The World’s Best Mayor Is a French Communist
Philippe Rio from Grigny, south of Paris, has been voted the world’s best mayor. He told Jacobin about the local social programs that have made his Communist administration a global success story.
21023 Article(s) by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
We Need a Socialist Spotify
Streaming services like Spotify shamelessly exploit musicians. But there is an alternative to corporate monopoly music: a music streaming platform built for the common good.
The ANC’s Control of South African Politics Is Over
South Africa’s municipal elections this week were nothing short of disastrous. South Africans are desperate for a political alternative to the African National Congress; if the Left doesn’t provide it, right-populists and ethnonationalists will.
It Pays to Be a Conservative Democrat Blocking Popular Legislation
Why do conservative Democrats like Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin oppose wildly popular progressive policy measures? Because it’s a very lucrative racket.
“Multilevel Marketing” Companies Cheat and Exploit Ordinary People on a Vast Scale
Multilevel marketing is a scam. But thanks to protection by political elites and well-funded industry propaganda, it keeps growing. Cracking down on it would be as simple as enforcing the laws against fraud — if only the political will could be found.
Global Elites Can’t and Won’t Ever Stop Climate Change
At COP26, global elites are delivering sermons about rolling back the damage that they themselves caused. The people getting rich off of killing the planet are never going to save it.
The Strike at Kellogg’s Is Now Entering Its Second Month
Workers at Kellogg’s cereal plants across the United States are still on strike. As the company drags out the bargaining process, workers, now without health insurance, are demanding a contract without concessions.
The Only Winning Climate Policy Is a Pro-Worker Climate Policy
Climate legislation is failing under Joe Biden because the Green New Deal strategy was ignored from the beginning. We need to link decarbonization directly to material gains for the working class, not technocratic clean energy policies.
Joe Biden Is Continuing Donald Trump’s Deforestation Plans
Despite pledging to reverse deforestation at COP26 this week, the Biden administration is moving forward with a plan that would devastate a major national forest’s old-growth trees and grizzly bear habitat.
The Virginia Governor Race Shows That Dems Can’t Count on Running Against Trump
The GOP won Virginia not with a Trump-style reactionary, but a boring old country-club Republican. That spells bad news for a Democratic Party banking on running against Trump-style conservatives.
Elites Won’t Save the Planet — We Need a Mass Movement
At COP26 this week, some of the world’s biggest corporate polluters sent huge delegations to proclaim the need for climate action. They’re presenting themselves as the new climate saviors, but averting disaster won’t come from those who make a profit from killing the planet.
Dungeons & Dragons Is a Case Study in How Capitalism Kills Art
The story of Dungeons & Dragons isn’t just about nerds creating a wildly popular game and then losing control of it. It’s also about how the dictates of the free market inevitably end up stripping even our leisure activities of joy.
Joe Biden Is Giving Us the Presidency the Left Always Predicted
Joe Biden ran for president as the “Stop Bernie” candidate who promised that “nothing would fundamentally change” under his watch. Now, with his ambitious policy agenda being whittled down to a fraction of a loaf, he’s returning to his centrist roots.
The Labour Left’s Fatal Contradictions Are Still Unresolved
In the best moments of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour left captured an insurgent, democratizing spirit. Yet two years after the Left’s defeat, the top-down approach that led to the fatal “second referendum” policy continues to hamper its recovery.
Tens of Thousands of Kaiser Permanente Workers Are Prepared to Strike
As negotiations continue between Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions, which represents 50,000 workers at the company, Kaiser’s workforce is preparing to strike. Tens of thousands have authorized a stoppage, should bargaining stall.
The Opioid Crisis Hasn’t Gone Away. It’s Just Gone Underground.
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, which played a key role in creating America’s opioid crisis, has dissolved. But the crisis rages on, lives are still in danger, and the profits are still flowing — now to street dealers who manufacture synthetic drugs.
Joe Manchin Actually Has a Lot Riding on the Infrastructure Bill’s Passage
Underlying progressives’ surrender to Joe Manchin is the assumption that the West Virginia coal baron is happy to walk away with nothing. But Manchin angering West Virginia voters, GOP officials, businesses, and his campaign donors would hurt him badly.
Buffalo’s Establishment Pulled Out All the Stops to Defeat India Walton
To beat India Walton, the establishment smeared her, changed the rules, and threw piles of cash. In the end, she flipped Byron Brown’s base while he drove up turnout in the city’s wealthiest areas.
We Can’t Understand South Africa’s Racial Inequalities Without Looking at Capitalism
A popular new South African book insists racism is primarily to blame for social polarization. But describing South African inequality as “the new apartheid” obscures the central role that class and capitalism play in reproducing hierarchies.
Unchecked Corporate Power Is at the Root of America’s Democracy Crisis
America’s real democracy crisis is this: corporations use a system of legalized bribery to buy public policy, which prevents popular progressive policies from passing and erodes Americans’ faith in their government.