We’re All Stagnationists Now
More and more economists agree with Robert Brenner that mature capitalist economies have begun to stagnate. We should not deny this reality but rather think clearly about how it affects our political outlook.
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State Officials Have Been Begging Pete Buttigieg to Crack Down on Airlines. He Hasn’t.
Southwest Airlines’ flight cancellations are stranding thousands. Attorneys general have been sounding the alarm about lax airlines oversight, begging transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg and Congress to crack down — to no avail.
What Was the Golden Age of Social Democracy?
For 40 years, social democratic parties radically improved life for workers. The labor movement and worker militancy made it possible.
2023 Was a Year of Hope Amid the Horrors
This year had plenty of horrors. But there was also much cause for hope, from the burgeoning pro-Palestine movement to the UAW’s historic strike.
Good Riddance, Juan Guaidó
Juan Guaidó was supposed to be the appealing, human face of US-backed regime change in Venezuela. His ouster as “interim president” this week is another signal that those efforts have failed.
The UAW Decided to Use a Novel Strike Strategy. It’s Working.
The UAW’s “stand-up” strike strategy, which targets portions of the Big Three simultaneously, was a gamble. But the approach has worked so far, allowing the union to gradually escalate pressure on companies while empowering rank-and-file workers.
“Drink Up!” Say New US Dietary Guidelines
The Food and Drug Administration has relaxed guidelines on the health effects of alcohol consumption. Much more than any new scientific findings, the move reflects a yearslong lobbying effort by the alcohol industry.
The Government’s Pantry Isn’t Bare — the People’s Pantry Is Bare
At a moment where tens of millions of families will require the government to help fill their pantries and medicine cabinets, this is not the moment to thrust our country into another age of austerity. Resist the call of fiscal hawks everywhere.
America’s Working Class Is Struggling to Survive the Gauntlet of Middle Age
New research finds that Americans without college degrees live roughly eight and a half years fewer than their college-educated counterparts. Being working class in America means being ground down and left behind, explaining the rise of “deaths of despair.”
Israel’s Apologists Are Showing They Couldn’t Care Less About Palestinian Lives
As the war in Gaza continues, cheerleading of civilian slaughter and justification of war crimes are pervasive. But they’re not coming from the Left — they’re coming from politicians and commentators defending Israel’s vicious bombing campaign and blockade.
Digital “Platforms” Are Just a New Way for Corporations to Exploit Workers
Companies like Uber and iFood claim they are “platforms” rather than employers and shouldn’t be subject to labor law. That’s nonsense: platforms are just digital machines. And like many other machines corporations use in the workplace, they’re hurting workers.
Conservative Postliberalism Is a Complete Dead End
Conservative intellectuals have recently levied a “postliberal” critique of the status quo, claiming to defend ordinary people against elites. But the solutions offered are little more than reactionary nonsense dressed up in populist rhetoric.
During the Pandemic, Workers Were Told They Were Heroes — and Given Little to Show for It
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the American working class faced a paradox: workers were told they were “essential” and touted as “heroes,” yet they were often treated as sacrificial lambs.
The “Nudge” of the Obama Era Was Always Neoliberal Nonsense
Remember the policy “nudges” of the Barack Obama years, which purported to fix all manner of social ills by pushing people to behave differently? Surprise, surprise: its intellectual edifice, behavioral science, has been exposed as a fraud.
Organizing the Void
The new left in Europe and North America hasn’t made the transition from being a symptom of democratic crisis to offering an effective cure for it.
US Workers Need a Federal Paid Sick Leave Guarantee
Workers nationwide lack a federal guarantee of paid sick leave in the United States. Establishing a federal paid sick leave guarantee would improve the lives of all American workers — railworkers included.
This Month’s Kaiser Health Care Strike Won Big for Workers and Patients
Kaiser health care workers launched the biggest such strike in US history earlier this month. Their contract agreement, announced late last week, shows the landmark strike secured big gains for workers and patients alike.
Applying for Unemployment Shouldn’t Be This Difficult
Many workers who qualify for unemployment don’t receive immediate benefits due to confusing application processes and unwieldy websites. A new federal funding proposal could fix these long-standing issues — but it’s in danger of being axed.
We Need a Green New Deal to Expand Worker Ownership of Our Economy
A Green New Deal can’t just move us towards ecological sustainability — it also has to democratize the entire economy by expanding worker ownership.
For Grant Wahl, Soccer Was a Window Into the Best and Worst of Humanity
The late soccer journalist Grant Wahl, who died suddenly at age 49, imbued his coverage of the sport with his love for humanity. For him, soccer was a microcosm of the world, from greed and corruption to the universal joys that unite us across our differences.