Aging Populations Don’t Need to Mean Lower Living Standards
The bright minds at McKinsey & Co. are arguing that declining birth rates mean that people need to work more hours for more years and maybe give up retirement altogether. No thanks.
18635 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Emilia Pérez Is the Ultimate Unloved Oscar Nominee
Despite Emilia Pérez’s mixed reviews and poor audience reactions, Hollywood handed the musical 13 Oscar nominations in the hopes of proving its progressive bona fides. Then old tweets from its star surfaced.
Reversing Class Dealignment in Britain
“I didn’t leave Labour. Labour left us,” is a common sentiment in working-class communities across Britain. Member of Parliament Jon Trickett discusses what might be done to win back workers.
Europe’s Hardening Cordon Sanitaire Against the Left
Across Europe, centrist parties increasingly paint even mild social democracy as a “radical left” threat. The wild rhetoric about left-wing danger has a clear goal: to justify alliances with once-frowned-upon far-right parties.
RFK Jr Is Wrong. Health Care Is a Human Right.
In his confirmation hearing, Robert F. Kennedy Jr told Bernie Sanders that he opposes health care as a human right. His reasoning reveals how libertarian talking points are being used to defend a cruel and irrational health care system.
Abdullah Öcalan’s Isolation May Be Coming to an End
After 43 months without outside contact, jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been allowed to meet with left-wing MPs. He has encouraged calls for a peace process — but there’s little sign that Turkish authorities are serious about the idea.
Unionized Grocery Workers Are a Sleeping Giant
Colorado Kroger workers are striking this week, and 130,000 union grocery workers are bargaining contracts this year. Reformers see it as a chance to transform the UFCW from America’s largest private sector union into a fighting force.
The Case for a Liberal Socialism
Liberals and socialists typically see themselves as foes. But truly realizing liberal ideals of freedom and equality means building a socialist order — a lesson liberals and socialists alike would do well to remember.
The Brutalist Is a Confounding but Beautiful Mess
The Brutalist is a big and bold story of the immigrant experience and the postwar American dream. It’s confounding yet always interesting — a heartening thing in these cinematically tough times.
Attacking Migrants to Coax Marine Le Pen
France’s interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, was chosen as a sop to the far right — and now he is tightening rules on migrant regularization. Emmanuel Macron’s government is increasingly serving Marine Le Pen’s policy agenda before she even reaches power.
The Trump Administration’s Entanglements With Saudi Arabia
Trump administration economic projects like its big AI build-out involve billions of dollars in investments from the Saudi Arabian government. The committee that’s supposed to oversee the deals is stacked with officials with business ties to the Saudis.
How Philly Whole Foods Workers Beat Jeff Bezos
In the face of what they say was a vicious anti-union campaign, and at a time of anti-worker right-wing advance nationally, Philadelphia Whole Foods workers successfully voted to form a union. We spoke to one of the workers about how they did it.
LA Should Requisition Empty Housing for Fire Victims
Luxury housing sits empty all over Los Angeles while average city residents displaced by the recent fires are struggling to find new homes in an incredibly tight housing market. There’s an easy solution: give the empty houses to the displaced.
Donald Trump’s Trade War Is Unwinnable
Donald Trump’s tariffs are part of a desperate attempt by a declining America to cling to its position as the world’s most powerful nation by using its economic heft to coerce rivals and allies.
Donald Trump’s Deportations Threaten US Citizens’ Rights
The mass deportation dragnet ordered by Donald Trump isn’t just terrorizing undocumented immigrants and their communities — it’s also imprisoning and even deporting American citizens.
Finland’s Left Is Battling the Far Right
Finland’s Left Alliance is uniting a left coalition to deliver a rebuttal to right-wing austerity. Former leader Li Andersson outlines a winning playbook that combines environmental priorities with robust workers’ rights.
The Politics of the Woking Class
Musa al-Gharbi’s We Have Never Been Woke pinpoints the hypocrisies of professional elites who use social justice jargon as status markers. Yet the book exaggerates their agency, casting “wokeness” as a core driver of economic inequality.
The Antiabortion War on Telehealth Care Isn’t Working
The antiabortion movement is trying hard to block access to abortion pills and restrict telehealth reproductive care. But their lawsuits and bans aren’t stopping a robust network of conscientious providers from finding new ways to help patients access care.
A New Coalition to Defend Palestine
Nine countries in the Global South have come together to form the Hague Group, dedicated to ensuring that international law is enforced against Israel. The alliance marks the revival of a proud tradition of Third World solidarity.
How Amsterdam’s Early Social Housing Failed Workers
In 1901, the Amsterdam city government started to replace privately owned slums with cooperatively run housing. The project attracted many innovative designers, but its aesthetic function didn’t always suit the needs of the new homes’ inhabitants.