The Last Cold War Was Disastrous — We Shouldn’t Welcome Another
A new book uses poor history to urge the ruthless containment of America’s rivals — skirting Washington’s past failures and the millions of civilian dead.
19627 Articles by: T Rivers
T Rivers is a pseudonymous journalist who covers East and Central Africa.
Are We at the Dawn of “Insulin Socialism”?
The high cost of insulin is one of the great injustices of the US health care system. But now, states like California are looking at directly manufacturing this essential medicine — a potentially massive win for both patients and left-wing politics.
Dems Promised Universal Pre-K, Paid Leave, and Free Community College. Now It’s All Gone.
As progressives debate whether or not to celebrate the Inflation Reduction Act, let’s take a moment to remember Build Back Better: universal pre-K, paid family and medical leave, free community college. It’s all been taken away — and you should be furious.
Yes, Providing Drug Users With Safe Drugs Will Fight the Opioid Crisis
Vancouver is the latest city to sign up for a Safe Supply program, which provides safe drugs to users. Pilot programs — and the failure of the war on drugs — show that this approach is the best way to combat the opioid crisis.
UAW Reformers Are Making Progress in Democratizing Their Union
The United Auto Workers has long been hobbled by two-tier contracts, corruption, and a lack of internal democracy. At its recent convention, rank-and-file reformers did their best to fight on all of those issues — but the old guard is still firmly in charge.
A Railroad Worker Strike Could Shake the Economy’s Foundations
Once a coveted job, conditions for railroad workers have badly deteriorated. But railroad workers are central to our economy — so central that a current impasse between railroad companies and associated unions has prompted Joe Biden to intervene.
The Prison-Industrial Complex Goes Beyond Cops and Jails. It’s All Around Us.
Police and mass incarceration are only the most visible and obvious manifestations of the prison-industrial complex. Ruth Wilson Gilmore argues that the prison-industrial complex is a holistic social organizing principle that pervades life under capitalism.
Joe Biden Has Barely Expanded the Welfare State
Remember all that talk of Joe Biden being the next FDR? Going into the midterms, the most he’s going to deliver is one minor tweak to the welfare state — hardly the sweeping measures to help workers and the poor that we were promised.
By Failing to Transform the Philippines, Liberals Paved the Way for the Reactionary Right
Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of the former dictator, won a crushing victory in this year’s Philippine presidential election. Responsibility for this disaster lies with the liberal politicians who failed to carry out the most basic social reforms while in power.
Roe Was Always a Terrible Basis for Abortion Rights. Now We Can Fight for Something Better.
Abortion activists had to defend Roe when reproductive rights hung in the balance of its defense. But it was always a weak foundation for those rights. We shouldn’t want Roe back — we should demand much, much more.
Corporations Are Putting Workers’ Lives in Danger in a Deadly Heat Wave
Climate change means workers have to labor in increasingly dangerous heat during the summer months. Corporations are happy to put workers’ lives on the line — and the federal government isn’t doing enough to stop it.
To Roll Back the Police State, We Need to Tackle Economic Inequality
The last few years have seen unprecedented mobilization of mass outrage against the most blatantly racist aspects of US policing. But we can’t confront police abuses without addressing their role in our society as managers of an unequal class status quo.
B. J. Novak’s Vengeance Is a Dark Satire of America’s Cultural Divide
Actor B. J. Novak’s impressive directorial debut, Vengeance, sends a Brooklyn writer out to West Texas in order to turn a family’s grief into a podcast. It’s a satire that nails our era like no other.
We Can’t Save the Planet and Make ExxonMobil Happy
To stop the worst of climate change, we have to choose: Are we going to save the planet or are we going to continue making fossil fuel companies happy? It’s impossible to do both.
J. B. Pritzker Looks Like a Progressive Hero Because Democrats Have Set the Bar So Low
J. B. Pritzker is a billionaire Democrat who hasn’t even signed on to Medicare for All. But the Illinois governor has captured the imaginations of some progressives simply by doing what most Democrats won’t: running on popular ideas and following through.
Recession or No Recession, This Economy Sucks
For politicians and the media, the big question seems to be, are we technically in a recession or not? For the millions of people struggling, the question is: What’s the difference?
Elon Musk and Silicon Valley Don’t Know How to Fix the Transportation System
Elon Musk and his billionaire brethren have all sorts of harebrained solutions to fix US transportation. But we already know what would benefit workers: well-funded public transit and fast trains, powered by a renewable energy grid that serves everyone.
The Australian Labor Party’s Climate Bill Is Empty Symbolism
Labor’s climate bill is little more than symbolism. With escalating climate disasters and soaring inflation, it’s bad policy and even worse politics.
The 1877 St Louis Commune Was a Landmark Event for the International Workers’ Movement
For a few days in July 1877, workers took over St Louis and a communist party ruled the Midwestern city. The often forgotten St Louis Commune was a landmark event that showed the US isn’t immune to Paris Commune–style eruptions of class consciousness.
Corporate Interests Are Inflaming US-China Tensions
In a global economy defined by overproduction and underconsumption, American and Chinese corporations are struggling to extract profits from developing nations. Without massive wealth redistribution, consumption won’t return to stable levels.