Opal Lee is a writer.
In the absence of a powerful workers’ movement, 19th-century reformers blamed alcohol for poverty and despair. Their assumption that moral shortcomings rather than political and economic ones were the root cause unfortunately resonates with our politics today.
Woody Guthrie was born 111 years ago today. At the heart of his music and activism was a commitment to socialism, a condemnation of capitalism, and a belief that our society could help rather than hurt average people.
Today’s French political leaders are more likely to present the Jacobins as bloody authoritarians than forerunners of modern democracy. But redeeming their legacy is key to understanding the Revolution’s unfulfilled promise.
While the past two years have posed challenges for Canadian union members amid soaring inflation, unions in Ontario have secured remarkable wage gains that have largely gone unnoticed.
Historian Jairus Banaji has developed a highly original perspective on the history of capitalism that stresses the importance of commercial capital. His work is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how the global economic system took shape.
The theatrics of this year’s New York City budget brought to mind the fiscal and political conflicts of the 1970s — and the need to find a new vision for New York beyond austerity.
As climate change produces more misery and fossil fuel capitalists refuse to stop releasing carbon, we will increasingly confront the question asked by Chuck Collins in his new novel: What does moral action look like against such an immoral status quo?
Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe claimed to have identified the fatal flaw of Marxism and developed a better framework for left politics. But their taboo against class “essentialism” means they can’t identify the strengths and weaknesses of capitalist power.
Bastille Day is meant to be about freedom, equality, and brotherhood. But this July 14, Emmanuel Macron is rolling out the red carpet for India’s far-right premier — showing how little France’s military alliances conform to its supposed values.
As more than 17 million people stand to lose health insurance in the unfolding Medicaid eligibility review disaster, a little-known company called Maximus is set to make massive profits off of helping the government deny people health insurance.
Janet Malcolm had a talent for cynicism, which she marshaled readily in herself and took pleasure at uncovering in others. In her final book, Still Pictures, she asked whether the personal and emotional costs she paid for her success were worth it.
Longshore wages and job security have declined while profits for terminal operators on Canada’s west coast have soared. Now 7,400 workers from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are striking across 30 ports, fighting against job and wage cuts.
Leading left-wing politicians including Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, and, most recently, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have already endorsed Joe Biden — even though primary voters haven’t yet had their say and most Democrats in polls don’t even want him to run.
Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories has given it a special know-how in imposing military control over civilians. Governments around the world admire its example — and are ever keener to import its repressive technologies.
The real outrage isn’t that people can get vaccinated, but that due to pharmaceutical greed and government inaction, billions of people can’t.
NATO’s Vilnius summit is placing fresh demands on Germany to increase its military aid to Ukraine. Foreign Minister Anne Baerbock speaks stridently of the West’s role in the war — but Germans are increasingly reticent about it.
Mainstream economists claim that we can only cure inflation if workers and the poor have less to spend. Instead, we need to think outside the box — by turning to tax-funded wealth redistribution and limits on profiteering.
The trend of political “frenemies” uniting to debate across partisan lines isn’t indicative of a triumph of humanity over politics, but rather how much the center-right and center-left agree on stoking more inequality, war, and rewards for elites.
There are very good reasons the US government should forgive student loan debt — not just for the debtors themselves, but for working-class people without college degrees too.
Cluster bombs are banned by most of the world, US allies are opposed to their use, and Russia was widely condemned for deploying them over the last year. So why is the Biden administration sending them to Ukraine?