Gavin Newsom Likes Racial Justice — As Long as It Doesn’t Cost Anything
California governor Gavin Newsom ran for office promising to pursue racial justice. But his stance on two recent bills shows that his anti-racism is pure rhetorical posturing.
19265 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Film and TV Workers Have a Tentative Deal. Will IATSE’s Rank and File Accept It?
A 60,000-person strike that would have shut down the film and television industry nationwide was averted this weekend when IATSE reached a tentative agreement with the studios. But contract ratification by the union’s members is far from guaranteed.
Britain’s Imperial Heyday Is Nothing to Be Nostalgic For
The British Empire should be a fading memory. But modern-day conservatives have turned imperial nostalgia into a powerful weapon in the country’s culture wars, vilifying those who want a more honest reckoning with Britain’s historic crimes.
France’s Fascist Pundit Éric Zemmour Is Winning Already
French media is saturated with the fascist pundit Éric Zemmour and his absurd, racist talk of a “great replacement” of France’s white population by immigrants. Now, he’s weighing a bid for the presidency — and his talking points are already dominating the debate.
Democrats Should Call Manchin and Sinema’s Bluff, Right Now
It’s time for Democratic leaders to make Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, and every other senator vote — and not on some gutted half measure, but on a real $3.5 trillion bill.
Europe’s Border Regime Is Killing Thousands
Over two thousand people have died trying to cross from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands so far this year. While the European Union boasts of its humanitarian migrant policy, it has made these islands into a rampart of a murderous border regime.
Cryptocurrency Is Bunk
Cryptocurrency promises to liberate the monetary system from the clutches of the powerful. Instead, it mostly functions to make wealthy speculators even wealthier.
Teamster Insurgents Are Preparing to Unseat Their Union’s Old Guard
Organizing Amazon, holding the line against UPS — the Teamsters are at the center of key struggles in American labor. Which makes the outcome of their leadership election, in which reformers are vying to unseat the old guard, particularly crucial.
Today’s Evangelicalism Was Forged in the Fight Against Communism and Feminism
To some, it seemed hypocritical for evangelicals to support Donald Trump — not exactly a Christian-family-values figure. But his strong evangelical support was the culmination of the embattled cultural politics that gave rise to the modern evangelical movement.
Emmanuel Macron Is Using the Pandemic to Massively Expand Police Powers
Emmanuel Macron’s administration has used the pandemic as a pretext to create police powers extending far beyond any rational response to COVID-19. It’s the latest in a long line of French governments using moments of national crisis to shred basic civil liberties.
We Need More Radical Climate Fiction
Literature has seen an uptick in “cli-fi,” fiction about possible climate dystopias and utopias. But too much of that climate-change-related fiction lacks any kind of radical political imagination.
On This Day in 1961, French Police Murdered Dozens of Pro-independence Algerians
Sixty years ago today, French police under the command of a former Nazi collaborator massacred anti-imperialist Algerian demonstrators. For decades, the French authorities concealed the evidence of one of the worst atrocities in postwar Europe.
Ten Years After Occupy, We Have a Left That Matters
It’s still difficult organizing as a socialist in the United States. But in the last decade since Occupy Wall Street, there are signs more people are open to egalitarian politics.
How Canadian Socialists Built a Working-Class Print Culture During the Great Depression
A half century before punk claimed ownership of zine culture, socialists and communists were radicalizing working-class culture through small publications. In Canada, during the turmoil of the Depression, print media was integral to the survival of the Left.
No Time To Die Is a Disappointing Finale for Daniel Craig’s James Bond
The new James Bond movie, No Time To Die, is so disappointing that I don’t see how the iconic franchise can be reformed simply by creating a more woke 007.
Starbucks Workers Are Organizing — and Management Is Worried
Starbucks portrays itself as a “community of partners,” not an average workplace. But now that workers are organizing a union drive in Buffalo, that warm and fuzzy rhetoric has vanished, replaced by coercion and union-busting.
Portugal Is the World’s Most Vaccinated Country Because Its Population Trusts Its Free Health Care System
Portugal has the world’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rate, with 85 percent of the population fully vaccinated. Its success drew on a strong public information campaign — but it couldn’t have done it without a free national health care system that has won massive popular trust.
Kyrsten Sinema Is Doing Big Pharma’s Bidding
Kyrsten Sinema could block Democrats’ drug pricing negotiation plan — which may be why pharmaceutical interests are donating big money to her.
The Pentagon’s Bloated Budget Undermines American Democracy
The Pentagon’s bloated budget is a colossal waste of resources that could be better used elsewhere. But it’s also an outrage to democracy.
The State Road to Universal Single-Payer Health Care
Unfortunately, any hope for a national Medicare for All is currently off the table. That’s why organizers throughout the country should launch campaigns at the state level to win M4A.