The Rich: On Top of the World and Very Anxious About It
The small handful of ultrawealthy winners are firmly ensconced in their positions of privilege in power. Yet so many of them seem haunted by the possibility that maybe they don’t deserve it.
Blog
Ken Loach and Paul Laverty’s Final Show
Ken Loach’s longtime screenwriter Paul Laverty talks to Jacobin about their final collaboration on The Old Oak, which follows Syrian refugees and ex-miners in Northeast England, and why the working class remains the last hope for justice in the world.
How Pfizer Completely Dodged the Corporate Income Tax
In 2023, Pfizer made more than $27 billion in revenue and paid zero federal income tax. Like many other large US companies, it took advantage of Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law, which widened existing loopholes and set off a tax-avoidance bonanza.
“Models and Bottles” Clubs’ Extravagance and Exploitation
We know the rich are getting richer, but what exactly are they doing with all those riches? Sociologist Ashley Mears examined one site of elite consumption: the world of VIP clubs and its rituals of garish waste and exploitation of women.
Tenants Are Forcing Bay Area Landlords to the Bargaining Table
San Francisco’s groundbreaking Union at Home legislation encourages tenants to organize in their buildings the way employees organize at work. Housing activists in Berkeley are hoping their city will follow suit — but landlords are pushing back.
Ripley Is a Waste of the Talented Mr Andrew Scott
Netflix’s new series Ripley, the latest iteration of Patricia Highsmith’s murderous con man from The Talented Mr Ripley, is an arty, inert snooze. Its flat portrayal of the title character doesn’t come close to the novels or other fantastic adaptations.
In Postwar Italy, Artists Revolutionized Culture
Today post-1945 Italy is often presented as an age of anti-fascist hegemony. But Cold War Italy was no paradise for the Left — and neorealist filmmakers and writers had to resist Church censorship and right-wing hegemony over the country’s culture.
Church Conversions
Some Christian churches have moved on to their next lives.
The Unbearable Necessity of Experts
Right-wing populism’s disdain for the opinions of experts can be mistaken for the Left’s scorn for technocracy. But democratic principles and mass politics are the real antidote to the appropriation of power by experts.
Rural America’s Decline Fueled Oregon’s Secession Movement
Twelve Eastern Oregon counties are considering leaving the state for Idaho, where they hope to secure Republican representation. The movement cites cultural differences, but the true divisions are rooted in rural America’s faltering agricultural economy.
Big Brother Is Watching Amazon and Walmart Warehouse Workers
Both Amazon and Walmart invest massively in highly invasive technological surveillance of their warehouse workforce — surveillance that then enables the hyperexploitation both companies’ workers are subject to.