“Policing Is Fundamentally a Tool of Social Control to Facilitate Our Exploitation”
The brutality we have repeatedly seen meted out by American police all over the country isn’t a bug of our political-economic system — it’s a feature.
234 Search Results for: defund
Police Departments Are Parasites on the Public Purse
By aggressively pushing for higher budgets and salaries, police officers have insulated themselves from accountability while draining resources from essential public programs. It’s long past time to defund them.
Don’t Mourn “Democracy Promotion”
The National Endowment for Democracy is a vehicle for Putin-style foreign meddling. Yet some liberals are now bemoaning Trump’s assault on the organization.
We Need Solidarity, Not White Guilt, to Fight Racism
To win substantive change, we don’t have to disavow personal education or introspection. But we do have to set our sights much higher — on dismantling the institutions that entrench racial inequality and violence.
Bill de Blasio Should Resign
Bill de Blasio campaigned as a reformer who would end stop-and-frisk and scale back racist police violence. But in the face of NYPD pushback, he has been a coward, blocking police reforms and letting the cops run wild in the streets. He should resign in disgrace.
When Joe Biden Takes the White House, What’s Next for the Left?
The American left has been transformed over the past four years under President Donald Trump. But the Left will have to organize and fight just as hard under President Joe Biden.
Why You Should Support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Against Israel
At its core, the movement calling to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel is about defunding apartheid and military occupation. It’s a movement that’s worth supporting.
Another Socialist Will Be Taking a Seat in the New York City Council
Socialist City Council candidate Kristin Richardson Jordan scored a remarkable upset victory in Harlem, with a campaign combining unabashed radicalism with a commitment to the unglamorous work of constituent services.
A Tiny Cut in the Military Budget That Probably Won’t Happen Is Causing Panic in Washington
The bipartisan establishment is having a freak-out over the prospect of a modest cut to the defense budget. It’s not clear it will actually happen — but even if it did, the gargantuan US military budget would still be wasteful and counterproductive.
In Zohran Mamdani’s Win, Socialism Beat the Status Quo
There is a hunger for bold, transformative politics in the United States right now. Zohran Mamdani shows how the Left can run on a principled, disciplined message that speaks to voters’ lived concerns — and win.
What Mamdani’s Win Can (and Can’t) Teach Us
Zohran Mamdani’s astounding triumph shows the power of bread-and-butter economics and the bankruptcy of the Democratic establishment. But how many of its lessons can be applied nationally?
St. Louis’s Shameful Workhouse Jail Must Be Shut Down
In St. Louis, the demand to defund the police has dovetailed with long-lasting struggles against cash bail and the abuse of prisoners. The Board of Aldermen’s passing of a bill that promises to start closing the city’s most notorious jail reflects the movement’s strength — but also the need for pressure to ensure that abolitionist demands are not watered down into merely cosmetic reforms.
“The Billionaires Are Nervous. And They Should Be Nervous.”
Alexa Avilés is a community organizer in South Brooklyn, member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and candidate for New York City Council. In an interview, she discusses her history of education organizing, recent billionaire-funded scaremongering attacks against her, and why she’s running for office as part of a citywide socialist slate.
To Roll Back the Police State, We Need to Tackle Economic Inequality
The last few years have seen unprecedented mobilization of mass outrage against the most blatantly racist aspects of US policing. But we can’t confront police abuses without addressing their role in our society as managers of an unequal class status quo.
Between the Shining Seas
Behind the billionaire-backed campaign to deregulate, defund, and privatize our public lands.
How the Left Beat Trump in Michigan
According to centrists, the “blue wave” didn’t materialize because of the Left. That’s nonsense — and in at least one crucial swing state, Joe Biden rode to victory because of the organizing of progressives and leftists.
Jeff Weaver: Democrats Can’t Keep Clinging to the Center
Democrats focused more on courting GOP voters than younger voters in the last election, former Bernie Sanders senior staffer Jeff Weaver argues. The strategy was a disaster, damaging downballot Democrats across the country — and it could backfire even more when Trump is gone.
On Police Reform, the AFL-CIO Has a Lot of Catching Up to Do
The AFL-CIO’s new report on police reform doesn’t come anywhere close to what’s needed. Written largely from the perspective of police officers, it rejects calls to defund the police, embracing the failed approach of trying to weed out bad apples.
New York’s Democratic Socialists Are Playing the Long Game
Democratic socialists are slowly becoming a force in New York state politics. But as the movement grows, it faces backlash and new obstacles.
The Specter of Trump
Donald Trump speaks to an aggrieved and radicalized middle class with seemingly nowhere else to turn.