The Left Must Seize This Moment, or Others Will
The COVID-19 pandemic will transform our world. Massive state intervention is essential to head off an unprecedented slump. We must come out of this crisis with a better society.
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We Shouldn’t Need GoFundMe to Respond to Catastrophes. We Need a Strong Welfare State.
A telltale sign of a broken society is when medical workers are forced to beg for supplies on GoFundMe and parents have to write compelling stories to convince random people to pay for their kid’s cancer treatment. Instead of crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, we need a generous welfare state that ensures everyone’s basic needs are met.
Stop the $2 Billion Arms Sale to the Philippines
Amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the US government is brokering a $2 billion arms sale to Rodrigo Duterte’s repressive regime. The sale would only pour further fuel on an already dire human rights catastrophe.
Big Business Still Has Enormous Control of American Politics at Every Level
Big business has long held an outsize role in US politics. In a plague year, and as politicians prematurely push to reopen the economy, political scientist Thomas Ferguson argues that its place at the center of American life is more grotesque than ever.
Without the Ability to Democratically Plan Our Society, We Don’t Have True Freedom
The Right couches their arguments about not wearing face masks or reopening their local Baskin Robbins in the language of “freedom.” We have to take that language of freedom back, making the case that real freedom means the ability to democratically decide, together, how to protect everyone from hunger, homelessness, and sickness.
Japan’s Shinzō Abe Was an Uninspiring Leader Who Prospered by Default
Shinzō Abe became Japan’s longest serving prime minister thanks to the weakness of his political rivals. But Abe never realized his dream of rewriting the Japanese constitution to legitimize the nationalist militarism that was central to his worldview.
Yes, Politics Do Belong in Sports
FC St. Pauli isn't Germany's best football club, but its resistance to commercialization has earned it a mass following around the world. Resisting the call to "keep politics out of sports," its fans insist that what sports really need protecting from is the pervasive power of money.
Refugees Detained in Melbourne’s Mantra Hotel Speak Out: “Our Lockdown Is Indefinite”
Under the short-lived Medevac Legislation, 192 refugees were transported from offshore detention to Australia for medical treatment. Today, most of them are still imprisoned in hotels around the country, where they have to endure a total, indefinite lockdown.
Joe Biden Said He’d “Follow the Science” on the Pandemic. He Isn’t.
After winning the election on a “listen to the scientists” message, Joe Biden is actually rejecting the global scientific consensus on how to handle the pandemic.
Andrew Cuomo: Remote Work for Me but Not for Thee
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has shut down in-person press conferences — but workers are stuck in offices as the state refuses to take action against employers and compel remote work.
Peter Mertens: This Pandemic Shows How Elites Have Forgotten Us
With 18,000 dead out of a population smaller than Ohio's, Belgium has suffered the world's worst rate of coronavirus deaths. Belgian Workers' Party leader Peter Mertens told Jacobin how the population has been abandoned by the country's elites — and why things didn't have to be this way.
Coronavirus Is an Occupational Disease That Spreads at Work
For both Democratic and Republican politicians, blaming social gatherings for coronavirus’s spread is convenient. But they’ve ignored or denied the central role workplace transmission plays in driving up infections. We need to treat coronavirus as the occupational disease it is — and that means restricting the power of business owners.
Warehouses Are Today’s “Dark Satanic Mills”
Working in a warehouse during a pandemic means taking your life in your hands — and doing it for poverty wages. An activist with Warehouse Workers for Justice in Illinois tells Jacobin the story of how he finally got fed up, how he and other workers are fighting back, and what would happen if every warehouse worker in the country took the day off.
“The PRO Act Could Give Us the Ability to Collectively Bargain”
Rideshare drivers across California rallied in support of the PRO Act, a major labor law reform bill that could transform working conditions for gig workers. We spoke with one of the organizers about how Proposition 22 misled drivers, why gig workers need collective-bargaining rights, and the difficulties of organizing these workers.
“We’re Seeing the Breakdown of Collective Responsibility”
Western states’ response to the coronavirus pandemic has been far inferior to East Asian countries’ — illustrating their inability to cope with major crises. China scholar Kenneth Pomeranz spoke to Jacobin about the decline of collective responsibility and the dangers of future pandemics.
Joe Biden Is Failing at Fighting the Pandemic
President Biden came into office promising to lead a robust effort to vanquish coronavirus. So far, he has failed.
Joe Biden Promised Change. He Hasn’t Delivered.
From immigration and foreign policy to the pandemic and climate, Joe Biden promised a break with the policies of the Donald Trump era. What we've mostly gotten, however, is a change in rhetoric and the status quo in substance.
McDonald’s HQ Is a Perfect Symbol of America’s Class Divide
Housed within McDonald’s Chicago HQ are both white-collar workers upstairs, enjoying a relaxed work environment and decent compensation — and restaurant workers downstairs, making the company’s profits but facing unsafe work environments and low wages.
Give Hazard Pay to Public Transit Workers
Throughout the country, transit workers have kept cities and towns moving despite unsafe working conditions, angry passengers refusing to wear masks, and over 200 dying. They deserve hazard pay — and much more.
At a Texas Community College, the Attack on Free Speech Is Coming From the Right
Community college professor Michael Phillips spent the past year speaking out against a right-wing “purge” of progressive faculty at his college. Then he was fired.