We Need a Nationwide Vaccine Mandate
Measures like those France and New York City recently instituted are an appropriate tool for preventing impending and devastating mass death.
19511 Articles by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
Richard Pryor Wasn’t Just a Brilliant Comedian — He Was a Trenchant Social Critic
Richard Pryor revolutionized stand-up comedy with his sharp wit and deeply personal monologues. He also held up a mirror to US society, revealing its brutal realities of inequality and racism.
In Socialist Yugoslavia, Mass Housing Wasn’t Just Ugly Tower Blocks
A thousand online galleries associate prefab housing with the gray conformity of Soviet tower blocks. But in socialist Yugoslavia, architects built affordable public housing that offered comfortable homes for all.
Capitalism Is What’s Burning the Planet, Not Average People
Not all humans are equally culpable in the climate chaos outlined in Monday’s IPCC report. Identifying the rich and powerful as the principal culprits is key to stopping further destruction.
The Ashcan School Painted the American Working Class
In the years before the Great Depression, the “Ashcan” school of painters rejected the cultural norms of the art market. It opted instead for an American realism that took its inspiration from the lives of dock workers, street vendors, and immigrant families in the country’s modernizing cities.
Consultancy Capitalism Is Allowing Private Firms to Control Public Funds
The EU’s promised €750 billion in recovery spending has been a boost for consultancy firms like Deloitte and PwC, hired to plan where funds are directed. These businesses’ growing control over public spending isn’t just undemocratic — it’s a recipe for corruption.
The Australian Left Must Fight for a Strategy That Will Eliminate COVID-19
The highly infectious Delta variant is spreading through Australia. Center-left politicians have wrongly joined the Right in opposing lockdowns and border closures on spurious grounds. The Left should instead fight to eliminate COVID.
Andrew Cuomo’s Legacy: Normalizing Corruption and Lawlessness
Andrew Cuomo is leaving. But his likely escape from prosecution and impeachment is a blatant demonstration of what kinds of crimes politicians can get away with in America.
A Feminism That Means Something
Liberal feminism’s laser-like focus on winning formal equality between the sexes has distracted us from what should be feminism’s true aim: winning a world where everyone has their basic needs met and everyone can flourish.
South Africa Needs a Left Alternative to the ANC
The recent unrest in South Africa wasn’t an expression of progressive politics. The Left will have to find a way to channel popular discontent into mass left movements — or we’ll get nativism, and, inevitably, authoritarianism instead.
The Planet Can’t Survive a Repeat of Barack Obama’s Climate Denialism
The new IPCC report confirms that if the Biden administration gives us a repeat of Obama’s climate denialism and refusal to aggressively cut back emissions, the climate crisis will radically escalate, devastating the lives and livelihoods of workers around the world.
The “Hot Spring” Showed That Greeks Were Willing to Fight
Ten years ago, Greece was gripped by square occupations expressing mass opposition to EU austerity policies. The movement’s strength was its ability to rally Greeks from outside the organized left — yet it was ultimately defeated by its lack of a clear political alternative.
Andrew Cuomo’s Abuse Was Aided and Abetted Every Step of the Way
Andrew Cuomo’s abuses as New York governor were uniquely repugnant. But his empire could only have been built with the aid of corporate executives, the state legislature, and the media.
Film Industry Workers Are Fed Up With Long Hours
Punishingly long hours have always been the norm in the film industry. But now, a year and a half into the pandemic, the workers behind television shows and movies are fed up and starting to organize.
Blue Collar Is a Dark Masterpiece of Working-Class Cinema
The 1978 film Blue Collar, starring Richard Pryor, is far from pleasant. But its riveting portrait of the brutality of life and work for American autoworkers still makes for essential viewing today.
There’s No Time Like the Present to Cancel All Student Debt
Two student loan servicers recently exited the industry after years of atrocious behavior. We can either use this moment of crisis to move toward dystopian student loan solutions proposed by the Right and liberals — or we can just cancel all student debt.
The Rise and Fall of Poland’s Solidarity Movement
Four decades ago, Poland’s communist system faced the challenge of a powerful independent workers’ movement and eventually drove it underground. Understanding Solidarity’s fate during and after communism is essential for making sense of Polish politics today.
Barack Obama Has Been One of the Worst Ex-Presidents Ever
Since his retirement from politics, Barack Obama has displayed an astonishing lack of regard for the public good. Instead of serving his fellow human beings, he has mainly devoted himself to a rigorous program of conspicuous self-celebration.
Big Corporate Money Is Funding the GOP Election Deniers
Plenty of corporations and billionaires weren’t scared off from donating to members of Congress who voted to overturn the election. On the contrary: the super PAC behind House Republicans who opposed the election results took in more money than before the January 6 capitol riot.
It’s No “Mistake” That Bill Gates Was Palling Around With Jeffrey Epstein
In a new interview, Bill Gates apologized for his ties with Jeffrey Epstein even as he downplayed their relationship. That’s self-serving nonsense: their friendship was a grotesque demonstration of what happens when you give a small group of people unfathomable wealth and power.