In Defense of the Fourth of July
The Declaration of Independence has been quoted by abolitionists, suffragists, socialists, civil rights activists, and the Black Panthers. Why should conservatives get to own it now?
Blog
The 250-Year Decline of American Exceptionalism
American exceptionalism has always had an absurd and self-serving character to it. But any pretense justifying it has collapsed in the face of Donald Trump’s cruelty and oligarchic corruption.
Burn the Constitution Once Again
The Constitution didn’t stop Trump — it made his reign possible.
Zohran Mamdani on the Promise of America
In a speech marking the country’s 250th anniversary, socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani lays out his vision of a United States of America for the many, not the few.
The Founders’ Own Second Thoughts
Even the Founding Fathers had second thoughts about the system they had created.
America’s Empire Is Ending Much Like Spain’s Did
As the US celebrates its 250th, it has begun to resemble the decadent Spanish Empire it replaced: producing nothing while collecting rents, sacrificing its interior to enrich a bloated elite, and embracing exclusionary nationalism to exploit its underclass.
Why Mexico Welcomed Iran’s National Team With Open Arms
After the Trump administration denied visas to the Iranian team, its participation in the 2026 World Cup seemed unlikely. Mexico’s decision to host the players was rooted in its shared struggle for sovereignty in the face of US aggression.
What Clarence Thomas and the State of Israel Have in Common
In his dissenting Supreme Court opinion this week, Clarence Thomas argued for a version of the idea that citizenship is a matter of ancestral lineage — a position not unlike that of Israel, which assigns citizenship on the basis of Jewish descent.
The American Revolution Was More Radical Than the Founders Wanted
For generations, historians have downplayed the American Revolution as a squabble between elites. But the revolution unleashed egalitarian forces its architects could neither control nor contain.
An Independence Day Without Common Sense
Americans have celebrated Thomas Paine’s Common Sense for generations. What gets lost in the fanfare is how common sense is not some eternal repository of political wisdom, but something continually reshaped by democratic debate, argument, and persuasion.
Socialism Was Central to W. E. B. Du Bois’s Thought
The leading black intellectual and freedom fighter W. E. B. Du Bois was a longtime committed socialist and, eventually, a Marxist — commitments that were central to his life and work. Liberals are dead set on suppressing this aspect of his legacy.
When the Personal Is Political — and When It Isn’t
The feminist insight that personal life is political is complicated by neoliberalism, which casts political problems as matters of personal virtue. This moralization of personal conduct can displace the collective action needed to transform society.