“Policing Is Fundamentally a Tool of Social Control to Facilitate Our Exploitation”
The brutality we have repeatedly seen meted out by American police all over the country isn’t a bug of our political-economic system — it’s a feature.
20406 Article(s) by: T Rivers
T Rivers is a pseudonymous journalist who covers East and Central Africa.
Business Is Booming in the Unemployment Industry
Australia’s mean and punitive benefits system is a key tool for disciplining workers while amassing profits for private firms. The labor movement needs to join with the unemployed to overhaul it entirely.
There’s No Way Around It: Spending on Police in the US Is out of Control
Our cities have siphoned money away from public goods like education and social services, and funneled the cash into ever-larger, ever-more-militarized police forces. It’s time to reverse that.
Protesters’ Demands in Response to Police Brutality Have Come a Long Way Since the 1992 LA Rebellion
While it’s far too soon to declare victory, let’s take stock of how far political demands have come since the 1992 LA Rebellion.
A Joe Biden Presidency Will Require Mass Protests, Too
Donald Trump’s dangerous and unhinged response to the George Floyd protests shows why he must be defeated in November. But Joe Biden’s policy proposals and disturbing record on criminal justice suggests the era of resistance will have to continue with Biden in the White House.
Ending Mass Incarceration Can Help Build the Labor Movement
Workers caught in the grip of the criminal justice system aren’t just denied their human rights by oppressive police and judges — they’re held under the thumb of their bosses. Mass incarceration is devastating for the labor movement.
Yes to Space Exploration. No to Space Capitalism.
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have a vision of space that serves the narrow interests of capitalists. But we don’t want to be indentured servants on a Martian colony — we want solar exploration that benefits humanity as a whole.
The Spanish Right Wants to Create Another Venezuela
Ever since the PSOE and Unidas Podemos formed a governing coalition in January, Spain’s right-wing opposition has denied its democratic legitimacy. Calls for police mutiny and resistance against the COVID-19 lockdown show how the Spanish right is imitating its Latin American counterparts, seeking to create a climate of chaos that can bring down the government.
Expect More Military “Liberal Interventionism” Under a Joe Biden Presidency
The liberal establishment is desperate to return a centrist to the White House in November and reestablish the country’s more stable military dominance of the world order, disrupted only briefly by Donald Trump. Joe Biden’s terrible track record on foreign policy — including his championing of war in Iraq — suggests a return to Obama-style strong military interventions abroad.
Argentina’s Dictatorship Was Not a “Dirty War.” It Was State Terrorism.
Argentina’s 1976–1983 military dictatorship relied on widespread torture and disappearances to eradicate all political opponents, real or imagined. Seeking to conceal the junta regime’s one-sided terror, the Right still refers to those years as a “dirty war.” But the only accurate way to describe the dictatorship is as a period of “state terrorism.”
The Pandemic Won’t Stop Climate Chaos — That Will Require Changing Our Economic System
The COVID-19 lockdown has resulted in a drastic short-term fall in carbon emissions. Without structural change, however, we’re still on a disastrous trajectory. To avoid calamity, we need to transform our economic system.
When State Intervention Saves “the Economy,” but Not You
China’s response to the pandemic has sharply contrasted with Trump’s, with a far stronger public health response in China but little aid for the poorest. Both countries’ responses to the crisis show that a strong state doesn’t stand in contradiction with neoliberalism — rather, it’s a key element of it.
How We Should Remember D-Day and the Struggle Against Nazism
On the 76th anniversary of D-Day, to honor those who perished in the struggle against fascism, we could do little better than to combat imperial hubris wherever we find it, including at home.
Mass Protests Have Forced Some Cities to Repeal Anti-Protester Curfews
After brutal police violence failed to stop huge protests against the murder of George Floyd, governments across the country imposed curfews in an attempt to curtail dissent. But protesters have defied the restrictions in mass numbers — and in some cities, forced elected leaders to repeal the curfews.
A Chicago Bus Driver Says He Was Retaliated Against for His Opposition to Transporting Police to Protests
A Chicago bus driver alleges in a new lawsuit that when he tried to discuss opposing the transport of police to protests with his coworkers, the Chicago Transit Authority retaliated against him. If the allegations are true, they’re an attack on the First Amendment and the ability of workers to organize.
The Jobs Report Was Good, but the Economy Is Still Bad
The May jobs report showing a drop in the unemployment rate shouldn’t have been a surprise, with many states having lifted their shutdowns. But if Congress uses the report to excuse not passing another stimulus — especially one that includes relief for state and local governments — the economy could face a collapse.
Why Bill de Blasio Is Such a Schmuck
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio claims he wants to change the most unjust policies of American life in the 21st century. The problem is, he is instinctively hostile to the protests and grassroots organizing necessary to win such change.
We Must Defund the Police Now
The reforms that have been pushed by presidents and police chiefs, mayors and city councils in response to the horrifying, unending stream of blatant police brutality and police murder have failed and will continue failing. The police aren’t going to get any nicer — we must defund them, full stop.
Yes, Power Corrupts. That’s Why Socialists Want to Democratize Society
It’s a common refrain that socialists are naïve, unrealistic dreamers. But precisely the opposite is true: we know that power corrupts, so we want to democratize all spheres of society.
To Recover From This Crisis, We Need to Defund Wall Street
Bromides about a V-shaped economic recovery after the pandemic just distract us from the size of the task that we face. We were already headed for crisis before COVID-19 — only a far-reaching reorientation of the economy can stave off social collapse.