Singing Praises
Every country on earth has a national anthem. Some are clear international standouts.
Search Result(s) for: “Japan”
Braveheart Lied to Us
Many of the traditions we hold dear are less traditional than you might think.
Personal Debt Makes Workers Afraid to Strike
Since the late 1970s, strike action and union membership have been declining steadily in most Western democracies. New research finds that one key reason is the working class’s increasing dependence on credit.
Searching for an Alternative to Neoliberalism and Right-Wing Nationalism
From Brexit to Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s anti-China policies, elites are offering their own challenges to the free-trade consensus — just as they did during the early 20th century’s pushback against “globalism.”
South Korean Truckers Provide a Model for Labor Organizing Among Independent Contractors
In December 2022, TruckSol, a trade union of South Korean truck drivers, waged a massive 16-day strike that cost employers over $2 billion. The union’s history and organizing strategy have lessons for precariously employed workers around the world.
Peace in Ukraine Isn’t Coming Soon
Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine one year ago today hoping to capture it in a few days — then spent the last year turning its southeast into a bloodbath. Even if the current military stalemate is broken, the divides created by the war won’t heal soon.
The Technocratic Socialism of Otto Neurath
The Austrian economist and philosopher Otto Neurath devised elaborate ideas for a democratically planned economy. They are a monument to the most optimistic strands of the interwar socialist movement.
Right-Wing Provocateurs Are Trying to Drag Australia Into War With China
Paul Keating’s fiery attacks on the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal last week drew attention to Australia’s uncritical support for the US in its China containment policy. This drive for war has been years in the making.
How Cars Ruined Cities
A new book, Carmageddon, reveals how the automobile has made our lives more dangerous and less democratic. The alternative — reliable and publicly funded transport — must be at the heart of any progressive vision for the future.
Paul Vallas Gave Wall Street Massive Amounts of Money as Chicago Schools CEO
Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas helped create a financial disaster as head of Chicago Public Schools, making bond deals worth $666 million — whose exorbitant interest payments to Wall Street are now robbing the city’s school system.
A South Korean Labor Leader Has Self-Immolated in Protest of Anti-Union Charges
On May Day, South Korean construction union leader Yang Hoe-dong took his own life by setting himself on fire rather than accept the state’s anti-union charges against him. Yang is a brutal casualty of the South Korean president’s war on labor.
Romance Under Capitalism Kills Our Libidos
Sexual activity among Americans is in decline, prompting moralizing about the end of romance and traditional gender roles. But the real problem is that people lack the economic and personal freedom to pursue their desires.
Retail Janitors Clean Up After Holiday Shoppers. They Don’t Get Time Off for Themselves.
Janitors for big box stores see big workload increases around the holidays — but most of them get little time off to celebrate with their families. In Minnesota, unionized janitors are looking to change that by winning paid holidays and more vacation time.
Helen Keller Was One of the Great American Socialists
Helen Keller forged her political ideas in the golden age of American socialism and was patronizingly dismissed by conservative commentators who had previously celebrated her. Keller’s passionate radicalism should be remembered and reclaimed by the Left today.
Immanuel Wallerstein’s Work Can Help Us Understand the Deepening Crises of Capitalism
Immanuel Wallerstein developed a compelling analysis of capitalism as a world-system that undercut the triumphalism of the neoliberal age. Wallerstein’s work is full of valuable insights into the forces that are destabilizing global capitalism.
Apple Store Workers Want to Unionize. Apple Is Union Busting.
Workers at an Apple Store in Kansas City say they were fired in retaliation for trying to form a union. It’s another episode in the wave of labor organizing hitting big corporations in the US — and those corporations responding with illegal union busting.
No, It’s Not Techno-Feudalism. It’s Still Capitalism.
Some thinkers are arguing that capitalism as Marx defined it is over, and we’re entering something like digital neo-feudalism instead. Not true, argues Evgeny Morozov. To understand how capitalism operates today, Marxists have to drop the factory bias.
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Stop the Arms Race Madness
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fed calls for the West to radically step up its own military spending. An arms race only increases the risk of a conflict between China and the US — a global disaster that we must do everything in our power to prevent.
The Jebification of Ron DeSantis
Republican donors hoped Ron DeSantis could replace Donald Trump as a right-wing populist without the chaos and ineptitude. Instead, DeSantis is looking more and more like Jeb Bush.