The Teachers’ Strike Wave Returns Home to Chicago
Chicago’s 2012 walkout inspired a national educators’ upsurge across the country. This week, the movement is set to strike again where it all began.
20387 Article(s) by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
AOC’s Endorsement of Bernie Makes Perfect Sense
No one should be surprised by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement of Bernie Sanders — just like Sanders, she has continually challenged the neoliberal status quo.
Joe Biden Isn’t an Electable Candidate
Donald Trump couldn’t ask for a better competitor for the presidency than Joe Biden, whose strategy appears to be a rerun of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign minus the brainpower. Biden isn’t the “electable” candidate — Bernie Sanders is.
What’s at Stake in Chicago’s Two Public Education Strikes
The Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 are poised to strike in Chicago. This is no ordinary educators’ strike: the two unions are fighting together for an end to poverty wages in schools; forcing the district to hire more social workers, nurses, and librarians; and winning housing relief for both teachers and homeless students.
What Liberals Miss About Trump Country
Liberal pundits look at Trump voters and see a monolithic mass of reactionary resentment. But class matters — poor Republicans actually tend to hold progressive views on the economy.
Fifty Years Ago Today, US Soldiers Joined the Vietnam Moratorium Protests in Mass Numbers
Fifty years ago today, the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam protests swept the entire United States and showed that the antiwar movement was undeniably mainstream. Soldiers who had fought in Vietnam weren’t pitted against that movement — in fact, many were actually part of it.
When German Unions Built Housing for the People
In postwar Germany, a cooperative run by trade unionists created Europe’s largest housing company. Building over 400,000 homes, “Neue Heimat” showed we don’t have to live on the terms dictated by landlords — we can take control for ourselves.
Why Bernie Sanders Is the Best Candidate to Fight Health Disparities for Black Americans
As a black, female family physician, I see the realities of America’s massive racial health disparities every day. Bernie Sanders is the presidential candidate who best understands those disparities and is ready to fight them.
Piketty Down Under
Australia’s economy, like much of the advanced world’s, is in a neoliberal trap. Austerity and inequality caused it, and only the working class can get us out.
Bernie Wants You to Own More of the Means of Production
Bernie Sanders just released a landmark plan to shift ownership and control of the US economy away from the very affluent and towards workers and the public.
Is This the Future Liberals Want?
In a 2020 campaign against Donald Trump, a bet on Elizabeth Warren is a risky wager on its own terms. But over the next twenty years, a turn toward progressive technocracy is not a bet at all — it’s an unconditional surrender to class dealignment.
Why Chicago Charter Teachers Like Me Are Ready to Strike
Charter schools are used to undercut public school teachers’ wages. Case in point: teachers at Passages Charter School in Chicago make 25 percent less than their public counterparts. A Passages teacher explains why he is willing to strike to change that.
The Border System Is Criminal
The modern border system is an oppressive structure that boosts corporate power and divides the haves and have-nots. We need to dismantle it.
Polish Liberals Embraced Austerity — and the Nationalist Right Is Benefiting
Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice Party is promising a “Polish version of the welfare state.” Liberals are promising more austerity. Guess who’s going to win today’s general election.
Love Remain, Hate Jeremy Corbyn
Britain’s liberal establishment have long damned Jeremy Corbyn for failing to fight hard enough against Brexit. Their hatred for the Labour leader knows no bounds — and they’ll block him becoming prime minister even if it makes Britain crashing out of Europe inevitable.
The Ghost of Jimmy Hoffa Won’t Go Away
Martin Scorsese’s new film The Irishman continues Hollywood’s obsession with the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. We’re more concerned with what happened to Teamster working conditions under his son, James P. Hoffa.
Labour and the Fight for a United Ireland
The border controversy is just the latest episode in the epic of Britain’s political establishment and their willful ignorance of Ireland.
The “Strongest Argument Against Medicare for All” Is Very, Very Weak
The New York Times recently published “the strongest argument against Medicare for All.” We regret to inform you that the argument is, in fact, not strong at all.
Ecological Politics for the Working Class
Solving the ecological crisis requires a mass movement to take on hugely powerful industries. Yet environmentalism’s base in the professional-managerial class and focus on consumption has little chance of attracting working-class support.
Trump Loves Modi — but Obama Loved Him First
Donald Trump has been rightly condemned for his buddy-buddy relationship with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. But it was Barack Obama who helped legitimize the far-right leader in the first place.