Why Unions Should Support Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter movement doesn’t just need allies who condemn the murder of George Floyd — it needs comrades in the fight against racial injustice. Trade unionists have to join that fight.
19586 Articles by: Yi San
Yi San is a freelance writer based in New York.
Neil Gorsuch Is Still Not Your Friend
Neil Gorsuch’s leading role in expanding employment discrimination protections to LGBTQ people has prompted some praise for the hard-right Supreme Court justice. But before the hagiographies start, we should recall his full record — one that includes backing Donald Trump’s Muslim ban, opposition to unions, homophobia, and more.
A View of the Green New Deal From Argentina
The Green New Deal is gaining prominence internationally, with transformative green programs that respond to the specific needs of national economies. In debt-laden Argentina, leftists are arguing for a new Gran Pacto that implements a basic income and suspends all external-debt payments.
We Need Solidarity, Not White Guilt, to Fight Racism
To win substantive change, we don’t have to disavow personal education or introspection. But we do have to set our sights much higher — on dismantling the institutions that entrench racial inequality and violence.
We Aren’t Entering Into an Economic Recovery — Another Crash Is Coming
Stock markets across the world are rallying as lockdowns lift and central banks pump money into the economy. But the economy isn’t on the mend — on the contrary, this will likely be a calm before the storm of yet another devastating crash.
The Cops Can Be Defeated — But Not by Taking Obama’s Advice
Barack Obama recently lectured protesters about the need to move past protesting and focus on electing Democrats. The former president misunderstands the power of protest, which is not just to “raise awareness,” but to actually disrupt the institutions that control policy and force them to make concessions.
Frances Fox Piven on Why Protesters Must “Defend Their Ability to Exercise Disruptive Power”
Just last month, social movement scholar Frances Fox Piven predicted “waves of mass protest” in the US. She was right. In an interview with Jacobin, Piven discusses why disruption must be central to protests, the thorny questions of violence and property destruction, and how organizers should and should not see their role in the streets.
Australian University Unions Shouldn’t Be Voting for Wage Cuts
Academics across Australia are being asked to swallow deep wage cuts to stave off redundancies amid the economic fallout from the pandemic. But asking workers to foot the bill is backward and unnecessary — there are better solutions for saving higher education.
We’ve Always Had the Money for Medicare for All — We’ve Just Given It to Corporations Instead
Since 2008, the US has spent $20–35 trillion on corporate bailouts. It’s about the same “unaffordable” amount that Medicare for All has been projected to cost — used for lining corporate pockets instead of providing health care to people who need it.
Police Departments Are Parasites on the Public Purse
By aggressively pushing for higher budgets and salaries, police officers have insulated themselves from accountability while draining resources from essential public programs. It’s long past time to defund them.
Nationalize the Means of Transportation
The airlines are in crisis. But instead of just bailing them out, we should use this opportunity to invest in rail and bus services and put transportation firmly in the hands of the public.
Teachers’ Unions Are Demanding Police-Free Schools
A major lesson from the recent teachers’ strike wave was the necessity for unions to bargain for the common good of the entire working class. By joining the nationwide protests against police brutality and demanding police-free schools, teachers’ unions have taken that lesson to heart.
Eugene Debs Was an American Hero
On June 16, 1918, Eugene Debs gave the anti-war speech that would soon send him to prison. His arrest sparked a nationwide movement to secure his release — and forced the government to finally recognize the free speech rights of wartime dissenters.
Eugene Debs’s Statement to the Court
Before being sent to prison for speaking out against World War I, Eugene Debs delivered a defiant speech to the court that decried the ills of capitalism, held out the democratic promise of socialism, and declared, “While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” We reprint it here in full.
Once Again, the US Military Wants Your Kids
This summer, military recruiters continue focusing their efforts on twenty-three American cities with large numbers of black and Latino young people. As coronavirus drives thousands into unemployment, the Pentagon is developing bizarre neighborhood profiles and trolling social media to boost their enlistment numbers.
Trump Just Fulfilled His Billionaire Pal’s Dream
Trump just changed the rules to let Wall Street’s most predatory industry get its hands on hundreds of billions of dollars of ordinary workers’ retirement savings. Now his friends in private equity are celebrating.
“To Halt Climate Change, We Need an Ecological Leninism”
Despite the obvious parallels with coronavirus shutdowns, states still show little determination to put in place the measures we’ll need to deal with the climate emergency. For Andreas Malm, we need to stop seeing climate change as a problem for the future — and use state power now to impose a drastic reordering of our economies.
Smartphones Have Transformed the Fight Against Police Violence
Before smartphones, police violence went mostly unseen — but far more violent interactions are never captured on film. The problem of racist policing won’t be solved by more visibility.
Jeffrey Epstein Was the Monster Capitalism Made
A new book with fresh details about Jeffrey Epstein — his life, death, and relationship with Bill Clinton — reminds us that Epstein’s crimes couldn’t have happened without a system that allowed him to hoard unlimited wealth.
Logistics Firms Have Used the Pandemic to Boost Profits and Make Workers More Precarious
With millions of people ordering basic necessities direct to their homes, the pandemic has massively strengthened big distributors like FedEx and Amazon. But while official discourse celebrates delivery drivers as “heroes,” the logistics firms themselves have used the crisis to undermine workers’ most basic rights.