People desperately need to go back to work and save what they can of their lives. But Mike Davis argues that a rapid reopening of the economy would only result in unspeakable tragedy for millions.
Illinois cannot act to provide relief for its renters struggling under the coronavirus pandemic because of a 1997 rent control ban pushed by the Right. But this could change if its governor, J. B. Pritzker, used his emergency powers to lift that ban and aid the millions of Illinoisans who can’t pay the rent.
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a dangerous escalation in tensions between China and the United States. But our allegiance shouldn’t be with either country’s ruling class — it should be with both countries' workers.
By recruiting notorious neoliberal economist Larry Summers to advise him on coronavirus policy, Joe Biden has shown that since 2008, liberal elites have learned nothing and forgotten everything.
In states like Iowa, right-wing governors have used the coronavirus pandemic to continue their assault on workers — forcing thousands to go back to work prematurely and promising to pull unemployment benefits for anyone who has the temerity to put their health first.
The Federal Reserve has stepped in to deal with the coronavirus pandemic — unsurprisingly, as is so often true of the Fed’s intervention, on the side of the wealthy. We have to demand that the Central Bank act to aid the working class instead.
Instead of prompting the coordinated, national response that’s needed, this pandemic is exacerbating one of the most destructive and enduring themes of US political life: the sectional conflict between states, and between town and country. Progress in battling coronavirus will continue to be hamstrung by our dysfunctional federalist system.
Six months after the coup in Bolivia, Luis Arce is presidential candidate for Evo Morales's MAS. Oliver Vargas interviewed him about the postcoup regime, its handling of coronavirus, and what the delayed election means for the Left's chances of returning to power.
We’re in the middle of a devastating pandemic and economic crisis — but that hasn’t stopped both Democrats and Republicans from coming up with new ways to assault and destroy Social Security.
Many observers expected that the 2008 financial crisis would mark the end of neoliberalism. Instead, we saw a wave of privatization and sharp cuts in public services. Today, the forces best placed to exploit the coronavirus pandemic are still those who already have power: the neoliberals who’ve been shaping the economic policy agenda for decades.
The Post Office is a national treasure, providing service everywhere from the smallest town to the biggest city and offering a rare example in US society of democratic values prevailing over private profits. We can’t let the Post Office’s opponents use the coronavirus crisis to dismantle this vital universal service.
Millions of people stuck at home means more orders for Amazon. But squeezed Amazon employees in France and Italy didn’t want to be “essential workers” — and they launched a wave of strikes to demand a shutdown.
We have so many miseries in American society because rich people are hoarding all of our resources. We shouldn’t applaud them when they toss us a few dollars as philanthropy.
Public health experts have been sounding the alarm about the spread of coronavirus in American prisons. Yet despite repeated warnings, newly released data show that America’s addiction to incarceration continues unabated — endangering all of us, both inside and outside prison walls.
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.
During yesterday's protests against the police murder of George Floyd, Amazon declared that it "stand[s] in solidarity with the Black community — our employees, customers, and partners — in the fight against systemic racism and injustice." But the company is no racial justice ally — not least because it has resolutely attempted to smash its workers' organizing efforts.
While public-health guidance tells citizens to work from home, for millions of low-wage workers, this has never been a realistic option. As Europe’s governments ease the lockdown, it’s working-class people who are on the firing line of a second wave of infections.
Since 2008, the US has spent $20–35 trillion on corporate bailouts. It’s about the same “unaffordable” amount that Medicare for All has been projected to cost — used for lining corporate pockets instead of providing health care to people who need it.
The precarious, dangerous conditions immigrant workers face under coronavirus are an intensified version of the conditions workers face across the country. Rebuilding the labor movement today must include organizing undocumented workers.
A new study finds that American jails — not just prisons — are a major hot spot for spreading coronavirus. The solution is simple: stop arresting so many people.