Big Pharma Is Still Making Absurd Profits Off of the Pandemic
Pfizer is projected to rake in more than $50 billion from its COVID medicines this year. It’s a symbol of the drastic inequality created by a for-profit approach to global health.
19556 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
I’m a Socialist, and I Just Beat the Labour Party in London’s Poorest Borough
In London’s poorest borough, I ran as an open socialist against the Labour Party to become mayor — and I won. Despite Labour’s conservative turn, the Left can win like I did: by going on the offensive.
The Australian Federal Election Offers a Choice Between Disaster and Disappointment
Scott Morrison is widely disliked, and his conservative government is divided, incompetent, and mired in corruption. Despite this, the Labor opposition’s platform is one of the most timid and conservative in memory.
By Gutting Its Own Public Universities, Alberta Is Showing Canada How to Destroy Education
Alberta’s premier, free-market champion Jason Kenney, is wreaking havoc on the province’s postsecondary education system — not just through cuts and privatizations but through a brutal reshaping of public education itself.
In France, a Left-Wing Bloc Is Uniting to Stop Macron
France’s Greens, Socialists, and Communists have joined a coalition supporting Jean-Luc Mélenchon for prime minister. He has proven that a transformative program is the best way to inspire millions — and to deny Emmanuel Macron a majority in parliament.
My Husband Died With Dignity. Everyone Should Have That Right.
My husband, Frank Cunningham, wanted nothing more than to live, but on his own terms. So when, at 81, his cancer made life unbearable, Frank thankfully had the choice to die peacefully. We all deserve that choice.
They’re Overturning Roe. We Should Overturn Their Power.
The Supreme Court’s impending decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is the product of plutocratic judges that serve right-wing interests over the wishes of the majority. There’s no clearer sign that we should radically curb the power of the Supreme Court.
Interest Rate Hikes Are Class War Against Workers
The Bank of England’s interest rate hike is an attempt to force the economy into a recession, increase unemployment, and lower wages even further. In other words, workers will be forced to pay even more for the cost of living crisis.
Workers in British Columbia Just Won Single-Step Union Certification
Before the anti-labor onslaught of the 1980s, union recognition in Canada was straightforward and democratic — all it took was a workplace majority to sign authorization cards. Now, decades later, workers in BC have won back this fundamental right.
Italy’s Democrats Are the Party for the End of History
Italy’s Democratic Party refuses to break with the neoliberal status quo. This political conservatism will only further open the door to the populist right, which has massively increased its support in recent years.
“Safe Haven” Laws Are Key to the Right’s Push to End Women’s Right to Abortion
Nationwide, “safe haven” laws allow mothers to abandon newborn children and relinquish responsibility for parenting them. The laws sound like something no one could oppose — but they’ve been a key strategy in the Right’s war on women’s right to abortion.
A Successful Climate Movement Must Be a Working-Class Movement
The only way to stop climate change is to build a mass, working-class movement whose demands both resonate with average people and take on the billionaires who are profiteering from the climate crisis.
Walter Crane Was a Socialist Visionary Who Illustrated the Triumph of Labor
At the turn of the 20th century, Walter Crane’s groundbreaking designs captured the spirit of a rising socialist movement. More than a romantic dreamer, he saw how the triumph of labor could allow humanity’s artistic talents to flourish.
Amazon Is Busting Unions. Biden Is Giving Them Huge Federal Contracts Anyway.
In 2020, Joe Biden pledged to ensure that companies would only get federal contracts if they remained neutral in union elections. But Amazon was just reawarded a $10 billion federal contract — despite the corporation’s vile union busting.
The Northman Is an Honorable Failure
I wanted to love Robert Eggers’s follow-up to The Witch and The Lighthouse, but maybe a big-budget Viking saga just isn’t the right fit for a wonderful weirdo like him?
To Save American Universities, We Need to Go On Strike
If political pressure and desperate pleading with administrators could fix the crisis in American academia, it would be fixed already. Instead, transforming the university will require academics to do something we’re notoriously bad at: stop working.
Starbucks Workers Have the Company on Its Back Foot
With unionization taking off at Starbucks, the company is quietly admitting that it’s in a bind: unionization threatens its low-wage model, but union busting hurts its public image as a supposedly progressive company.
For New York’s Resurgent Left, Governor Kathy Hochul Is Proving a Formidable Adversary
New York’s post–Andrew Cuomo governor, Kathy Hochul, has been taking a page from her disgraced predecessor, savvily maneuvering to sideline the state’s resurgent left — even when the main beneficiary turns out to be the GOP.
San Francisco’s Economic Elite Is Gunning for Chesa Boudin
Wealthy San Francisco residents are pouring money into the recall campaign against progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin, who’s being blamed for out-of-control crime. There’s just one problem: the city’s supposed crime wave is a paranoid fantasy.
Congress Is Poised to Give Amazon and Other Corporations Massive New Subsidies
Under the guise of boosting US competitiveness with China, Congress is set to grant another round of massive corporate giveaways. The bill even includes $10 billion for Jeff Bezos’s space venture.