Profiles in Triangulation
Centrist Democrats have always postured as bold realists dispensing hard-headed truths. But there’s nothing bold or courageous about deferring to corporate interests instead of your progressive base.
19667 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
A Sanders Presidency Would Be a Disaster for Bolsonaro
Right now, the best thing Brazil’s far-right president has going for him is Donald Trump. If Bernie Sanders is elected, that all changes.
The European Left Needs a Vision of the Future
The European Union remains steeped in crisis, and yet the challenge from the radical left looks weaker than ever. Popular discontent doesn’t automatically lead to positive change: it has to be galvanized around a realistic alternative.
Winning Socialism Is About Winning Freedom
Bernie Sanders’s speech on socialism made a bold case for real freedom — the freedom to flourish, not just the right to be left alone.
Bernie Sanders, Socialist New Dealer
For decades, neoliberal Democrats have chipped away at the gains made through New Deal reforms. Bernie Sanders wants to deepen and defend those gains.
Britain’s Politics Are Moving Left — and Right
Britain has had two elections in recent weeks, and the lessons are clear: Labour’s grassroots strategy under Jeremy Corbyn is working — and the far right remains a major threat.
Bernie: Freedom Is a Democratic Socialist Value
In his speech about democratic socialism yesterday, Bernie Sanders refused to accept freedom as a value of the Right — and laid out all the ways that capitalism limits ordinary workers’ freedom.
Massacre and Uprising in Sudan
Sudan’s ongoing but embattled revolution is perhaps the best organized and politically advanced in the region. That’s why the US and Saudi Arabia are determined to crush it.
Bernie Has Opened the Door for Democratic Socialism
Bernie Sanders has restored the socialist tradition to its rightful place at the heart of national politics for the first time in decades. Now it’s up to us to push it further.
The Democrats’ Climate Death Drive
The Republicans are a climate-denying suicide cult — everybody knows this. But in their own desperation to avoid debate on the climate crisis, the Democratic National Committee isn’t far behind.
Against the Great Man Theory of Historians
Robert Caro has penned more magisterial works of history than nearly anyone else. But without accounting for the often-invisible work of others in his research, his new memoir Working is not so much inspiration as an exercise in self-celebration.
Before AOC, There Was the SPD
With her challenges to status quo politics and denunciations of elites from the halls of power, AOC is channeling an unlikely source: the early German socialists who founded the world’s first mass democratic-socialist party.
Medicare for All Goes to the Hill
House committee hearings for Medicare for All are finally starting today. It’s a testament to M4A’s rising popularity — but overcoming opposition from Republicans, Democrats, and the health care companies will require a mass movement.
New Zealand Teachers on Strike
New Zealand teachers have staged their largest strike in history, pointing to a crisis in their profession.
Syriza’s Failure Has Hurt Us All
Setbacks for Syriza have prompted Alexis Tsipras to call an early general election. Yet as a onetime left-wing government reaches the end of the road, the bases for rebuilding the fight against austerity look weaker than ever.
Stop Polluting Our Green New Deal
As climate protests sweep across Europe, neoliberals are misusing the name “Green New Deal” to push new kinds of market incentives.
Elizabeth Warren Has a Plan for Everything — Except Health Care
Elizabeth Warren has come out strong for a slew of progressive policy proposals. So why hasn’t she come out strong for Medicare for All?
Can Anyone Save the SPD?
As its voter base collapses, Germany’s once-mass Social Democratic Party appears to be headed into the political abyss. To make things worse, its leaders think the answer lies in a further shift to the right.
Three Ways a Green New Deal Can Promote Life Over Capital
The Green New Deal could have the power to take our lives back from the logic of capitalism. Here’s how.
New York Needs Universal Rent Control Now
Rent control can build tenant power and undermine the logic of speculative neighborhood investments. New York needs it right now.