The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg’s Portrait of Himself, Is a Self-Indulgent Slog
Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical The Fabelmans is a dull, self-indulgent victory lap for the most victorious filmmaker in history.
19578 Articles by: Yi San
Yi San is a freelance writer based in New York.
Elon Musk, “Free Speech Absolutist,” Has Launched a Crackdown on Left-Wing Twitter Accounts
Many of Elon Musk’s critics seem to think he’s an overzealous champion of free speech. In fact, while reinstating noxious right-wing voices, Musk has been censoring the Left.
By Forcing a Contract on Railworkers, Joe Biden Is Betraying Workers Everywhere
“Which side are you on?” is the most fundamental question in politics. And in siding with the Chamber of Commerce rather than exploited workers at America’s railways, “the most pro-union president in American history” has made clear where he really stands.
Staughton Lynd Gave Voice to a Forgotten History of American Radicalism
Staughton Lynd, who died earlier this month, played a prominent role in the antiwar movement and documented the radicalism of the 20th-century working class. His work should be read by anyone interested in understanding the history of the Left.
When Crime and Disorder Feel Rampant, Violent Vigilantes Step Into the Breach
The crisis of neoliberalism fuels social breakdown and a backlash from violent “anti-crime” vigilante groups. It’s a destructive, authoritarian vision of order that the Left can directly challenge.
How Tenant Organizers in New York’s Hudson Valley Won a Historic Rent Reduction
On November 9, tenants in Kingston, New York, won a 15 percent rent reduction for over 1,200 apartments — the first rent reduction in the state’s history. We spoke with a leading organizer of the grassroots campaign to bring rents down.
Glass Onion Is the Rare Movie for the Whole Family That Doesn’t Suck
Director Rian Johnson follows up on his 2019 crowd-pleaser Knives Out with Glass Onion, this time taking aim at an Elon Musk–esque billionaire and his frenemies. Unfortunately, Netflix has ensured you only have a week to see it with an actual crowd.
Eugene V. Debs: The Oppressed Need Justice, Not Charity
Today is Giving Tuesday, so here’s a 1913 article by Eugene V. Debs, never before republished, about why the charity balls of the rich will never deliver justice for the poor. As Debs declared, “What the poor need is that the rich shall get off their backs.”
Friedrich Engels on Why Capitalists Are Guilty of Social Murder
In 1845, Friedrich Engels wrote a scathing condemnation of English capitalism, The Condition of the Working Class in England. In it, he accused the bosses of carrying out “social murder” against workers and the poor.
J. Edgar Hoover Tried to Destroy the Left — and Liberals Enabled Him
J. Edgar Hoover is notorious for his decades-long campaign to stamp out the Left by surveilling and even killing radicals like Fred Hampton. What is less well known is that liberals played an important role in enabling Hoover’s antidemocratic crusade.
Over a Thousand Doctors at a Bronx Hospital Are Unionizing
Medical residents and fellows at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx are trying to form a union, citing the need to fight overwork and understaffing that’s endangering patients. Jacobin spoke with unionizing doctors about their organizing drive.
Come January, Federal Workers Might Not Have a Functioning Labor Board
The Biden administration has not prioritized pushing through a confirmation of a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which oversees labor issues for federal workers. The result is that federal unions are far weaker than they should be.
After Sam Bankman-Fried’s Downfall, the Entire Crypto Fantasy Is Rapidly Unraveling
The next time a speculative bubble is massively inflating around a fancy new asset like cryptocurrency and financial carnival barkers are screaming it will change everything, remember Sam Bankman-Fried and how quickly all of his promises proved to be bullshit.
George Saunders Gets Trump’s America All Wrong
George Saunders may be one of America’s most lauded fiction writers, but when he turns his pen to the phenomenon of Donald Trump and his supporters, he reveals the limits of his political understanding — and produces some of his worst stories in the process.
Justin Trudeau’s Canada Is Cozying Up to the Fossil Fuel Industry to Fight the Climate Crisis
Canada’s Trudeau government touts the country as a climate champion. COP27, where Canada was the only OECD country to have fossil fuel delegates in tow, offered a more telling snapshot of the government’s priorities.
Elon Musk Is Destroying the Myths of Silicon Valley in Front of Our Very Eyes
The myth of Silicon Valley touts the grit and flair of its tech bro champions. But the chaos of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover has revealed that there’s no genius or elaborate game of multidimensional chess behind the curtain: just garden-variety capitalists.
China Mieville on Why Capitalism Deserves Our Burning Hatred
If you feel a burning hatred toward our unjust social order, writes China Mieville, don’t run from it. Such hate for a system that immiserates vast swaths of humanity is just and necessary.
For the Antiwar Movement, Soldier Trauma Was Another Argument Against War
In the Vietnam War era, radical psychiatrists and antiwar veterans developed a concept of trauma stemming from perpetrating acts of violence. Over the next decade, the idea of soldier trauma was depoliticized and put at odds with antiwar critique.
We Should Celebrate the World’s Population Passing the Eight Billion Mark
Sections of the environmental movement bemoaned the birth of the world’s eight-billionth person, but the Left should have no part in this cynical misanthropy. The cause of food insecurity and climate change is the irrationality of capitalism — not rising populations.
In Mexico, Workers Are Struggling for Independent Unionism
For a century, the official labor movement in Mexico has been a racket of company unions and protection contracts for bosses. Now that there’s a genuine push to grow independent unionism, President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador must get behind it.