough mask mandates — once again exposing the Right’s waning popular appeal.
Last night's elections brought us some very good news, with Cori Bush securing an historic upset in Missouri and Rashida Tlaib easily cruising to reelection in a race the mainstream media predicted would be close. Leftists are still a small minority in the halls of power — but we're gaining steam.
Justin Trudeau is facing a conflict of interest scandal, in which the Canadian prime minister stands accused of steering public money towards a favored charity. But the details of the case lay bare the singularly hypocritical style of Canadian neoliberalism: a surface patina of progressivism covering up the cynical machinations of the corporate elite.
This past week, the committee in charge of setting the Democratic Party's platform decisively rejected Medicare for All — even as millions of Americans are poised to lose their health insurance. It's just another sign pointing to the moral bankruptcy of the political order.
Rashida Tlaib, one of Congress’s most unapologetically left-wing members, is under threat from a challenger backed by super PAC money. The Left must defend her.
Amid the pettiness and factionalism that so often plague the Left, Michael Brooks’s socialism was warm, vibrant, and intellectually omnivorous. We can all learn from his example.
Even compared to other recently elected left-wingers, Ilhan Omar stands out for her political courage and determination. It’s no wonder she now finds herself the target of a phenomenally well-financed primary challenge backed by private equity interests. Helping her fend off that challenge should be a priority for the Left.
For today’s liberals, the default approach to combating the Right is to fact-check the Right. But conservatives aren’t contestants in a debating contest: they’re waging a political struggle and playing to win. Fact-checking won’t save us.
The “intellectual dark web” made up of thinkers like Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris likes to pose as a bastion of serious intellectual inquiry and open debate. But its animating spirit is deeply conservative: a determination to “prove” that our societies' hierarchies of wealth and power are natural and inevitable.
American leftists look to Canada’s more robust social-welfare state with envy. But all is not well north of the border: Canada’s richest families own 120 times more wealth than the rest of the country combined. There’s never been a better time to introduce a wealth tax.
Jon Stewart’s new political comedy Irresistible wants to be a scathing critique of the media, big money, and Beltway corruption. But as satire, it’s weighed down by the comic’s let’s-all-just-get-along politics.
Newly published research confirms that poverty fell in April and May thanks to federal coronavirus aid. You’d think that would convince policymakers to pursue more such aid, but they aren’t — because America’s approach to welfare is both wrongheaded and cruel.
Donald Trump’s satisfyingly disastrous rally in Tulsa last weekend has further cemented the consensus that Trump is toast in November. But liberal complacency allowed Trump to win in 2016 — and it could still do the same in 2020.