The Day My Coworkers and I Chose Our Survival Over Our Supervisor
Like many during this pandemic, my coworkers and I were told on September 11, 2001, to possibly risk our lives by staying on the job. Instead, we walked out.
19118 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
In Japan, the Pandemic Has Shattered Abe Shinzō’s Great Power Dream
Abe Shinzo’s government was slow to respond to COVID-19, lagging behind neighbors like South Korea. The public health crisis has been worsened by the recklessness of Abe’s foreign policy, which relies upon an erratic US sponsor whose bases are a vector for spreading the disease.
Socialists: Help Organize Your Workplaces
Socialists and other radicals played crucial roles in American labor’s greatest victories. To rebuild a fighting union movement, socialists must organize in the workplace.
Emmanuel Macron’s Weak Pandemic Response Is a Bad Omen for His Promises on Climate Action
Like the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change is a threat to all humanity. But it’s working-class people who are suffering most — and faced with both crises, Emmanuel Macron’s government is not taking concrete action to help.
Coronavirus Has Worsened the Mental Health Crisis. Medicare for All Can Help.
Before the pandemic, we were already in the middle of a mental health crisis. Now it’s even worse. We need a Medicare for All system not just to treat our medical needs, but our mental ones, too.
The St. Louis Proclamation
Unlike their European counterparts, the Socialist Party of America stood firm against World War I, refusing to give in to the siren song of nationalism. Here, in honor of Memorial Day, we reprint in full their 1917 antiwar proclamation insisting that “the working class of the United States has no quarrel with the working class of any other country.”
We Need a Class War, Not a Culture War
A reply to Angela Nagle and Michael Tracey.
Yes, Socialism Would Handle the Coronavirus Pandemic Better Than Capitalism
My vision of democratic socialism wouldn’t be Utopia. But here’s the case it would be better than the status quo during both normal times and these times of crisis.
43 Million Americans Are About to Lose Their Health Insurance Because of Our Employer-Based Health Care System
Opponents of Medicare for All have cast it as a political nonstarter since it would “force people off their health insurance.” Now, as millions of laid-off workers lose their employer-provided insurance, the cynicism of that claim is being laid bare.
Meet the Brand-New Organization Trying to Boost Labor Standards for Minor League Baseball Players
Minor league baseball players make poverty wages and, because they don’t have a union, enjoy little say over their working conditions. A new organization of retired players is trying to change that.
Podemos’s COVID Tax Will Make the Millionaires Pay for Spain’s Recovery
In one of Europe’s most unequal countries, Spain’s working class is particularly suffering during the pandemic. Unidas Podemos’s “COVID tax” on millionaires’ assets will help rebuild long-neglected public services — and end decades of bipartisan tax giveaways to the rich.
Why Germany’s Far Right Wants Judges to Rule Europe’s Monetary Policy
For all its populist hues, Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland began in 2012 as a “party of professors” insisting on ordoliberal dogmas. Today, the conservative business elites who fed its rise are again in the headlines, now for pushing German judges to block aid to Europe’s hardest-hit economies.
Inside the Latest Plan to “Bankrupt” and Privatize Social Security
President Donald Trump’s motivation behind a payroll tax holiday is not to help families through this crisis, but to set the stage for devastating cuts to Medicare and Social Security. And Democrats might end up helping him.
You Should Know More About A. Philip Randolph, One of America’s Greatest Socialists
As the Left attempts to chart a new course in the wake of the Bernie Sanders campaign, there’s no better time to learn from America’s most underrated socialist, labor leader, and civil rights legend, A. Philip Randolph.
Palestinian Workers Are Bearing the Brunt of the Pandemic
Palestinian workers play a vital role in Israel’s economy, but they’ve been left exposed to the danger of COVID-19 without any support from the Israeli authorities or their own leaders. The pandemic has exposed the harsh realities of life for workers under Israeli occupation.
Why Social Distancing “Doesn’t Apply” to Germany’s Migrant Farmworkers
The German state emphasizes the need for social distancing — except for the Romanian migrants working in its farms. The EU’s neoliberal order has deepened the continent’s labor market inequalities, making a mockery of the rhetoric of European solidarity.
Julio Anguita (1941–2020)
When former Spanish Communist Party leader Julio Anguita was buried last week, crowds in his native Córdoba broke quarantine to sing the Internationale next to his coffin. The “Red Caliph” saved his party from the doldrums of the 1980s — and helped lay the basis for today’s Unidas Podemos.
Australia’s Superannuation System Enshrines Inequality
Australia’s compulsory superannuation system has made us all shareholders in a vast financial investment industry worth almost $3 trillion. These collective funds are enormously powerful, yet when it comes to retirement, lower-income earners are left with all too little in their hands.
Roe v. Wade Was Bigger Than Jane Roe
The news broke this week that Jane Roe, the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, was paid by the anti-abortion right to publicly switch sides later in life. But while the news is shocking, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that no single person was responsible for the partial victory of Roe — it takes collective action to win social change.
How Yemen’s Dream of Unity Turned Sour
Thirty years ago today, Yemen united as one country in a mood of optimism about the future. Those hopes were to be cruelly disappointed, thanks to the destructive, self-serving record and rivalry of Yemen’s political elites.