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.
No leftist writer can compare to Mike Davis — not in clarity, breadth, generosity, or ironclad commitment to the working class. Davis has died, but his ideas will continue to find life in generations of leftist activists and thinkers to come.
Emmanuel Macron’s government lost its majority this June, and now relies on strong-arm tactics to push through its agenda. This week’s budget debate showed the government’s weakness — and the possibility of blocking its assault on France’s social model.
It’s never a bad time to revisit John Carpenter’s 1988 classic They Live, a hilarious sci-fi thriller that skewers the inequality of the neoliberal era and offers an iconic depiction of capitalist ideology.
Since the 1980s, workplace law in Australia has crippled the union movement. Today, it’s a finely tuned machine that exacerbates inequality in order to enrich a small minority of bosses.
During a dire housing crisis, new reporting shows New York City landlords are keeping tens of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments vacant. It’s not the first time landlords have mobilized to erode the city’s affordable housing stock.
Cost-of-living adjustment clauses — which protect wages against inflation — used to be standard fare in collective agreements. By fighting to bring the COLA clause back, Canadian workers are refusing to bear the brunt of spiraling costs.
From Howard Dean to Hillary Clinton, from Beto O’Rourke to Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic Party seems addicted to using personality-driven stardom as a substitute for real politics.
Voters agree American democracy is in trouble, but they’re divided on why and don’t seem too concerned. The Left needs a strong message condemning right-wing attacks on democracy and connecting the topic to the bread-and-butter issues voters care about.
Today marks 100 years since Benito Mussolini became Italy’s prime minister. His first governments pursued austerity and suppressed the labor movement — earning him the praise of liberal economists both in Italy and abroad.
As our representative system has become less democratic and more oligarchical, ballot initiatives have become more important to passing majoritarian legislation. The Left should take note and proceed accordingly.
John Fetterman’s post-stroke impairment is temporary, it doesn’t affect his cognitive capacity, and plenty of sitting senators have suffered from much worse. So why is his condition getting more attention than his opponent’s sleazy history?
Mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post are eager for US intervention around the globe. They’re currently pushing for American intervention in Haiti, claiming Haitians want it. But Haitians themselves aren’t saying anything of the sort.
Mike Davis forced himself to look at the very worst of our society and world. What he found wasn’t pretty. Yet he never abandoned the search for seeds of positive change — and for socialism.
Conditions are ripe for labor’s revitalization. So why aren’t unions stepping up with massive financial and organizational support for workers’ organizing efforts?
Joe Biden has promised to crack down on overdraft and “junk” fees — a huge source of revenue for banks. Republicans and the banks who fund their campaigns are fighting desperately to preserve them.
War fever in Washington has reached such a pitch that even mild calls for cease-fire talks, as House progressives articulated in a now-retracted letter, are now beyond the pale. That’s dangerous at any time, let alone when nuclear tensions are high.
Kathy Hochul can’t just parrot Republican talking points about crime to win reelection as New York’s governor — she needs a positive vision for voters. Currently, that vision is absent, and it’s reflected in her low poll numbers.
Credit to David O. Russell for trying to make a movie, Amsterdam, that’s unique and compelling. He didn’t really succeed, but at least he tried.
The Marxist writer and activist Mike Davis died yesterday at the age of 76. His astonishing body of work will be impossible for anyone to replicate — but all of us can emulate his example of how to live and fight as an “old-school socialist.”
We are producing more food than at any other time in human history, yet millions of people around the world are starving. The global food system is broken.