Opal Lee is a writer.
Joe Biden has repeatedly pushed to cut Social Security in the past. But a proposal to end the payroll tax exemption for the rich would bolster the crucial government service and even has Joe Manchin’s support. The president has no excuse not to support it.
Left political strategies have traditionally divided between social democratic parliamentarism and the Leninist idea of “smashing the state.” Nicos Poulantzas argued that neither strategy was adequate and developed his own vision of “revolutionary reformism.”
Former iCarly child actor Jennette McCurdy’s new memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, exposes how a profit-hungry entertainment industry encouraged the abusive behavior of her mother, who used her daughter’s stardom as an escape from financial precarity.
A New York Times investigation has uncovered a scam by which food service workers are made to pay out of pocket for state-mandated “safety” courses run by the restaurant lobby — which then turns around and spends millions of dollars pushing lawmakers to keep food service workers’ wages low.
Britain’s current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, exemplifies a political class whose members are hermetically sealed off from the realities of everyday life. Sunak is the latest much-hyped figure to make the journey from hero to zero — but he won’t be the last.
The US health care system forces new parents to pay thousands of dollars simply to have their child delivered into the world. That’s absurd. We could easily make childbirth free for all.
The great labor historian Michael Denning reflects on what Antonio Gramsci’s work has to tell us today.
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed banning “noncompete clauses” in labor contracts. It’s a win for workers, but the FTC’s rationale — a blind devotion to “competition” as the solution to injustices in the labor market — is wrongheaded and dangerous.
Ontario premier Doug Ford is outsourcing surgical procedures, handing health care provision over to entities that oppose Medicare. The measure is another step toward the dismantling of public health care in Canada.
The CEO of United Airlines has stated publicly that airlines are selling more flight tickets than they can actually staff, causing chaos for customers. Yet Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg all but refuses to do anything about it.
Elon Musk has cultivated an image as a down-to-earth billionaire who can propel us into a wondrous climate change–free future. But even his most ambitious visions leave the plutocratic status quo intact.
Syriza’s surrender to the troika in 2015 continues to hang over Greece’s radical left. With general elections coming this spring, it needs to break out of its impasse — and create a real alternative to the country’s permanent austerity regime.
Kindness, empathy, and compassion were values at the heart of Jacinda Ardern’s political career — but they were often absent from her government’s policies. The result was a squandered opportunity to overhaul New Zealand’s economy for the better.
From the Cold War to the war on terror, Washington has backed a series of Ethiopian governments while turning a blind eye to their human rights abuses. The Biden administration’s appeasement of Abiy Ahmed’s government is the latest example of this shabby record.
Despite high-profile organizing drives at Starbucks and elsewhere, the latest numbers show that union membership is still shrinking as a percentage of the workforce. Unions will have to massively scale up new organizing to counter the brute might of capital.
The key to Lula’s success with religious voters is offering them respect without pandering to them. Lula artfully refrains from instrumentalizing religion and refuses to be instrumentalized by it.
Since 2007, WikiLeaks has challenged entrenched power to reveal evidence of state crimes, political dirty dealings, and other secrets. Its efforts have provoked severe repression by the US government and its allies.
Almost a year into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the state is cracking down ever harder on all signs of dissent. Today exiled or jailed, the Russians who spoke out against the war are key to rebuilding a peaceful, democratic society.
Algeria’s national cinema emerged from the cross-cultural exchange and solidarity that was vital to resisting French colonialism and war. It’s a striking example of the internationalist energies of film committed to national liberation struggles.
The Israeli state and its allies have campaigned tirelessly to promote the misleading concept of the “new antisemitism.” This effort brands effective, well-documented criticism of Israel as antisemitic while sowing confusion about real anti-Jewish prejudice.