Trump Is Moving to Kill a Key Federal Environmental Law
Over the weekend, the Trump administration began the process of defanging the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act — a mandate that allows communities to protect themselves from polluters.
19500 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Can Federal Workers Stop Trump?
After what has felt like an eternity of Elon Musk and DOGE running rampant across the federal government, federal workers themselves and their unions are now leading the pushback.
J. D. Vance Shocks Europeans — for the Wrong Reasons
J. D. Vance offended European colleagues on Friday by publicly doubting that they are champions of democracy. Some of the examples he cited were spurious — but the EU establishment’s shocked reaction itself spoke to their unreflective groupthink.
Russell Vought Wants to Burn the Government Down
Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought has spent his life trying to cripple the ability of the state to benefit anyone but the rich, to the point that it can’t be put back together. With Donald Trump in office, he can finally do it.
Edward Sard and the Rise of the Permanent War Economy
The war industry has become a permanent fixture of US capitalism, channeling massive public subsidies to private corporations. The first writer to analyze this “Permanent War Economy” was Edward Sard, a brilliant Marxist economist working in the 1940s.
Bill Gates Is Playing Both Sides of the Climate Crisis
Bill Gates presents himself as a climate champion, but his trust has actually increased its fossil fuel investments since his divestment pledge. It’s just the latest example of the billionaire appointing himself to solve problems he helps perpetuate.
Remembering Washington State’s First Socialist Lawmaker
Last November, Seattle voters elected socialist Shaun Scott to the Washington State legislature. Writing in Jacobin, Scott tells the mostly forgotten story of the only socialist to make it to Olympia before him, over 100 years ago: William Kingery.
How Black Marxists Have Understood Racial Oppression
The rich tradition of Black Marxist thought — one that includes W. E. B. Du Bois, C. L. R. James, and Frantz Fanon, among many others — emphasizes the centrality of capitalism to racial oppression and the destructiveness of that oppression for all workers.
billy woods: “My Music Is Radical, in Its Own Way”
Rapper billy woods is a leading figure in contemporary underground hip-hop. He spoke to Jacobin about the inspiration for his music and his left-wing politics.
Tim Scott Is Fighting for His Donors’ Junk Fees
Joe Biden’s CFPB passed rules limiting overdraft and credit card late fees. As the chair of the Senate committee that oversees the agency, Tim Scott wants to reinstate these junk fees — a key priority for his donors in finance.
Trump’s Gaza Plan May Mark the End of the Postwar Order
Although the West has long tolerated forced expulsions when convenient, its postwar framework at least nominally rejected them. Now the US is not just abandoning those norms — it appears to be actively legitimizing ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Federal Workers Are Mobilizing Against Musk’s Purge
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s assault on federal workers threatens government employees, working conditions throughout the economy, and the viability of crucial services. Federal workers are uniting across agency and union lines to fight back.
Ahead of Workers’ Union Vote, “Amazon Mobilized an Army”
Today 4,000 Amazon workers at a North Carolina warehouse will finish voting on a union. Employees say the company “mobilized an army” ahead of the election, siccing local police on organizers and trying to pit black and Hispanic workers against each other.
What Is Xi Jinping Thought?
China has changed under Xi Jinping, with implications for the entire world. But few outsiders understand much about Xi’s ideas or the policies that seem to flow from them.
Trump’s Tariffs Are a Gift to Capital, Not Workers
Donald Trump has championed tariffs as a way to revive American manufacturing. But without a real industrial strategy, Catalyst editor Vivek Chibber argues, they’re little more than a handout to capital.
Christian Democrats Hand Golden Ticket to German Far Right
Germany’s Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz has broken a long-established “firewall” isolating the far right. A vote on hardening the borders has given Alternative für Deutschland a leg up just ahead of the federal election.
Australia’s Labor Party Must Return to Working-Class Values
Once the left of the Australian Labor Party was committed to working-class politics. To avoid collapse, Labor must return to that legacy — but today’s Labor Left is more committed to neoliberalism and serving US foreign policy.
Michael Burawoy Never Wavered
After his tragic death earlier this month, Marxist sociologist Michael Burawoy left behind not only a formidable body of scholarship but also a model of how to pursue a form of sociology informed by and informing efforts for social change.
California Is a Warning for Progressive Ballot Initiatives
Progressive ballot measures in California have suffered crushing defeats, even as similar initiatives succeed in red states. These losses show that ballot initiatives can backfire on the Left — and sometimes leave movements worse off than before.
What the Democrats Refuse to Learn About Inflation
The best parts of the Biden administration’s response to the cost-of-living crisis are already being forgotten.