
The Liminal Left’s Bid for Power
Like our leading figures, our new left is young and highly educated. Is that tanking our chances at building a mass working-class coalition?

Like our leading figures, our new left is young and highly educated. Is that tanking our chances at building a mass working-class coalition?

Saikat Chakrabarti, a founder of Justice Democrats and former top AOC aide, is challenging Nancy Pelosi for her seat in Congress. He talked to Jacobin about his vision for an ambitious program to transform the US economy and reverse class dealignment.

Right now, democratic socialism is on the rise in American society. Revolutionary socialists who have kept the torch of socialism burning during the lean years will now have to merge with democratic-socialist demands of the current moment.

In this month’s New York State Assembly races, why are certain center-left Democrats attracting unusual largesse from right-wing GOP donors? It may have something to do with the fact that they are running in primaries against socialist candidates.

New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has clearly learned from other effective communicators like Bernie Sanders how to use online media to spread popular left-wing ideas. Mamdani’s approach is a model for other insurgent candidates.

Pining for the high marginal tax rates of the 1950s doesn't do us any good. The rich still avoided paying taxes in those days — and the taxes they did pay went to funding Cold War militarism, not domestic spending.

We’re all exhausted, but the rich aren’t. In the 24 hours since the election was called, corporate interests and their allies in the Democratic Party have already started their war on the Left.

The internal workings of American politics are usually boring as hell. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is making them compulsively watchable — and going after billionaires’ control of our political system in the process.

Israel regularly violates human rights, murders journalists, and is now becoming part of a global far-right alliance. Cutting aid to the country should be “on the table” — to say the least.

Jeff Bezos is donating billions of dollars through his new foundation. But as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argues, we need to redistribute his power, not just his wealth.

Despite media warnings of imminent danger, Ilhan Omar, one of Congress’s most left-wing members, cruised to victory in her primary this week, defeating a well-funded primary challenger. It's another clear indication that the Left’s electoral insurgency is here to stay.

Democratic leaders have focused far too much on process and decorum while explaining the government shutdown to voters. By instead emphasizing politics over bureaucratic machinations, Bernie Sanders and AOC are showing how it should be done.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prioritizes accountability to movements over loyalty to the Democratic Party. It's the embryo of a new way of approaching left-wing politics.

You already know all the reasons to fear 2019. Here are all the reasons to welcome it.

It’s been a tough few months in the wake of Bernie Sanders’s defeat. But after the recent explosions in the streets and ongoing down-ballot progressive electoral organizing in the last year, the Left came roaring back in last night’s primaries.

Rashida Tlaib, one of Congress’s most unapologetically left-wing members, is under threat from a challenger backed by super PAC money. The Left must defend her.

A reborn workers’ movement needs both organized workplace militancy and left-wing politicians that back them. Sunday’s Staten Island Amazon rallies — attended by Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and other elected officials — featured both.

Socialists are becoming a problem for New York’s Democratic establishment. Mayor Eric Adams declared war on the socialist movement and endorsed candidates to challenge the Democratic Socialists of America. For the most part, he failed.

The recent Taylor Swift ticket fiasco is a good reminder: Ticketmaster is a horrible, price-gouging monopoly that everyone hates. Left-wing politicians should make abolishing Ticketmaster part of their platform.

Brazilian president and working-class icon Lula da Silva made a major trip to Washington, DC last week. The two political leaders at the top of his meeting list: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders.