Yes, the World’s Richest Nation Can Afford $2,000 Survival Checks
Jeff Bezos’s personal wealth increased more every second of 2020 ($2,800) than Congress is considering giving Americans who are facing eviction, starvation, and bankruptcy ($2,000).
19650 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
The Lies Won’t End After Trump Leaves Office
The lies that have destroyed trust in US institutions didn’t begin with Donald Trump’s presidency, and they will not end with them. From the tobacco industry to fossil fuel companies and the military-industrial complex, the American people have been peddled bullshit for generations.
Ending Poverty in the United States Would Actually Be Pretty Easy
In the wealthiest country in the world, there’s no reason anyone should be poor. Period.
The Demand for Student Debt Cancellation Should Be Paired With Tuition-Free Public College
The demand to cancel student debt is vital, but it would be politically dangerous to let it get detached from a broader left vision for higher education. We should unite it with another key working class demand: tuition-free public college and trade school.
Georgians Are Starving — And Their Millionaire Senators Refuse to Force a Vote on Aid
Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue could actually force a Senate vote on $2,000 checks for almost two thirds of Georgia households. After all, their state is in the middle of a calamity. Instead, they are issuing belated, meek platitudes.
Bernie Sanders Is Fighting for a $2,000 Check for You on the Senate Floor
Bernie Sanders is prepared to fight to win $2,000 survival checks for all. While Senate Democrats were prepared to do nothing to challenge Mitch McConnell, Sanders is pledging to filibuster a Pentagon veto override to provide real help for millions of Americans struggling to survive.
Argentine Feminists Are About to Win the Fight for Abortion Rights
After years of militant struggle from feminists, Argentina is now poised to legalize abortion rights. With the upper house expected to pass the abortion bill today, nineteen-year-old legislator and activist Ofelia Fernández spoke to Jacobin about the dynamism of Argentina’s Green Tide activism and what comes next.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Is Launching a Fresh Bid for the French Presidency
In 2017’s French election, radical left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon surged to 20 percent support, only narrowly failing to make the runoff. Last month he announced his candidacy for the 2022 race — and he’s trying to show that his France Insoumise movement can govern as well as protest.
After Years of Mass Organizing, Argentina Could Legalize Abortion Tomorrow
After its lower house of Congress voted yes earlier this month, Argentina’s upper house will vote tomorrow on legalizing abortion. The campaign could not have arrived at this point without years of mass feminist organizing in the streets.
Mitch McConnell Is Accountable to Corporations – Not the People Who Elected Him
House Republicans and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell represent voters who are disproportionately struggling — yet they’re blocking $2,000 survival checks. It’s American politics in a nutshell.
Austerity Is Looming in New York. Is Ray McGuire the Mayor to Carry It Out?
As New York City prepares for another historic wave of austerity, Ray McGuire has become a favorite of the city’s business and media establishments. A former Citigroup vice chairman and man-about–Wall Street is exactly the kind of figure who puts them at ease.
How Amy Coney Barrett and Barack Obama Transcended Petty Partisanship to Crush Community Activists in Chicago
Community activists battling plans for a hideous Chicago shrine to Barack Obama have been dealt a series of blows in recent months. Perhaps most notable was a rebuff from none other than Amy Coney Barrett, whose decision in favor of Obama bore all the hallmarks of ruling class solidarity.
Scott Morrison Isn’t the Australian Trump — He’s a Margaret Thatcher Tribute Band
Australian PM Scott Morrison is often compared to Donald Trump. Morrison is certainly a race-baiter who serves the rich, but his brand of reheated “populism” borrows far more from Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and former PM John Howard. Unfortunately, it’s not dead yet.
Bill Gates’s Foundation Is Leading a Green Counterrevolution in Africa
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation promised Africa a “Green Revolution” to fight hunger and poverty. It hasn’t worked — but it has upped corporate agriculture’s profits. Local farmers are being left empty-handed, and hunger is rising.
The US Government Can Provide Universal Childcare — It’s Done So in the Past
The United States distinguishes itself as one of the few wealthy countries in the world that does not have a robust public childcare program. But there’s no reason we can’t have one that’s wildly popular and provides high-quality care — in fact, during World War II, we did.
During the Black Sea Mutiny, French Sailors Rejected France’s War on Soviet Russia
The French Communist Party, founded 100 years ago, claimed inspiration from the sailors who refused to fight Soviet Russia. Their Black Sea mutiny showed French workers’ enthusiasm for the Bolshevik Revolution — and their unwillingness to serve as cannon fodder for their own ruling class.
A Democratic Socialist Will Soon Be Sworn in as Judge in Las Vegas
Public defender and racial justice organizer Erika Ballou won a Las Vegas judgeship with the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America. Next month, she’ll take the bench with the aim of upending the criminal justice status quo.
Right-Wing Populism May Be Wounded, But It’s Certainly Not Dead
With Trump’s defeat and other setbacks for the Right around the world, some commentators have proclaimed the death of right-populism. But the structural factors that gave rise to it remain in place, and only a recharged left-wing movement can address them.
Albert Camus and the Fantasies of Empire
The novelist Albert Camus is omnipresent in French cultural life, from TV shows to comic books, magazine covers and one-man shows. Camus-mania isn’t just a literary phenomenon: it draws on a deep well of political revisionism and colonial nostalgia.
By Taking a Stand Against Billionaires, Hockey Players Did Us All a Favor
The NHL’s superrich owners tried to shift the burden of their pandemic-related losses onto players. But the hockey players’ union has successfully faced down their demands, setting an example that should ring out beyond the sports arenas.