How to Be a Marxist
Blending Kierkegaard with Hegel and Marx, Martin Hägglund’s This Life offers a new generation of socialists a guide to living a life of radical political commitment.
20412 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
Don’t Believe the Hype: Paying for Medicare for All Is Simple
The critics have it wrong: by reducing health care spending through efficiency gains, Medicare for All would actually make it easier to fund other government programs.
Is Left Populism the Solution?
Left populism is the new idiom of radical politics worldwide. It emerged as the answer to the problem of a weak and disorganized working class — but despite its electoral successes, that class remains weak and disorganized.
Painting Budapest Red
In March 1919, Hungary saw the creation of a short-lived revolutionary state. We look at the significance of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, and its attempted transformation of art and culture.
The City Is Ours
In tomorrow’s Turkish elections, the leftist Peoples’ Democratic Party is putting forward a type of politics that directly challenges Erdoğan’s autocratic rule: pro-worker, anti-patriarchy, radically democratic.
The Critics Ruined “Us”
Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” was a masterpiece. “Us” is a tedious drag tailored to the sensibilities of critics.
Theresa May Is Hilariously Bad at Her Job
Theresa May’s handling of Brexit has been so inept she doesn’t even have enough support to resign.
Democrats Should Fight Trump With Medicare For All
Instead of championing Medicare for All, the Democratic leadership is proposing mild tweaks to Obamacare. That’s a disaster — centrist incrementalism is a gift to Trump.
Gambling With Your Life
Boeing’s corner-cutting likely killed hundreds of people in the recent Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes. Capitalism is to blame.
Forget Your Middle-Class Dreams
When it comes to workplace organizing, there’s no such thing as a “privileged” worker. You’re either with your coworkers or you’re against them.
The Real Working Class Is Invisible to the Media
The media doesn’t talk much about working-class America. But when it does, it mainly has one thing to say about it: that it’s entirely white, male, and very right-wing. All those things are lies.
They Never Have Enough Money
Why is Trump going after Obamacare yet again? Because the modern Republican Party has one guiding purpose: to shovel as much money as possible to the rich.
Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay
Debt-stricken countries like Greece have continued repaying their creditors even though it’s hammering workers’ living standards. They should stick it to the banks and default instead.
“Inside the Game, You Are Still a Commodity”
When people think about Major League Baseball, they think about big stars and big paychecks. But today, on MLB’s Opening Day, we should remember that the game is rife with exploitation — especially in the minor leagues.
Sending in the Troops
Emmanuel Macron’s decision to use the army to repress the Yellow Vests represents a desperate bid to project a tough-guy image.
What the Show Trials Show
The sedition charges against Catalan independence activists mark a shameful moment for Spanish democracy. Franco’s regime is long gone, but the state machine he created has not been fully broken.
The Tory Crisis That Dare Not Speak Its Name
The British media have turned the Labour Party’s alleged antisemitism problem into a national crusade. Meanwhile, leading Tories this week openly associated themselves with the Ku Klux Klan and the ideas of Anders Breivik — and the media shrugged.
A Hundred Netanyahus
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t be defeated in the polls on April 9. Whether he is indicted for corruption soon or not, his method of repressing Palestinian resistance is popular — and will probably outlast him in Israeli politics.
Let Chelsea Go
The US government is holding Chelsea Manning in solitary confinement again. It’s a vindictive, unconscionable attack on a brave truth teller.
Organizing to Win a Green New Deal
The labor movement has to be central to winning a Green New Deal and reversing climate change. Recent labor victories show how we can do just that, from the ground up, and quickly.