The Crisis Is Only Going to Get Worse for Workers
Labour MP Navendu Mishra spoke to Jacobin about the UK government’s feeble response to coronavirus — and why workers with precarious income and housing need help now
Blog
Cuba’s Coronavirus Response Is Putting Other Countries to Shame
Cuba is caricatured by the Right as a totalitarian hellhole. But its response to the coronavirus pandemic — from sending doctors to other countries to pioneering anti-viral treatments to converting factories into mask-making machines — is putting other countries, even rich countries, to shame.
Trump and Wall Street Want to Send Us Back to Work. They Don’t Care If We Die of Coronavirus.
Because self-isolation hurts corporate profits, billionaires are calling to end the too-limited public health measures taken so far by the US government. Unless we take action, Trump might heed their advice — and enormous numbers of people could die as a result.
Nursing Home Worker: “Everything About This Is Designed for Disaster”
Some of the first US cases of coronavirus came from Washington nursing homes. We spoke to a nursing home worker and in-home care worker in the state about what it’s like providing care in the midst of a pandemic, and the brutal low-wage working conditions, worker shortages, and lack of decent health care that can only worsen the crisis.
When the State Steps in to Save Profit
Faced with another global recession, many governments are responding with even stronger state interventions than they did in the 2008 financial crisis. But stimulus packages to prop up businesses must also pose the question of public control — not just bailing out corporations, but repurposing their operations to confront the disasters ahead of us.
Sweatshops Aren’t Going to Last Forever
Brands like Gap and H&M have long been able to shop around for outsourced suppliers, driving sweatshop conditions in newly industrializing countries. But their rising dependence on large, centralized suppliers is undermining the bases of the sweatshop model — and increasing workers’ power to fight for improvements.
Incarcerated People Must Be Heard
In Bernie Sanders, we finally have a presidential contender fighting for the restoration of incarcerated voters’ democratic rights — a long overdue, commonsense reform that could have far-reaching implications for American prisons, the American political system, and, at a time of pandemic, society as a whole.
Bernie Has an Impeccable History With the National Organization for Women. Biden Does Not.
Toni Van Pelt, the president of the National Organization for Women, recently warned that Bernie Sanders had done “next to nothing for women.” Which is strange, because NOW has praised Sanders as a staunch feminist ally throughout his career.
Nexhmije Hoxha (1921–2020)
Enver Hoxha’s Albania is mostly famous for its bureaucratic paranoia, symbolized by its hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers. His wife Nexhmije was one of the ruling party’s leading figures — and to her dying day defended the brutal measures taken in the name of socialism.
Italy Has Finally Shut Down Nonessential Workplaces. We Should, Too.
Last night Italy’s prime minister declared that all nonessential workplaces will be shut down to stem the spread of COVID-19. For two weeks, social distancing has been undermined by employer pressure to keep production going. As contagion soars, other countries would be foolish not to learn Italy’s lesson.
Left-Populism Is Down but Not Out
Setbacks for left-wing parties across Europe have led many analysts to declare the end of the “left-populist moment” which began after the financial crisis. But these defeats don’t have to be permanent — and populist strategies remain a vital means of mass mobilization.
The Green New Deal and a New Politics of Consumption
In fighting for a Green New Deal we can’t just focus on clean power and innovative ways to decarbonize our society and world. We also need to rethink what and how much we consume — without falling prey to left arguments that amount to austerity.