Has the Online Left Given Up?
How many of the fundamental 2010s problems — the ones that launched Occupy Wall Street and fueled Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaigns in the first place — have been addressed by today’s Democrats? None.
18228 Articles by: Wouter van de Klippe
Wouter van de Klippe is a freelance journalist and writer based in Europe. He is particularly interested in organized labor, social and environmental justice, and social welfare states.
The Insidious Elitist Upshot of Behavioral Economics
Behavioral economics dangerously denigrates the rationality of ordinary people.
DNC Delegates Support Gaza. Will Their Party?
On day one of the Democratic National Convention, the party gave some small concessions to activists demanding an end to Israel’s slaughter in Gaza. The question is whether those concessions are a ploy to keep antiwar organizers inside the tent.
Eugene Debs on the “New Woman”
From an early age, socialist labor leader Eugene Debs was committed to women’s rights.
Unions Need Both Democracy and Strong Leadership
A common view of the two major US labor federations of the 20th century is that the AFL was top-down while the CIO was bottom-up. In truth, the CIO’s success was owed to a potent mix of rank-and-file militancy and strategic leadership.
For and Against Climate Progress in the Atomic Garden
A new book opposing nuclear energy unintentionally highlights how 1970s opposition was a dead end for the Left. By examining contemporary arguments, it becomes clear that this historic stance has hindered climate progress and energy reliability.
Make Sports Betting Taboo Again
Turn on any ESPN or Fox Sports show and you’ll hear anchors discussing spreads, Vegas odds, and laying points. The rise in sports gambling is a boost for states’ tax revenues — but it’s a disaster for the often low-income young men losing their money.
Alien: Romulus Has a Wow Finish for the Summer
If you guessed that our film critic Eileen Jones would hate Alien: Romulus, buddy, you guessed wrong. The corporate manipulation and betrayal in the Alien films don’t lose their fascination over the course of their many variations.
J. D. Vance’s “Forgotten” Ohio Hometown Is on the Upswing
J. D. Vance portrays his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, as a dying backwater with a culture of irresponsibility and laziness. It’s actually seeing a revival — thanks not to a mindset change but to massive public investment of the type the GOP opposes.
Julien Lahaut Was Belgium’s Working-Class Communist Leader
The Belgian Communist leader Julien Lahaut was murdered on this day in 1950. The circumstances of his assassination were hushed up for decades — but it was quickly clear that he was killed because he was a powerful leader for his class.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s Olympic Wager
Center-left Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, disparaged by Parisians as a “bourgeois bohemian,” is betting on the success of the Olympics to revive her political career. Scandals and dismal polls stand in her way as she eyes the 2026 elections.
East Coast Longshore Workers May Soon Strike
Union negotiations covering East and Gulf Coast longshore workers have been stalled since June, making a strike more likely as the September 30 contract expiration looms. A strike would have a massive economic impact, costing billions of dollars per day.
Mainstream Media Is Ignoring Israel’s Sexual Torture
For the past two weeks, a sickening scandal around Israeli torture of Palestinians has roiled the country’s politics. Many Americans likely have no idea about it, because mainstream media is all but ignoring it.
Harris Needs to Put Working-Class Policy Before DC Decorum
Three years ago, Kamala Harris bypassed a chance to raise the federal minimum wage out of respect for Senate procedure. Now she’s campaigning on a relatively progressive economic agenda — but is she willing to break Capitol Hill’s rules to fight for it?
Emmanuel Macron Is Hell-Bent on an Austerity Coalition
The French election saw the left-wing New Popular Front easily defeat Emmanuel Macron’s allies. But almost six weeks later, Macron still refuses the winners the chance to govern, as he tries to cobble together a minority coalition with conservatives.
In the UK, Despair Is Creating an Opening for the Far Right
Most of this month’s far-right riots in the UK erupted in some of the country’s most deprived areas. The Left needs an egalitarian program of economic renewal to fight the despair that creates fertile ground for the far right.
Our Verdict on Kamala Harris’s New Plans
Matt Bruenig reviews Kamala Harris’s new economic policy proposals — from money for first-time homebuyers to fighting grocery price gouging to an expanded child tax credit. Some of her ideas are good. Some are bad. Most are meh.
Battleground State Voters Want Rent Control and Social Housing
Despite being a key issue, housing remains oddly absent from national politics, and this presidential election is no different. Candidates shouldn’t leave Americans’ hunger for progressive housing reform on the table.
CEOs Inflated Their Paychecks — and Our Prices
Mainstream pundits continue to offer muddled explanations for the inflation crisis. The Kamala Harris campaign should focus voters’ anger on a cause that often flies under the radar: greedy CEOs and their record profits.
How Much Should We Intervene to Save Species?
Widespread disruptions caused by the climate crisis are now inevitable. The people whose jobs are to maintain ecosystems such as the boreal forest are facing the difficult choice of how much to intervene.