Ten Jacobin Articles That Shaped My Thinking
On Jacobin’s tenth anniversary, staff writer Meagan Day reflects on ten Jacobin articles that heavily influenced the way she thinks about politics.
20395 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
Yes, the Biden Campaign Should Be Canvassing Voters Right Now
While Joe Biden cedes the ground to Donald Trump, other campaigns are learning that canvassers, properly masked, can have safe conversation with voters more than six feet away. The Biden approach could help put the election in jeopardy.
Trump’s TikTok Ban Is All About Fueling a Cold War With China
Trump’s TikTok ban isn’t about protecting digital security. It’s simply a bid to rile up his base by stoking nationalism and anti-Chinese sentiment.
Trump Wants to Steal the Election. Only We Can Stop Him.
Trump has shown his cards. He’s determined to cling to office regardless of the election result — with no sign from leading Democrats that they’re willing to put up a fight. That means it’s up to us to defend democracy. And we have to start now.
Turkey’s Mainstream Opposition Is Squandering the Coronavirus Crisis
Led by the autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s government has responded to the coronavirus crisis as you would expect: with an iron fist. But the mainstream opposition isn’t proposing a democratic, egalitarian alternative. Workers will have to step in to fill the void.
The New York Post Is Terrified That Socialists’ Demands Are Popular and Their Methods Are Democratic
The New York Post is screaming that if the city isn’t careful, socialists will “really take over.” The paper is terrified that average New Yorkers actually like the socialist platform — and that socialists are very good at organizing to win it.
To Fight Trump’s Rising Authoritarianism, Dems Must Drop Their Learned Helplessness
Donald Trump is making it very clear that he has few qualms about using undemocratic, authoritarian means to stay in power. If they’re serious about stopping him, Democrats will have to stop cowering in fear and act like a real opposition party.
How Sean McElwee’s “Normie-Progressive Theory of Change” Doomed Samelys López
The story of how one extremely wrong Data for Progress poll kneecapped a socialist congressional candidate in the Bronx.
Happy Birthday, Jacobin! Here’s to Ten More Years.
Back when Jacobin was founded this month in 2010, there was hardly any socialist media in the United States. Today, we’re a small part of a growing movement that can still change the world.
Democratic Rights Aren’t Willingly Given — They Have to Be Fought For
New South Wales is allowing stadiums to seat up to 10,000 fans right now, but the Liberal state government has used COVID-19 as a pretext to ban all public protests. Vinil Kumar, who faced the NSW Supreme Court on this issue, spoke with Jacobin about the battle to protect our democratic rights amid lockdown.
Let’s Stop Talking About the “Overton Window”
Socialists should be making well-thought-out proposals for a better future and building the class power to bring that program into reality. The idea that our purpose is simply “shifting the Overton window” by spouting the most radical-sounding slogans is an unhelpful distraction.
The 1776 Unites Project Is an Exercise in Empty Capitalist Boosterism
Last week, Donald Trump denounced the “radical” ideas brainwashing students to hate America. Right on time, the 1776 Unites project released education materials they claim are a corrective. Praised by education secretary Betsy DeVos as “wonderful,” the materials aren’t a serious look at American history — they’re empty boosterism for American free markets.
How We Can Elect Sara Nelson as President of the AFL-CIO
Having Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson as the head of the AFL-CIO wouldn’t cure all that ails American labor, but it would be an enormous boon for the project of building a more democratic, militant, progressive US labor movement. It won’t be easy, but there’s a real path to getting her elected.
“This Would Really Push the Supreme Court Over the Top”
Much of the discussion around Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointment after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has been about crucial issues like abortion. But the court also rules regularly on issues of corporate power in America — and whoever Trump’s replacement is will be a steadfast friend to corporations.
What Jacobin Taught Me — And a Generation of Socialists
Jacobin has been publishing for 10 years now. And we still retain the hope that the solution to the world’s ills will come through more popular democracy and freedom, and not less.
Joe Biden Should Stop Shitting on the Democratic Party’s Base
Joe Biden keeps stomping on progressives — despite the fact that he desperately needs their votes. If he wants to defeat Donald Trump, this is exactly the wrong way to do it.
The Pandemic Has Totally Undermined Any Argument for Means-Tested Policies
For decades, austerity-minded politicians have bashed universal programs by concern trolling about the danger that a handful of rich people would get them. The urgency of the pandemic is helping people realize just how inconsequential this hang-up is compared to the advantages of universal benefits.
Un nuevo imaginario para nuestra América
La pandemia del COVID-19 impacta en una América Latina ya golpeada por la crisis económica y por una ofensiva conservadora casi sin precedentes. Pero los pueblos se resisten a dar la pulseada por perdida, y los ejemplos de resistencia y construcciones alternativas proliferan por toda la región.
La destrucción ambiental sin límites de Bolsonaro
Los meses de agosto y septiembre registraron nuevas embestidas contra el medioambiente por parte del gobierno brasileño, confirmando que sus políticas de ecocidio no conocen límites.
No, Social Media Isn’t Destroying Civilization
Netflix’s The Social Dilemma tells a horror story about how social media is creating political extremism and driving children into depression and addiction. But it never even hints that these ills have causes outside of our use of Facebook and Snapchat — and the possibility that what we see on these platforms portrays the reality of a sick society.