Ronald Reagan Paved the Way for Donald Trump
A new Showtime docuseries reminds us of just how awful Ronald Reagan was and how his brand of demagogic racism became a model for Trump.
20383 Article(s) 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
Tariq Ali on John Lennon and Mick Jagger
Tariq Ali, the legendary leftist writer, editor, and filmmaker, recalls his time with John Lennon and Mick Jagger at the height of the 1960s upheavals.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Movement Was a Signpost for the Future, Not a Relic of the Past
Twelve months after the electoral defeat of Corbynism, we shouldn’t allow its opponents to rewrite history. It was the Brexit crisis with all its side effects that dealt a crippling blow to Corbyn’s project, not a left-wing policy agenda that spoke to the issues of the future.
Andrew Cuomo: Remote Work for Me but Not for Thee
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has shut down in-person press conferences — but workers are stuck in offices as the state refuses to take action against employers and compel remote work.
Why the Contemporary Right Loves Nietzsche (and Heidegger and Schmitt)
Today’s right-wing thinkers look to Nietzsche and other German reactionaries to ground their elitist politics — and to do battle with leftists’ project of universal emancipation.
Chile’s Establishment Is Still Blocking a Real Break With the Past
This October’s historic referendum in Chile saw a massive 78 percent vote to abandon the Pinochet-era constitution. Today, social movements are pushing for a new document that offers broad welfare and environmental guarantees — but first, they must confront an oligarchy hell-bent on thwarting any fundamental change.
Socialist Architect Josef Frank’s Modernism Was All About Freedom
The Austrian socialist architect Josef Frank resisted modernists who wanted to make homes look like workplaces — an idea with new resonance in an age when so many of us are working from home and feel like we can’t escape from our work.
To Force Climate Action, We Need More Than Just Protests
Two years ago, the Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion both captured media attention through bold direct action. Since then, Sunrise has combined protest with political work challenging fossil-fuel interests. XR and other groups tepid about electoral politics should do the same.
Ten Things Biden’s National Labor Relations Board Should Do to Jump-Start Industrial Democracy
Reversing the damage wrought by Donald Trump’s NLRB is not enough. To boost workers’ bargaining power, Joe Biden’s labor board will have to overturn decades of precedents that hamstring organizing and trample on workers’ rights.
Kim Stanley Robinson Imagines a Future Where We Don’t All Die
In The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson dares to imagine humanity actually winning the fight against climate change. It’s a magisterial and complex novel that reminds us politics can still change the future for the better.
Any Politician With “McKinsey” on Their Résumé Is Unfit for Public Office
Revelations about McKinsey’s grotesque actions to further the opioid epidemic should remind us how closely entwined the company is with the Democratic Party. We should work toward a day when McKinsey’s presence on your résumé is as disqualifying as a gun manufacturer or a tobacco company.
The Siren Song of “Pro-Worker” Conservatism
Some “anti-elitists” on the Right say they want the GOP to be the party of the working class. But what they’re really offering is a PR campaign that won’t fundamentally change the lives of workers.
Jeff Weaver: Democrats Can’t Keep Clinging to the Center
Democrats focused more on courting GOP voters than younger voters in the last election, former Bernie Sanders senior staffer Jeff Weaver argues. The strategy was a disaster, damaging downballot Democrats across the country — and it could backfire even more when Trump is gone.
Joe Biden Said He’d “Follow the Science” on the Pandemic. He Isn’t.
After winning the election on a “listen to the scientists” message, Joe Biden is actually rejecting the global scientific consensus on how to handle the pandemic.
No, Margaret Thatcher Didn’t Save the British Economy
People often say that Margaret Thatcher’s austerity policies were a “tough pill to swallow” but ended up saving Britain from ruin. In fact, the evidence is that she left the UK economy weaker and more unequal. We must reject apologetics for Thatcherism.
The 2020 Election Shows How Organized Money Devoured American Democracy
This year’s election cycle was the most expensive in history — and, thanks to oligarch-friendly campaign finance laws, we don’t even know where much of it came from.
We Need Five Days’ Pay for Four Days’ Work
Working time reduction has always been used as a way of distributing available work and reducing unemployment. In our era of crisis, we need to fight for a four-day week.
With Biden in the White House, Will the American Media Go Back to Brunch?
Much of the American mainstream media adopted a highly combative, watchdog approach to covering the Trump White House. Will the media abandon that approach under a President Joe Biden?
La Pasionaria, Spanish Anti-Fascism’s Greatest Orator, Remained Defiant in Exile
During Spain’s Civil War, Dolores Ibárruri was famed worldwide as La Pasionaria, the brilliant orator who stirred anti-fascists’ souls. Fleeing to Moscow in 1939, she soon became the exiled Communists’ leader — both political guide for a defeated party and a “Spanish mother” confronting the expectations of her male comrades.
The Establishment Is Gearing Up Against Even a Public Option
Tax records we’ve reviewed show a health care industry front group run by a former Hillary Clinton aide has already amassed millions to block a public health insurance option. Even small reform isn’t possible without confronting powerful interests.