The New Thatcherites

Israel’s Bloated New Government Is Entering Dangerous Waters

Benjamin Netayahu’s newly convened government, the largest in Israeli history, is also facing the country’s greatest economic crisis in decades. As signs of public disaffection start to grow, it may try to avoid challenges to its power by provoking a violent confrontation with Palestinians.

Joe Biden Wants to Be the Anti-Trump — So Why Does He Support Building Trump’s Signature Border Wall?

Professional Democrats used to paint Donald Trump’s border wall as the symbol of everything that was grotesque about him. But now that Joe Biden has come out in favor of it, they’ve offered barely a whisper of protest.

Capitalism Is Not the Solution to Urban America’s Problems — Capitalism Itself Is the Problem

The COVID-19 crisis has triggered a fresh round of soul-searching in establishment media outlets about the problems of urban America. Unless we address the root cause of those problems in the structure of our economic system, we’ll never be able to solve them.

The Best Way to “Reform” the Police Is to Defund the Police

For years we’ve heard about body cameras and bias training to reform the racism and brutality of the police. That won’t cut it. The only way to get better policing is to get less of it — by defunding the police.

To Recover From This Crisis, We Need to Defund Wall Street

Bromides about a V-shaped economic recovery after the pandemic just distract us from the size of the task that we face. We were already headed for crisis before COVID-19 — only a far-reaching reorientation of the economy can stave off social collapse.

The Free Market Can’t Prevent Latin America’s Coming Food Crisis

Even before COVID-19 hit Latin America in earnest last month, one-third of the region’s population was facing food insecurity. Now, as the economy contracts under lockdown and supply chains falter, overhauling the continent’s market-driven food system is more necessary than ever.

In Australia, the Ecological Crises Are Escalating

Australia has been hit by one ecological disaster after another this year: first the devastating bushfires, then the COVID-19 pandemic. Both are part of the same rising environmental crisis, and without meaningful action, we’re headed toward dystopia.

The Decline of Democracy in Hungary Is a Troubling Vision of the Future

Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán has used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to silence his critics, even as he endorses street mobilizations by the organized far right. But these aren’t just the pathologies of a country with weak democratic traditions — they’re an extreme version of a reactionary turn happening across the West.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Opponents Burned the House Down to Stop Him — Now Keir Starmer Is King of the Ashes

By sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey on a trumped-up pretext, Keir Starmer has set the seal on a drastic shift to the right for the British Labour Party. That shift comes just as the key arguments by Jeremy Corbyn’s opponents to justify a break with his left leadership have been falling apart in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Brazilian Democracy Is at a Stalemate

With Jair Bolsonaro at the helm, Brazil’s democracy is in crisis. Veteran of the Brazilian left and the armed struggle against the dictatorship, and a principal strategist of the Workers’ Party, José “Zé” Dirceu spoke to Jacobin about the need for a broad front coalition to defeat Bolsonarismo.

The Trump Administration Wants Workers to Foot the Bill for Going Back to Work

Always on the cutting edge of innovation, the Trump administration has found a new way to enrich health insurance companies and screw workers in the middle of a pandemic: declaring that health insurance companies are not required to cover the costs of COVID-19 testing for workers returning to work.

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.

Has Streaming Killed the Radio Star?

The music industry bounced back from a seemingly terminal post-Napster crisis, but the profits from streaming go to big companies and a handful of top artists. Can we build an alternative model that encourages more innovative — and more radical — music?

“Michael Brooks Leaving This World Was Only the Beginning of His Legacy”

After we put out a call for remembrances of Michael Brooks, we received deeply emotional emails from his viewers and listeners all around the world about how he changed their politics — and often their lives.

Billionaires Want to Reopen Schools Amid a Pandemic. They Might Unleash a Teacher Strike Wave.

Business interests are eager to reopen schools so they can get the economy running again and turn a profit. But teachers across the country are insisting that schools should only be reopened when it can be done safely — and they might just go on strike to fight back against the billionaires.

Spain’s Former King Has Fled, But His Cronyism Remains

On Sunday night, Spain’s former king Juan Carlos fled the country in order to evade prosecution over mass-scale money laundering. Once hailed as a leader of the transition away from dictatorship, the monarch’s corrupt dealings show how Spain's powerful business interests continue to stand above democratic scrutiny.

In Colombia, Álvaro Uribe’s Immunity Is Finally Coming to an End

Colombia’s Supreme Court has placed former right-wing president Álvaro Uribe under house arrest on charges of manipulating witness testimony. Whatever happens to Uribe next, this will be a watershed moment for Colombian politics.

The Italian Government Banned Layoffs. Italian Bosses Are Fuming.

When the Italian government introduced a temporary ban on layoffs for the period of the coronavirus crisis, the employers’ federation reacted furiously. Firms have already received billions of euros in subsidies to help pay their workers’ wages — but what they can’t tolerate is any limit on their power to hire and fire at will.

Sicily’s Right-Wing President Is Using COVID-19 to Whip Up a Racist Frenzy

Among all the people living in Sicily, migrants are the single population best tested for coronavirus. Yet now the regional president is scapegoating them as the source of contagion — insisting that Africans must be expelled in order to “stop Sicilians becoming racist.”