Naming the Enemy

Letters + #JacobinPitches

Email us letters — we’ll print the fawning ones.

The Invention of Inequality

From chiefs and kings to billionaires today, a small handful of humans over thousands of years have figured out how to amass tremendous power and wealth. We talked to an anthropologist about how the ruling class got started.

How Big Law Became Big

As US capitalism boomed, attorneys from a handful of New York law firms became powerful viziers of America’s elite.

The Crime of the Century

The mystery of Agatha Christie’s enduring popularity is rooted in a nostalgia for the certainties of the Victorian class system.

From New Labour to Nouveau Riche

Meet Tony Blair, a “democratic socialist.”

I Was a 1970s CIA Brat

At the height of the Cold War, my father was a station chief for the Central Intelligence Agency. It was a front-row seat for the last gasp of the WASP spy.

An Army of Pete Buttigiegs

McKinsey consultants have packaged capitalism for decades, offering a glimpse into the moral compass of the ruling class.

Take Me to Your Leader: The Rot of the American Ruling Class

For more than three centuries, something has been going horribly wrong at the top of our society, and we’re all suffering for it.

The Political Wing of American Capital

After the upheavals of the 1960s, business leaders were losing control. They fought back through the Chamber of Commerce.

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams

The TV series Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous inaugurated an era when the ruling class was there to be envied more than to be abolished.

More Fun for More People

The architect, planner, and landowner Clough Williams-Ellis dedicated his estate to an experiment in “propaganda for architecture.” How did it become best known as the cutest of all the fictional dystopias?

Monopoly Music

Today’s ruling class treats all culture as either commodity or plaything. We should not accept either definition.

Pop of the Fops

From Boy George to Bryan Ferry, the New Romantics were working-class youths who created their own imaginary aristocracy through 1980s pop stardom. Did the mask end up eating the face?

Billionaire Garage Bands

Under capitalism, New York Knicks owner James Dolan can make bad music. Under socialism, we can all make bad music.

Yuppie Misandry

At the turn of the last century, Alexandra Kollontai identified the problem with elite feminism.

Twilight of the Boarding School Boys

East Coast boarding schools once prepared “ordinary” boys from the elite for national leadership — helping them forge friendships, networks, and marriages to rule the country.

Political Elites Aren’t Worried About Inflation

With the passage of a $2 trillion stimulus bill, deficit-phobia appears to be waning in Washington. But it’s not because lawmakers have been won over to redistributive policies — it’s because they think the working class is too weak to set off inflation.

The Ruling Class Doesn’t Rule — But It’s Got Veto Power

Capitalists don’t need to directly govern the state, or even be particularly organized, in order to get what they want.

Know Your Enemy

G. William Domhoff’s work is a vital reminder that the task of changing society begins with understanding who holds power in it, and how.

They Have the Money, We Have the People

No one wants a world where Billionaire magazine exists but Jacobin doesn’t.