Jennifer Lawrence’s No Hard Feelings Is a Class-Conscious Comedy That Almost Works
Jennifer Lawrence is a fantastic comic actor. So it’s too bad that No Hard Feelings trades in the raunchy laughs for feel-good sentimental dramedy.
Blog
Poland’s Opposition Is Failing to Turn the Right-Wing Tide
This month, Poland’s liberal opposition mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to protest the ruling party’s attacks on the rule of law. But it’s less clear that it’s winning over the government’s supporters, who remain wedded to its social programs.
France’s Justice System Has Become an Ally to Police Repression
The movement against Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform saw shocking scenes of police violence against protesters. Yet far from standing up to abuses, the justice system is turning a blind eye to the government’s attacks on civil liberties.
The Left Must Radicalize the Middle Class’s Fear of Downward Social Mobility
In Britain, inequality within the top 10% is greater than it is within the bottom 90%. This has created a middle-class politics centered on a fear of downward mobility. The Left must offer its own vision of society, focused on equality rather than competition.
Public Sector Strikes Are About Aligning Our Society With Its Stated Values
Our society values health care and education in theory, but it constantly undermines them in practice. Public sector workers feel that discrepancy most acutely. They’re striking to force our society to put its money where its mouth is.
Agricultural Land Is Becoming an Investment Vehicle for the Rich
Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t work the land on his Hawaii ranch, but he and other wealthy landowners still benefit from huge agricultural tax breaks. The scheme allows the superrich to hoard wealth at the expense of the general public.
Gamification Is Exploitation
The trend of gamification — applying elements of game play to other areas of life — is the apex of the neoliberal fantasy, rendering both work and our leisure time outside of it into a series of games that we supposedly enjoy playing for their own sake.
Pinning the Rise of Neoliberalism on Ronald Reagan Lets Democrats Off Easy
It’s common to credit President Ronald Reagan for ushering in the age of neoliberalism. But doing so suggests that neoliberalism is primarily a right-wing project, obscuring the important role of liberals in subordinating society to free markets.
Jules Guesde Was One of the Great Pioneers of European Marxism
French socialist leader Jules Guesde established the first working-class party in modern history and popularized the ideas of Karl Marx at a crucial time. It’s impossible to imagine the subsequent history of Marxism and the French left without Guesde.
Academic Workers at the University of Washington Just Went on Strike and Won
At the University of Washington, 2,400 postdocs and academic researchers went on strike and won raises. We talked to two workers about walking out, in the face of what they describe as attempts by UW to intimidate and retaliate against strikers.
Texas’s “Death Star Bill” Is an Attack on Workers and Democracy
The newly passed HB 2127 is yet another attempt by the GOP-controlled state legislature to impose minority rule over the state of Texas. It’s the working class that will pay the price — and the working class that must organize to fight back.
Samuel Alito Could Go Up to Bat for His Billionaire Friend Again
The hedge fund Elliott Management, whose owner has lavishly entertained Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito, has argued that recent anti-fraud rules from the SEC are unconstitutional — and could try to bring a case before Alito to strike them down.