To Fight or Not to Fight
As the Democratic Party clings to a message of compromise and conflict aversion, the GOP has adopted a fighting posture that seems to be resonating with working-class Americans.
500 Search Result(s) for: “liberals”
Elite-Driven Housing Policy Has a Long Record of Failure
Proposals for market-based solutions to the housing crisis have precedents in the elite-driven housing policy of the 20th century. Those policies favored business interests at the expense of poor and working-class people while worsening racial divides.
Medicalizing Society
The rise of psychiatry was funded by America’s Gilded Age industrialists. Their aim: to cast society’s ills as problems of individual "mental health."
Liberalism Is as Bad as the Economist Makes It Sound
Liberalism is often presented as a loose set of principles like reason, freedom, and the rule of law. But over almost two centuries, the Economist has provided a window into the dominant strand of liberalism in action — with imperial conquest and undemocratic regimes defended in the name of upholding “free trade.”
Living Up to Liberal Commitments Means Confronting Capitalism
A new book argues that liberalism offers not just a set of institutional norms but a compelling way of thinking about human flourishing. To offer a complete account of the good life, liberalism needs to confront the structural injustices of capitalism.
Burn the Constitution
The pitfalls of constitutionalism.
Book-Marx #9
It’s getting warmer, Osama bin Laden is dead, bankers are creeps, and we’ve finally found time to update our blog.
Storm the Ivies!
A modest proposal.
Neil Gorsuch Is Still Not Your Friend
Neil Gorsuch’s leading role in expanding employment discrimination protections to LGBTQ people has prompted some praise for the hard-right Supreme Court justice. But before the hagiographies start, we should recall his full record — one that includes backing Donald Trump’s Muslim ban, opposition to unions, homophobia, and more.
We Need Electoral Reform — and a Whole Lot More
The United States would be much better off with a multiparty, proportional representation system. But we shouldn't delude ourselves that this “one quick fix” would root out the rot that pervades America's political economy.
Canada’s 1% Is Incredibly Rich. Their Wealth Needs to Be Taxed.
American leftists look to Canada’s more robust social-welfare state with envy. But all is not well north of the border: Canada’s richest families own 120 times more wealth than the rest of the country combined. There’s never been a better time to introduce a wealth tax.
Aaron Sorkin’s Road to Nowhere
Aaron Sorkin wants to give Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advice. Yet The West Wing creator’s worldview remains a vision of liberalism at its hollowest and most ineffective.
The Dutch Left Had Its Worst Performance Ever
The Dutch elections were a victory for liberal centrists and a defeat for the anti-immigration Geert Wilders. Yet with the overall right-wing vote stronger than ever, there’s little reason for celebration.
Who Will Be the American Justin Trudeau?
With a restless Democratic base leaning left, party centrists are looking for their Justin Trudeau — a candidate who will seem progressive while preserving the status quo.
The Long Anti-Zionist History of the American Jewish Left
In the last year and a half, thousands of left-wing American Jews have protested Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. They are taking part in a long tradition of anti-Zionist Jewish radicalism in the United States.
Abortion Rights Are More Popular Than You Think
Don't let the slate of new anti-abortion bills fool you — support for abortion rights has actually increased in the last decade. Defeating these draconian measures will mean defeating the elite minority that imposes them.
The Sunset of Neoliberalism
To anyone who lived through the Clinton years — or merely remembers the Obama era — the discrediting of neoliberal ideas that were once sacrosanct among Democrats is nothing short of astonishing.
Bernie Sanders Should Retool His Campaign to Lead the Charge Against Coronavirus
Bernie Sanders can’t continue campaigning as usual, and he certainly can’t drop out of the race. We desperately need Bernie to retool his entire operation to demand a robust government response to the coronavirus — a response the Democratic Party will never spearhead themselves.