What Michael Brooks Meant to Me
Michael Brooks was one of the funniest, most intellectually curious human beings I’ve ever known. He was also deeply committed to creating a better world.
19639 Articles by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
Stacey Abrams’s Record Is Not as Progressive as She Wants You to Think
Stacey Abrams shows every sign of becoming a fixture of national Democratic politics, thanks in part to unwaveringly positive press attention. Yet little of that media coverage has focused on her centrist legislative record or her coziness with the business world.
AOC’s Anti-Sexism Speech Yesterday Was a Triumph
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s blistering speech yesterday powerfully connected her experience of sexism with the broader issues of patriarchy and workplace harassment. It was proof, once again, that it’s very nice having democratic socialists in office.
“You’ll Have Many Teachers Refuse to Go In”
With the push to reopen public schools amid a still-raging pandemic, many teachers are sounding the alarm. We spoke with one Philadelphia high school teacher who has been organizing his coworkers — and the end result may be a massive strike.
Georgia’s Coronavirus Crisis Is Being Covered Up
Since Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp reopened the economy, infection rates have skyrocketed. But the state has found a way to deal with the problem — by making the surge of new cases disappear from the government’s official COVID-19 tracking website.
How Deportation Became the Core of Europe’s Migration Policy
In recent years, the European Union’s member states have built their migration policies around an evermore elaborate system of filtering people and finding ways to expel them. This effort to put up obstacles isn’t just expensive or inefficient, but outright antihuman — subjecting migrants’ lives to the whims of recruiters and opaque bureaucratic processes.
Has Streaming Killed the Radio Star?
The music industry bounced back from a seemingly terminal post-Napster crisis, but the profits from streaming go to big companies and a handful of top artists. Can we build an alternative model that encourages more innovative — and more radical — music?
Robert Eshelman-Håkansson (1973–2020)
Hailing from a working-class Pennsylvania background, Robert Eshelman-Håkansson led the life of a bohemian intellectual before rising to become chief aide to the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He leaves behind friends and admirers throughout the US and in half a dozen countries around the world.
To Fight Racial Inequality, We Have to Attack the Power of Corporations
Corporations are a central driver of racial inequality in American society. But it’s not because they haven’t thought enough about racial injustice — it’s because their basic goal is to maximize profits, even when it decimates the lives of black people.
The Slow Dismantling of Australia’s COVID-19 Security Net
In March, Australia’s wage subsidy scheme and generous unemployment benefits stood out globally for their decent approach to the COVID-19 crisis. Now, as cases spike, those schemes are being eroded as government opts to push more people into insecure work.
Arizona Has Lost Control of the Coronavirus Pandemic
Arizona governor Doug Ducey allowed pressure from Donald Trump and business leaders in the state to pressure him into prematurely reopening the state. Now the state is suffering the worst coronavirus numbers in the entire world.
Joe Biden Just Made a Big Promise to His Wall Street Donors
Two weeks after being lauded for his task force policies, Joe Biden promised wealthy campaign contributors that changing corporate behavior “is not going to require legislation — I’m not proposing any.” The Left should be worried.
The Labour Party Was Wrong to Apologize to Jeremy Corbyn’s Critics
Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership has chosen to settle a libel action it had every chance of winning, as a way of marginalizing the party’s left wing. But that settlement can’t dispel well-founded criticisms of a controversial documentary that targeted Jeremy Corbyn.
Michael Brooks Was a True Internationalist
Michael Brooks believed that every person, regardless of where they were born or where they lived, was worthy of fundamental human respect — and his dream was to create a more just world, not only for Americans, but for every working person on Earth.
Michael Brooks Made the Left Brighter
Amid the pettiness and factionalism that so often plague the Left, Michael Brooks’s socialism was warm, vibrant, and intellectually omnivorous. We can all learn from his example.
A Huge Wall Street Scandal Just Exploded In Kentucky
GOP law enforcement officials are targeting Stephen Schwarzman, the billionaire who bankrolls Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump’s political machine. The lawsuit breaks open a major financial scandal that threatens the world’s largest private equity firms — with global implications.
The Pentagon Is Giving Billions to Corporate Criminals
As the Senate considers defense budget cuts, a new government report says the Pentagon is giving billions to companies “cited for willful or repeated safety, health or fair labor standards violations.”
Serbia’s Coronavirus Protests Are Denouncing the Government From Opposite Angles
The Serbian government’s reintroduction of a curfew in Belgrade triggered violent protests in July, showing the popular distrust in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But with the rallies drawing everyone from middle-class liberals to far-right football hooligans, the protests above all show the lack of coherent opposition to Aleksandar Vučić’s authoritarian government.
“Michael Brooks Was My Absolute Political Inspiration”
After putting out a call for his listeners and viewers to share their reflections on our comrade and friend Michael Brooks after his shocking and untimely death this week, we were flooded with emails. Here are a few of them.
Lucio Urtubia, 1931–2020
The anarchist bricklayer Lucio Urtubia made his name robbing banks in order to fund clandestine revolutionaries in Franco’s Spain. He insisted that there was nothing criminal about his expropriations of firms like Citibank — arguing that “he who robs a thief is a thousand times forgiven.”