To Smash the Patriarchy, We Need to Get Specific About What It Means
Patriarchy doesn’t just mean sexism. It’s a concrete system of social relations that operates in specific ways. To get rid of it, we need to better understand it.
20401 Article(s) by: Rob McIntyre
Rob McIntyre is a United Workers Union delegate at the Toll Kmart warehouse in Truganina.
Ten Years Ago, Edward Snowden Blew the Whistle on the US’s Most Secretive Spy Agency
This week 10 years ago, Edward Snowden exposed the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance of Americans. The US government responded with ruthless persecution — just one egregious example in the NSA’s long, sordid history of fiercely guarding its secrecy.
No, Arms Dealers Don’t Count as “Environmentally and Socially Responsible” Investments
Arms industries across Europe and North America are trying to get credentialed as “ESG”-friendly options for environmentally and socially conscious investors. That’s absurd. As long as their products are used to perpetuate war, they will remain sin stocks.
The Greek Left Is in Desperate Need of Renewal
Greece’s left-wing Syriza party has been in crisis since it capitulated to the Troika in 2015. At national elections last month, it was trounced at the polls by the incumbent New Democracy party — meaning another four years of neoliberal policies.
Mike Pence and Chris Christie Are Going to Lose
They haven’t accommodated themselves to a basic fact: the Republican Party is still the party of Donald Trump.
Manufacturers of “Forever Chemicals” Have Been Hiding Their Dangers for Decades
A new study finds that manufacturers of cancer-causing “forever chemicals” knew about the dangers they posed 40 years before the public. Taking a cue from Big Tobacco, companies like 3M and DuPont successfully suppressed research and regulation for decades.
How Hollywood’s Anti-Communist Crackdown Made TV and Movies Bland and Boring
The conformity of 1950s film and television was the result of the successful McCarthyist purge of leftists — and their genres — from the entertainment industry. The life of socialist screenwriter Very Caspary shows how it was done and what was lost.
Oliver Stone Goes Nuclear
We talk to legendary director Oliver Stone about his new film Nuclear Now, what he thinks about his critics, and why he sees nuclear energy as a key solution to climate change.
Walt Rostow’s Development Theory Shows That Capitalism Relies on Brutal Violence
Economist Walt Rostow advanced an influential development theory while working as an adviser to the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Rostow’s advocacy of murderous violence in Vietnam flowed directly from his theory of how to promote capitalist growth.
How a Small Left-Wing Union Is Helping Drive the Unionization Wave in Higher Ed
The past two years have seen a wave of graduate worker strikes, new organizing drives, and big union election victories. The independent, left-wing United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America has played an outsize role in this upsurge.
The Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators Changed American Teachers Unionism
Today is the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, the Chicago Teachers Union caucus that transformed the union into the powerful force it is today. CTU vice president Jackson Potter reflects on the caucus’s legacy.
For Proof That Corporate Greed Is Driving the Inflation Crisis, Look to the Car Industry
Cars have been the poster child of the current inflation crisis. Dealership executives have made clear in earnings calls why: not because they’re passing on higher costs to consumers, but because they want to net record profits.
Hollywood Is Facing the Prospect of Actors Joining Writers on Strike
The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA enters negotiations with studios today over a new contract. Members just returned a 97.91 percent vote in favor of authorizing a strike — meaning striking film and TV writers could soon be joined on the picket line by actors.
UPS Teamsters Are Ready to Strike
With UPS making astronomical profits and public support for unions holding strong, a Teamsters strike at UPS this August could be a watershed moment for the American working class. Two UPS drivers explain what’s at stake in the potential strike.
Ron DeSantis and His Allies Could Render Campaign Finance Laws Completely Meaningless
Accompanied by his allies and super PAC Never Back Down, Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is testing the boundaries of campaign finance laws further than ever before.
Automation Could Set Us Free — If We Didn’t Live Under Capitalism
Under capitalism, automation destroys jobs. Under socialism, it would be an instrument of liberation.
Narendra Modi Is Developing a New Template for Authoritarian Control of the Internet
Narendra Modi’s government has launched a relentless clampdown in a bid to suppress its critics. As part of this drive, it is developing new tools to stifle free expression on the internet while extending the reach of online surveillance over India’s citizens.
The US Left Must Rebuild Broken Links to Soldiers and Veterans
While the armed forces carry out the mission of US imperialism, millions of working people sit at the heart of that machine, drawn to become soldiers by the promise of economic stability. A Left looking to rebuild links with the working class can’t avoid them.
Our Epidemic of Mass Shootings Is Traumatizing a Generation and Threatening Democracy
The number of mass shootings continues to soar in the US — not just costing lives, but traumatizing our youth and undermining the basis for a free society. To stop the epidemic, we need a truly democratic transformation of our country’s political institutions.
Ecuador’s “Blue” Bond Deal Won’t Save the Galapagos
In exchange for a reduction of the national debt, Ecuador has ceded sovereign control of the Galapagos Islands to an independent trust based in the United States. The trust promises to invest sustainably — but no one can make it follow through.