We Built the Golden Age
The culture of British trade union militancy in auto plants like Austin Longbridge wasn’t the “natural” result of a Golden Age of capitalism — it came from organizing.
19442 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Lifestyle Environmentalism Will Never Win Over Workers
And those are exactly the people we need to save the planet.
Disorganized Democracy
A coalition of industrial workers and small farmers underpinned democratic politics in the twentieth century. Can workers in a precarious service economy fill their shoes today?
What Is a “Proletarian” Anyway?
With the rise of industrial capitalism and the workers’ movement it created, we created new words to explain a confounding new world.
The Many Farewells to the Working Class
For decades, the parties of labor have been slowly replaced by the parties of the educated. A Left that doesn’t acknowledge this as a problem has already been defeated.
Issue 42: Letters + Internet Speaks
We can only print the letters without expletives.
We Need Public Banking
The basic functions of investment are too important to be left in the hands of private banks only interested in accruing profits. We need public banks — something the Public Banking Act, introduced by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, would provide.
Tech Workers at the New York Times Want a Union
This spring, 700 New York Times tech workers announced their new union, the Times Tech Guild. We talked with two tech workers involved in the campaign about why they’re organizing at the Gray Lady and why unions are crucial even for well-compensated workers.
The Making of Ireland’s Carceral State
During the last century, the Irish state imprisoned a greater share of its population than any other country on Earth: not just for crimes against people or property, but for falling foul of a repressive moral code. The victims are still counting the cost.
Conservatism Is Morally Bankrupt
Conservatives claim to defend tradition. The truth is, they actually defend domination and illegitimate power over others.
New York’s “Cancel Rent” Movement Isn’t Over
The call to cancel rent won widespread support and helped advance a vision of housing justice we can build off of for years to come.
Bipartisanship Is Garbage
Centrist pundits and politicians are cheering the new bipartisan infrastructure bill, even though it slashes a range of vital spending programs contained in the original. We don’t need continued fetishization of bipartisanship — we need measures that actually aid the working-class majority.
The Indian Radical Who Helped Found the Mexican Communist Party
Exiled from India, anti-colonial activist M. N. Roy charted a revolutionary course that took him everywhere from New York City to Mexico, where he helped found the Mexican Communist Party. His life was the epitome of socialist internationalism.
The Warsaw Uprising Was a Fight to Define Poland’s Future
Today, Poland’s hard-right government uses the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 for generic nationalist pageantry. But the real insurrectionaries against the Nazis were sharply divided between those who worked to restore the old elite and those who sought real social change.
Under Joe Biden, Corporate Interests Are Still Steering the Ship
Despite continued proclamations that Joe Biden is a transformative president, his agenda has been much more about placating business interests than shifting power to workers.
Colombia’s Mercenary Industry is Behind the Haitian Coup
Almost every assassin involved in the murder of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was Colombian. That’s no coincidence: if you want mercenaries for hire on the cheap, often trained by the US military, you can find them in spades in Colombia.
After Sixty Years, Canada’s New Democratic Party Must Embrace Class Struggle
NDP provincial governments have some achievements to their credit, but the party’s recent history has been a travesty of what its founders hoped for. Without a bold change of direction toward socialist politics, its future will consist of inexorable decline.
It’s Time for a Referendum to Unite Ireland
A hundred years since Britain divided Ireland into two states, the momentum for reunification has never been stronger. The Good Friday Agreement provides for a referendum on Irish unity — and it’s time to let the people decide.
Seattle Socialist Stephanie Gallardo Is Taking on Democratic Hawks in Congress
Stephanie Gallardo is a union leader and educator running a Seattle Democratic Socialists of America–endorsed campaign for Congress in Washington against a top recipient of money from the military-industrial complex.
The Pandemic Alone Can’t Transform Capitalism
COVID-19 has caused unprecedented disruption to the world economy, shining a harsh light on the frailties of global capitalism. But there won’t be a progressive paradigm shift coming out of the crisis without a dramatic upsurge of collective action.