Michael Moore Was Right
Mocked and derided for his impassioned defense of poor and working people, Michael Moore is finally being vindicated. He hasn’t changed his tune. The political culture’s just catching up with him.
19283 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
You Have to See Parasite
The brilliance of Parasite doesn’t lie in any political allegory it weaves, but instead in its depiction of the cruel realities of trying to make it in a capitalist system set against you. Everyone should go see it.
Is Democracy Doomed?
Research shows that the organized working class, and industrial workers in particular, have been the driving force for democracy around the world. The question is whether the erosion of the industrial working class will weaken our prospects for democratic politics.
Joe Biden’s Fascist Friends Should Worry Us More Than Tulsi’s
For all the Democratic Party’s warnings about Trump’s far-right friends, it’s home to an alarming number of supporters of India’s quasi-fascist prime minister Narenda Modi. One of them is a top staffer to Joe Biden. That’s a big problem.
Rationalizing Israel’s Occupation
Meir Shamgar, former chief justice of Israel’s Supreme Court, died last month. A founding father of Israel’s legal system, he used judicial subterfuge to give legal cover to the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.
We’re Striking to Save Britain’s Universities
The University and College Union has called an eight-day strike across Britain’s universities starting on November 25. Inspired by teachers in the United States, British educators are fighting to save the education system — and put a stop to privatization.
“Syriza Let Us Down — But We Can Still End Austerity”
In this summer’s Greek elections Yanis Varoufakis’s DiEM25 movement won parliamentary representation for the first time. MP Sofia Sakorafa told Jacobin how the party is challenging Syriza — and rekindling the fight against European austerity.
In Striking, Chicago Teachers Went on the Offense for Public Schools
Chicago public school teachers and staff didn’t get everything they wanted in their recent strike. But they managed to both win the battle and break new ground in the teachers’ strike wave throughout the United States.
Nationalization Is as American as Apple Pie
Nationalization might seem like an alien idea in the hyper-capitalist United States. But the country has a long history of nationalizing all sorts of industries — and we should revive that tradition today.
Elizabeth Warren Is Jeopardizing Our Fight for Medicare for All
Whatever her intentions, Elizabeth Warren’s plan to finance Medicare for All has made winning single-payer far more complicated than it should be — and jeopardized a wildly popular policy that should be a political slam dunk in the process.
How Poland’s Failed Transition Fed the Nationalist Right
Throughout Poland’s transition to capitalism, no party challenged a neoliberal consensus that produced soaring unemployment and mass emigration. But as the promises of 1989 crumble, it’s the nationalist right that’s channeling discontent.
Another East Germany Was Possible
The scenes of thousands of East Germans passing through the Berlin Wall crossing on November 9, 1989 are remembered as the end of the Cold War. But on November 4, almost a million had demonstrated for reform — and they wanted to create democratic socialism on East German soil.
This Tuesday, the Political Revolution Comes to Philadelphia
If they win tomorrow, two independent left candidates could fundamentally realign Philadelphia politics.
Australia Needs a Green New Deal
Australia is a climate wrecker on a global scale. With a government long beholden to mining interests, calls for climate justice fall on deaf ears. But plans for a Green New Deal are not just necessary — they’re achievable.
A New Era in Tech Nationalism
Microsoft just won a massive contract from the Defense Department, showing how nationalism, militarism, and corporate power intermingle in the tech industry. Our response must be to unite tech workers across borders — and reject the jingoism that divides us.
The Chicago Teachers Union Is Transforming Chicago
Chicago teachers didn’t get everything they wanted after their two-week strike. But they won significant gains that will improve students’ education — and they electrified the city with their solidarity.
“We’ve Definitely Pulled the Conversation to the Left”
Chanan Suarez is a socialist running for city council in Washington State. We spoke with him about why he decided to challenge the liberal incumbent, the connection between democracy and socialism, and the “need to fight capitalism, but also to win meaningful reforms.”
Neoliberalism? Never Heard of It
The latest liberal parlor game is pretending there’s no such thing as neoliberalism. The game’s very popularity highlights neoliberalism’s enduring hegemony.
A New People Is Born in Chile
The mass protests that have rocked Chile this month declare a new popular movement, emerging from the ruins of a broken system. The country’s new left force, the Frente Amplio, must seize on the people’s demands for radical transformation, from the ground up.
A Bipartisan Attack on the Homeless in Texas
Texas Republicans are known for their particularly vicious reactionary politics. But Heidi Sloan — a socialist candidate for the House of Representatives in Austin — argues here that when it comes to issues like homelessness, many of the state’s Democrats aren’t much better.