Now Is the Time for Unions to Go on the Offensive
Despite years of employer attacks, unions still have vast resources at their disposal. This moment of worker upsurge is the time to use those assets to fund aggressive organizing.
19711 Articles by: William G. Martin
William G. Martin teaches at SUNY-Binghamton and is co-author of After Prisons? Freedom, Decarceration, and Justice Disinvestment (2016) and a founding member of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier; he covers local justice matters at www.justtalk.blog
How We Can Socialize Big Tech
Platform Socialism is a vital contribution to a left vision for tech, but it fails to fully account for the ways Big Tech is wedded to finance capital. Socializing giant platforms may only be possible in the context of broader political transformations.
France’s Left-Wing Coalition Can Stop Emmanuel Macron’s Attacks on Welfare
A new left-wing coalition is leading polls for June’s French parliamentary elections. Its popularity shows that working-class France wants a government that resists Emmanuel Macron’s destruction of the country’s social welfare provisions.
To Take Real Action on Climate Change, Australia Must Rebuild Its Public Sector
In 2014, Australian Labor PM Julia Gillard’s Clean Energy Act tried to use market mechanisms to take climate action. Its failure underscores the fact that only public investment in climate action will do.
When a New Left Activist Departed Campus for the Factory Floor
After participating in 1960s progressive movements, Jon Melrod took his activism to the factory floor, becoming a militant rank-and-file autoworker. Radicals like him made serious contributions to labor struggle at a time when unions were under attack.
Gustavo Petro Is the Only Democratic Choice in Colombia’s Presidential Election
Left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro faces a runoff against a far-right populist, Rodolfo Hernández, for Colombia’s presidency. Predictably, the traditional establishment is lining up to support his self-styled “antiestablishment” opponent.
Even More Pension Money Is Headed to Wall Street
New York’s Democrat-controlled legislature passed a bill this week to funnel an additional $54 billion in public pension funds to high-risk private equity investments. It’s most likely an unwise financial strategy — and only Wall Street will benefit.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Has Shown How to Build a Radical, Broad Coalition
Most of the last decade’s left-populist insurgents failed to create lasting alternatives to neoliberalized social democracy. But Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Insoumise bucked the trend — and did it through years of work building real, popular roots.
Decriminalizing Hard Drugs Isn’t Nearly Enough to End the War on Drugs
British Columbia’s decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of hard drugs is a good first step in our fight against the opioid crisis. But it does not go far enough — we need universal decriminalization, high possession thresholds, and safe supply.
New York Democrats Failed to Pass Good Cause Eviction Laws Again
While rent prices and evictions skyrocket, the Democrat-controlled New York state legislature has concluded its session without passing a good cause eviction bill. The proposed law would have protected 1.6 million people from getting evicted for no reason.
Biden Is Locking Up Thousands of Immigrants in For-Profit Detention Centers
When Joe Biden became president, he ended the contracting of prisons to private corporations — with one glaring exception: ICE. Today, over 70 percent of immigrant detainees are being held in privately owned prisons.
Capitalists Are Bad at Weed Legalization
Capitalist society can only ever legalize cannabis in a way that benefits the already wealthy. Why not put the newly legal weed industry in the hands of the public and away from the profit motive?
Spain’s Right-Wing Judiciary Is Trying to Block Historic Feminist Legislation
New legislation in Spain will ensure free, publicly provided abortions and allow menstrual leave from work. The raft of measures shows left-wing party Unidas Podemos’s strong feminist stance — but faces obstruction from the country’s hard-right judiciary.
Top Gun: Maverick Is Another Military Recruitment Video Disguised as a Movie
The hotly anticipated sequel to Top Gun, the 1986 movie that made Tom Cruise a star, is raking in cash, great reviews, and even Oscar buzz. Don’t be fooled — it’s the same glorified military recruitment video that the original was.
There’s Nothing to Celebrate About the Queen’s Jubilee
Today, Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history, will celebrate 70 years as head of state. Throughout its existence, the monarchy has entrenched a culture of deference to authority. It’s incompatible with the values of a democracy.
Biden Has Enacted the Largest-Ever Medicare Premium Hikes
The Joe Biden administration enacted the highest Medicare premium hikes in history last week. Most of the profits will be funneled to the private insurance companies that funded Biden’s presidential campaign.
The US Has No Endgame in Ukraine
Putin’s disastrous gamble in Ukraine has left the West in a strong position to craft a peace that would underscore the futility of Russia’s aggression. But there are worrying signs that the Biden administration might be unwilling to accept peace on any terms.
For a Living Wage and a Habitable Planet, We Need Climate Jobs Programs
Climate and labor activists are coming together to hammer out ambitious but realistic plans for massively expanding the clean-energy sector in a way that also creates good union jobs. For both paychecks and the planet, it’s the only path forward.
Austin Is Trying to Protect Abortion Rights in Post-Roe Texas
Texas already bans abortion after six weeks and has a trigger law to ban it entirely if Roe v. Wade is repealed. But Austin City Council members may have found a loophole, modeled after marijuana decriminalization, to protect local abortion access.
Join the Jacobin Staff: Circulation Manager
Help us spread the good word all around the world.