When sociologist Michael Young coined the term "meritocracy," he was warning against the idea that we should have to compete to prove how talented or hardworking we are. A truly egalitarian society would guarantee a dignified existence for us all — regardless of arbitrary measures of how much we deserve it.
For the first time since it was introduced 30 years ago, New York state’s single-payer health care bill, the New York Health Act, has the votes to pass — at least on paper. But getting it signed into law will take a major grassroots mobilization.
China doesn’t have an empire. The United States doesn’t need to saber-rattle. And we really don’t need to fight these forever wars.
A key challenge for the Left in the coming years will be to reject attempts to stoke tensions with China — tensions the Biden administration has made worse in its early months.
There are no “clashes” occurring in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians. What we’re seeing is the brutal reality of an occupying power exercising its military might over a people stripped of their human rights.
The benefits of repealing the SALT cap would flow mostly to the wealthy. That includes House Democrats like Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Jamie Raskin, who are pushing the tax cuts and would save a bundle if they pass.
In Chicago’s Logan Square, gentrification has run amok. That didn’t stop socialist city councilor Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and community groups from demanding and winning 100 percent affordable housing in the community’s heart near public transit. Here’s how they did it.
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a chorus of voices is trying to convince ordinary consumers that paying higher gas prices is some kind of patriotic act. Big Oil doesn’t need the extra profits — it needs to have those profits taxed away.
By playing up a fake tabloid scandal involving his progressive opponent Jessica Cisneros, the scandal-plagued anti-abortion Texas House Democrat Henry Cuellar has only further disgraced himself.
Tali Farhadian Weinstein, who owns a $26 million apartment and a $13 million summerhouse, is using her wealth and connections to try to buy the Manhattan DA’s office — and thwart anti-incarceration candidates in Tuesday's primary.
It’s not surprising that New York’s centrist governor, Andrew Cuomo, would nominate a vocal opponent of criminal justice reform to the state’s powerful court of appeals. But why is a supposedly progressive state senate confirming her?
Socialists’ goal isn’t to destroy liberalism, but to transcend its limitations — pairing civil liberties and other liberal rights with a democratic, egalitarian foundation that makes those rights real.
The working class in capitalism is not a coherent class but a fragmented one — an amalgam of individuals trying to survive. It’ll take politics to change that.
Alexa Avilés is a community organizer in South Brooklyn, member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and candidate for New York City Council. In an interview, she discusses her history of education organizing, recent billionaire-funded scaremongering attacks against her, and why she’s running for office as part of a citywide socialist slate.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s book Race for Profit reveals a basic truth about homeownership in a for-profit housing system: it can never produce equitable, just outcomes and dignified housing for all.
The billionaire class isn’t just a group of people who happen to be superrich. It’s a dynastic oligarchy with a single overriding objective: controlling the government to protect its inherited wealth.
States are giving away a handful of college scholarships in a lottery for students who get vaccinated. It’s like something out of dystopian sci-fi: only a lucky few get to avoid crushing student debt, the rest suffer. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Joe Biden’s recent spending spree can make the United States a less miserable place. But the president has no interest in bringing about the structural change that would weaken the power capitalists have over workers.
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America are thinking seriously about a national presidential campaign for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2028 that would reach millions of working people and have the potential to transform American politics.
Democrats are hoping to win the midterms by touting the pared-down Inflation Reduction Act and their (modest) commitment to abortion rights. That might work in November — but it’s a poor strategy for reversing hemorrhaging support among working-class voters.