Cory Doctorow Wants You to Fight Big Tech
We talked to author and activist Cory Doctorow about his new book, Chokepoint Capitalism, copyright scams, surveillance capitalism, the lies of Big Tech, and the fight for the freedom to create.
19153 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
French Workers Are Refusing to Pay for Inflation
Recent oil workers’ strikes in France are at the cutting edge of a rising wave of industrial action. CGT union leader Philippe Martinez told Jacobin how organized labor can lead the fight against the rising cost of living.
I’m a Socialist. Joe Biden Is Not.
During a speech on Saturday, Joe Biden referred to right-wing protesters calling him a socialist as “idiots.” He’s right. Socialists are committed to ending inequality, and the president has always been on the other side of the barricades.
No One Is Talking About Climate in the Midterms
The climate crisis is dire, and voters have indicated they want action. Yet less than 1 percent of ads for congressional midterm races have focused on the environment.
The ACLU’s Drift From Radical to Neutral Tells the Story of Modern American Liberalism
Once an arm of the radical labor movement, the ACLU now defends free speech as a neutral principle — including the anti-union speech of bosses and the political speech of corporations. The story of the ACLU’s evolution is the story of liberalism itself.
Only an Organized Workers’ Movement Can Force a Rational Response to Inflation
To address the cost-of-living crisis, we need to expand production and rein in corporate profits. Only Congress and the White House have the tools for the job — but they won’t use them unless labor organizes to force their hands.
Leonard Leo’s Dark Money Against Consumer Protection
Leonard Leo, a Trump adviser behind the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, has long sought to shape policy through state attorney general offices. His dark money network is now working to bring a Republican attorney general to power in Iowa.
The Arizona Midterm Will Have a Big Impact on Climate Change
The races for Arizona’s energy commission and an anti–dark money ballot initiative will decide whether Arizonans themselves oversee the state’s energy utility or the company can regulate itself according to the dictates of profit-making.
In the Minnesota Attorney General Race, It’s Consumers and Unions vs. Corporations
Minnesotans vote for attorney general tomorrow, with progressive Keith Ellison facing Republican former finance lawyer Jim Schultz. Schultz is trying to frame the election around crime — to avoid the race’s high stakes for consumers’ and workers’ rights.
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.
Canada Has a Nazi Monument Problem
A journalist in Edmonton is the most recent Canadian to be charged with vandalizing a Nazi monument. How Canada came to be home to so many monuments dedicated to Ukrainian Nazi collaborators is rooted in some dark chapters in the country’s history.
Ontario’s Education Workers Are on Strike
Ontario’s conservative government refused to bargain with its public education workers. But the decision to impose a contract on the workers appears to have backfired — it has increased worker solidarity and organizing and provoked an “illegal” strike.
A Real, Live Communist Who Wrestled With the Real, Live Communist Party
If you believed the mainstream media portrait of Communism in the 1960s, you’d assume the Cubans, Russians, and Americans were in lockstep. But if you were inside the Communist Party USA, as Michael Myerson was, you knew the reality was far different.
We Need to Break the Wall of Indifference Around the War in Yemen
Western states and arms companies have facilitated a destructive war in Yemen that’s already claimed 400,000 lives. A six-month truce recently ended without agreement on a peace deal — ending this horrific conflict must now be an international priority.
The 1964 Italian Film That Speaks to the Dread of Climate Change
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Red Desert was far ahead of its time in its depiction of the widespread sense of paralysis at our ability to stop capitalism from destroying the planet.
France’s Weapons Industry Is Growing Rich off Dictatorships
Authoritarian governments like those in Egypt and Saudi Arabia have funded a boom in France’s arms industry. Now, with war in Ukraine, it’s setting its sights on rearming Europe.
The Philosopher Who Helped Kill the King
The 17th-century philosopher Lucy Hutchinson was among the regicides who sent Charles I to his execution, ushering in an English republic in 1649. The divine right of kings, Hutchinson knew, could indeed be ended.
Australia Is a Subimperial Enforcer of the US-led Order
The foreign affairs establishment describes Australia as a “middle power” in the “rules-based global order.” They’re wrong — Australia should be understood as a subordinate beneficiary of US imperialism.
Canada’s Liberal Party Is a Club of Plutocrat Sycophants
Canada’s former finance minister Bill Morneau has recently moved from cabinet to the board of a multinational bank. This business as usual is a reminder that Liberals are totally at home among Canada’s rich and powerful.
Iranian Protesters Deserve the Unwavering Support of the International Left
The international left should affirm Iranian protesters’ feminist and democratic message of “Women, Life, Freedom.” If we don’t, we risk ceding the public discourse to neoconservatives and liberal hawks who will use the protests for their own purposes.