How Slavery Shaped American Capitalism
The New York Times is right that slavery made a major contribution to capitalist development in the United States — just not in the way they imagine.
19789 Articles by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
Bernie Sanders Has a Plan — But He’s Also Building a Movement
Bernie Sanders probably does have a plan for that. But he also has something more important: a willingness to name the enemy and mobilize a mass movement to get those plans through.
“As Long as Exploitation Is the Default, We Won’t Get to a Place of Liberation.”
We caught up with Candi CdeBaca, a democratic socialist on Denver’s city council who took on the city’s for-profit prison system and won. She spoke to us about growing up working class and becoming a socialist: “When I got to college, I really recognized that the game was rigged.”
Boris Johnson Is Shutting Down Parliament to Force Through Brexit
British politics exploded into chaos again with the news that the Queen will shut down Parliament on Boris Johnson’s request. The move is aimed at preventing MPs from stopping any no-deal Brexit — another sign that Britain is headed for a general election fought against the backdrop of Brexit psychodrama.
Meek Mill’s Case “Is Not About One Judge, One Courtroom”
Meek Mill is finally free. But his case, depicted in a new Amazon docuseries, shows the urgent need to challenge the criminalization of poverty and the class society that jailed him in the first place.
A Green New Deal for Decarceration
To save the planet, a Green New Deal has to transform our entire society. Part of that transformation must include the deconstruction of our system of mass incarceration.
The Washington Post’s War on Bernie Continues
The war on Bernie Sanders carried out by the Washington Post is unfair, dishonest, and never-ending. As long as Sanders stands with workers in opposition to the bosses and billionaires who own the media, he can expect more of the same treatment.
A Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Under Socialism
Popeyes’ new chicken sandwich is great. The fast food industry’s labor practices are not. Under democratic socialism, the entire working class would benefit from the spoils of such culinary delights.
An Unholy Alliance Against Public Transit
Uber and the Kochs aren’t often mentioned in the same sentence. But the rideshare company has joined the far-right billionaire-funded operation on a libertarian crusade to destroy public transit.
Bernie Sanders Thinks Bosses Have Too Much Power
Unlike in the Nordic countries, workers in the US can be fired for virtually any reason. Bernie Sanders wants to change that — because no boss should have dictatorial power.
American Jews, Don’t Go on Birthright
Birthright Israel pretends the occupation does not exist and manipulates Jewish heritage and identity into support for an apartheid state. I’ll never go on Birthright, and neither should you.
Bernie’s Political Revolution Requires Radical Democratic Reform
The political revolution needs mass protest mobilization. But to be completed, it will also require a radical reconstruction of the United States’ undemocratic political institutions.
An Empty Tale
The foreign policy establishment is responding to Trump-era brutalities by demanding more, not less, aggression and empire.
War Is a Racket
The life and times of Smedley Butler.
The Online Left Goes to War
Stefan Bertram-Lee was an internet leftist. And then they went to Rojava and got a gun.
Elizabeth Warren’s Lean Green Fighting Machine
The way to cut military climate emissions is to scale back the United States’ enormous empire. Elizabeth Warren has no plan for that.
Death Drive
Eighty years of American nuclear weapons policy.
The First March on Washington
A. Philip Randolph called for a March on Washington to force President Roosevelt to abolish Jim Crow in the war effort, and shaped the trajectory of the postwar left.
Who Cares What Army?
Though their time as a band was brief, the Monks represent a “what if” of the convergence between GI resistance and the 1960s counterculture.
The Armored Archipelago
The United States has 800 military installations in dozens of countries around the world. They all must be dismantled.