Keep Calm and Fight for Medicare for All
As COVID-19 continues to expose the failings of the fragmented, profit-driven health system in the United States, the case for Medicare for All is stronger than ever.
19777 Articles by: T Rivers
T Rivers is a pseudonymous journalist who covers East and Central Africa.
Social-Democratic Denmark Shows How to Respond to Coronavirus
The US and UK responses to coronavirus have failed miserably. But Denmark has moved swiftly to help workers by protecting wages and preventing layoffs — showing yet again, in the midst of a pandemic, that we’d all be better off living in a social democracy.
Dealing With Coronavirus Requires Bold Action. The Democratic Leadership Won’t Take It.
The Democrats have an opportunity to push for desperately needed, sweeping economic change in response to coronavirus. Instead, they’re letting themselves be outflanked by Republicans.
Ilhan Omar: “Real Change Is Possible”
You might be feeling down about how the primaries are going. But the socialist left is stronger than ever. We spoke with Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar for some words of inspiration.
Australia’s Coronavirus Travel Bans Feed Old Fears
With the spread of coronavirus now global, arbitrary travel bans such as those implemented by the Australian government are ineffective and nourished by old xenophobic anxieties. The solution to this crisis can only be a coordinated, international effort.
“People Are Starting to Realize the Kind of City We Can Have If We Fight for It”
Robert LeVertis Bell is a public school teacher and socialist in Louisville, Kentucky running for city council. In an interview with Jacobin, he talks about his experience participating in the recent red-state teachers’ upsurge, fighting gentrification, and how campaigns like his can be used to build a broader movement that is bigger than any one candidate.
Bernie Has Shown the Way Forward With Latino Voters
Whatever happens in today’s primaries, Latino voters have made clear they have a strong appetite for leftist policies. By following Bernie Sanders’s lead and focusing on the pressing needs of rank-and-file Latino workers, democratic socialists can continue to unleash the power of this potent voting bloc.
When Workers’ Councils Defeated the Far-Right Coup in Germany
On March 13, 1920, twelve million workers struck across Germany to block an attempted military coup. The successful resistance was organized by the workers’ councils — a form of grassroots democracy that allowed the masses to assert their own power.
The Uncharted Territory of Bernie Sanders and the Movement Behind Him
The Bernie Sanders campaign is beholden to no one in high places, has no affiliated elites to please or negotiate with, and has helped unleash new working-class militancy in America. The question now is, how can we sustain this extraordinary left turn in American public life to transform society?
The For-Profit Pharmaceutical Industry Is Leaving Us Exposed to Pandemics Like Coronavirus
The pharmaceutical industry has so far failed to develop a coronavirus cure. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: the privatized health care model can’t provide the drugs we need to combat even deadlier bacterial epidemics, because they’re producing drugs for profit rather than human need.
Everything You Know About Mass Incarceration Is Wrong
The US carceral state is a monstrosity with few parallels in history — destroying untold millions of lives and families in just a few decades. But most accounts fail to understand how it was created in the first place, and how we can finally dismantle it.
Joe Biden Is Still Arguing for a Return to the Status Quo
Despite the strange circumstances and urgency of the coronavirus pandemic, last night’s debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders highlighted two visions of our political crises that largely haven’t changed: Biden arguing for a return to normalcy, Sanders insisting that something is deeply wrong in our society.
The Post-Trump Phase of the Post-Truth Era Could Be Starting Soon
Joe Biden’s relentless lying in last night’s debate, and the media’s astonishingly servile reaction, have made it clear that the “post-truth era” will not be over when the Trump administration ends.
Hoarding Toilet Paper Won’t Help Us Fight Coronavirus
We all deserve a functioning state that can provide for everyone, and a society that values solidarity above all. That’s the only thing that can get us through the coronavirus pandemic.
The Workers Our Coronavirus Debate Is Leaving Out
The media and the Democratic Party establishment’s singular focus on paid sick leave leaves out millions of contract and informal workers. We need to think much bigger — now.
Joe Biden Lied in Last Night’s Debate — Italy’s Public Health Care Is Saving It From Collapse
In last night’s debate, Joe Biden claimed that Italy shows public health care doesn’t help the response to coronavirus. But the Italian health service is providing a vital defense against mass infection — ensuring that any ill person can get proper treatment, regardless of their ability to pay.
Austerity Dogmas Will Hobble Spain’s Response to Coronavirus
Spain has announced it will take over private hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to fight coronavirus. Yet in the PSOE-Podemos coalition, some ministers are still defending fiscal austerity. Their neoliberal dogma could get people killed.
Joe Biden’s Budget-Cutting Dogma Is a Threat to Public Health
Joe Biden is now pledging to “spend whatever it takes” to overcome this pandemic. But he’s spent his career putting public health programs on the chopping block as part of a decades-long crusade against government spending.
Shuggie Bain, a Window on Postindustrial Glasgow
Douglas Stuart’s debut novel, Shuggie Bain, richly conveys the harshness of life in Thatcher-era Scotland. Yet with its focus on the resilience of working-class women, this love letter to Glasgow is anything but misery-lit.
Coronavirus Should Be a Wake-Up Call
From prisoners making hand sanitizer to people forgoing testing because of cost, the coronavirus has exposed the social rot in American society. But we don’t have to live this way — we can transform society for the better.