Beyond the Earthquake, Syrians Need US Sanctions Lifted
The Biden administration has thankfully lifted the sanctions on Syria to provide for earthquake relief. It’s a good first step. The next: lift the sanctions regime entirely.
Blog
Lula Knows Exactly Who His Political Allies Are
Brazilian president and working-class icon Lula da Silva made a major trip to Washington, DC last week. The two political leaders at the top of his meeting list: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders.
Investor Firms Are Squeezing Every Penny Out of Senior Housing
In a senior housing complex in Pennsylvania, a Wall Street–backed landlord is hiking rents on an absurd scale. It’s part of a larger trend of real estate investors targeting senior care facilities at the expense of their residents and workers.
In 2021, Larry Summers Won the Inflation Debate. But His Victory Was Transitory.
With price growth trending down over the past year despite a strong labor market, it’s looking more and more like Larry Summers was wrong about inflation after all. It’s time to revisit the great inflation debate of 2021–2022.
Diplomat: Why the Minsk Agreements Failed in Ukraine
The Minsk Agreements were meant to ease conflict in the Donbas, only to be torn to shreds by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A diplomat involved in the Minsk process tells Jacobin why it failed, and what chance diplomacy has of de-escalating the war.
South Africa’s Communists Were Crucial to the Fight Against Apartheid
From its foundation in the 1920s, the South African Communist Party took up the fight against racism as a central part of its political vision. The party’s heroic record in the anti-apartheid movement has now received the historical treatment it deserves.
The Global Exploitation of Congo Must End
Pope Francis’s recent visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo has focused world attention on a region long exploited by outsiders. But it should not require a visit from the pope for the ravages of colonialism and war to be taken seriously.
One Hundred Years of Ousmane Sembène
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène. His films — dazzling portraits of Senegalese and French society — represent some of the most brilliant attempts to think about the limits and possibilities of political art.
Workers at an eBay-Owned Company Are Trying to Organize a Union. eBay Is Trying to Bust It.
Workers with TCGPlayer, a trading card game marketplace owned by eBay, filed for a union election in late January. Employees have accused TCGPlayer of illegal union busting since, including unlawful surveillance and captive audience meetings.
Nineteen Eighty-Four Was Written by a Socialist
George Orwell was a self-professed socialist. The Right’s misreadings of his books like Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four have less to do with his actual work than with conservatives’ anti-egalitarian agenda.
The Jesus of Tonight’s Super Bowl Ads Can’t Be Found in Right-Wing Churches
During tonight’s Super Bowl, ads funded by pillars of conservative Christianity will promote a compassionate Jesus aligned with young people’s left-wing values. They’re compelling — but those values can’t be found in conservative churches.
The West Is Ignoring the Nightmarish War in Ethiopia
The war in Ethiopia has largely been ignored by the outside world, and information has been hard to come by. But what we know about the conflict is horrific: at least 500,000 civilians have been killed, and 5 million have been displaced.