Tár Is Stuck in the Muck of Its Own Highbrow Artiness
Todd Field wants you to think his new movie Tár is a critique of the pretentiousness of the high art world. But the movie is actually trapped in that suffocating world and can’t find a way out.
19440 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
How Nazi Billionaires Thrived in Postwar Germany
In Nazi Germany, industrialists built vast fortunes from slave labor and stolen Jewish property. In postwar West Germany, they were allowed to keep them — with denazification doing little to trouble those who had profited most from the regime.
Free Speech Is Too Important To Be Entrusted to Elon Musk
Liberals who minimize the importance of free speech on Twitter are dead wrong. But we shouldn’t have to hope that a billionaire with a track record of suppressing his critics will live up to his free speech rhetoric.
On Halloween Night in 1891, Tennessee Miners Made Righteous Mayhem
The Coal Creek War was one of the largest insurrections in American labor history, with thousands of miners batting state troops to end the convict leasing system designed to extend slavery and undermine organized labor.
Bill Clinton’s Welfare Reform Gave Us Brett Favre’s Welfare Fraud
Millions of dollars of Mississippi welfare funds went to retired Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre. That could never have been possible without the grotesque “welfare reform” championed by Bill Clinton.
Today’s Hawkish Discourse Makes the Cuban Missile Crisis’s Nuclear Brinkmanship Seem Sane
In the 1962 US-Soviet nuclear showdown over Cuba, there was no shortage of voices calling for escalation or decrying “appeasement.” But there was always broad support for the kind of talks that ended up saving the world — something frighteningly absent today.
Lula’s Former Press Secretary on the Meaning of Lulismo
Today, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva can return to power and build a more equitable and prosperous Brazil. Former Lula press secretary André Singer spoke to Jacobin about what’s possible in power and the enduring appeal of Lulismo.
Carlo Tresca Was an Italian Radical Who Fought Fascism in the United States
In the early twentieth century, Carlo Tresca was one of the most important immigrant labor organizers in the United States. When fascism triumphed in his homeland in 1922, he took up the struggle against its American backers.
“Raising the Retirement Age” for Social Security Just Means Cutting Benefits
GOP leaders say they want to raise the Social Security retirement age. That’s just a deceptive way of saying they want to cut benefits — punishing nonwealthy Americans while leaving untouched the massive government spending on tax shelters for the rich.
Anatomy of a Union Organizing Drive
Unions aren’t just vehicles for transforming society — they also transform lives, as workers and organizers learn how to build an organization that can overthrow the authoritarian dictatorship of the boss and create a beloved community.
In Today’s Election, the Survival of Brazil’s Democracy Is at Stake
Today, Brazilian voters are not just choosing between Bolsonaro and Lula — the far right and the Left — but whether their nation’s politics will be authoritarian or democratic.
Fascism Was a Violent Counterrevolution
A century since the March on Rome, it is important to remember the horrors of Benito Mussolini’s regime. Fascism was morally repugnant — but also a movement based on violent counterrevolution.
Mike Davis’s Many Contributions to Building a Better World Will Live On
No leftist writer can compare to Mike Davis — not in clarity, breadth, generosity, or ironclad commitment to the working class. Davis has died, but his ideas will continue to find life in generations of leftist activists and thinkers to come.
Emmanuel Macron’s Government Is Imposing Its Unpopular Agenda by Decree
Emmanuel Macron’s government lost its majority this June, and now relies on strong-arm tactics to push through its agenda. This week’s budget debate showed the government’s weakness — and the possibility of blocking its assault on France’s social model.
They Live Is a Timeless Anti-Capitalist Horror Classic
It’s never a bad time to revisit John Carpenter’s 1988 classic They Live, a hilarious sci-fi thriller that skewers the inequality of the neoliberal era and offers an iconic depiction of capitalist ideology.
Australia’s Industrial Relations System Is Designed to Enrich Capital at Workers’ Expense
Since the 1980s, workplace law in Australia has crippled the union movement. Today, it’s a finely tuned machine that exacerbates inequality in order to enrich a small minority of bosses.
New York Landlords Would Rather Keep Homes Empty Than Provide Affordable Housing
During a dire housing crisis, new reporting shows New York City landlords are keeping tens of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments vacant. It’s not the first time landlords have mobilized to erode the city’s affordable housing stock.
To Protect Workers From Inflation, Unions Want to Bring Back the COLA Clause
Cost-of-living adjustment clauses — which protect wages against inflation — used to be standard fare in collective agreements. By fighting to bring the COLA clause back, Canadian workers are refusing to bear the brunt of spiraling costs.
The Politics of Celebrity Are Still a Dead End for the Democratic Party
From Howard Dean to Hillary Clinton, from Beto O’Rourke to Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic Party seems addicted to using personality-driven stardom as a substitute for real politics.
Defeating the Right’s Assault on Democracy Requires a Robust, Progressive Economic Plan
Voters agree American democracy is in trouble, but they’re divided on why and don’t seem too concerned. The Left needs a strong message condemning right-wing attacks on democracy and connecting the topic to the bread-and-butter issues voters care about.