Social Democracy Without the Struggle
Michael Moore’s new film idealizes progressive reforms abroad while ignoring the political struggles it took to win them.
Michael Moore’s new film idealizes progressive reforms abroad while ignoring the political struggles it took to win them.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk threatens to embolden the far right and provide Donald Trump with a pretext for crushing dissent. Escalating political violence corrodes democratic norms and poses a unique threat to the Left.

No protest to simply register discontent, no preaching to the choir, no fool’s errand organizing campaigns: Jane McAlevey was deadly serious about smart, effective strategy for the working class, and she demanded organizers around her be the same.

Australia is the canary in the coal mine for sports betting, and Americans should pay attention to the destruction the industry has caused.

Germany’s Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz has broken a long-established “firewall” isolating the far right. A vote on hardening the borders has given Alternative für Deutschland a leg up just ahead of the federal election.

Throughout the Russo-Ukrainian war, each side has cast its enemy as heirs to the Nazis of World War II. In Ukraine, this has fueled comfortable myths about the nationalists of the 1940s, whose role in the Holocaust is routinely ignored.

The ongoing turmoil in Haiti has been exacerbated by US meddling. There’s a very good chance that the foreign intervention announced yesterday by the United Nations will make things worse.

Last Wednesday, workers at a port in southern France searched a cargo ship headed for Haifa — and found it carried 19 pallets of machine-gun parts. They blocked the shipment, refusing to be complicit in Israel’s war crimes.

Right-wing demagogue Steven Crowder recently turned down a $50 million offer from Ben Shapiro’s billionaire-funded media organization, calling it a “slave contract.” If only these guys showed as much concern for the conditions of ordinary workers.

Canadian Conservatives are discussing how to emulate Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency north of the border should they win the upcoming federal election — and they think they can make cuts even more quickly than the Trump administration has.

Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has failed in his bid to sue journalists for exposing his war crimes in Afghanistan. His downfall is set to embarrass the political elites who championed him.

Many low-income people invested in the now-disgraced crypto exchange FTX. That’s because the exchange allegedly targeted poor and underbanked people and convinced them that FTX was just as safe as a regular bank.

The small wars waged by European empires generated arguments for the legitimacy of state violence that remain in use today. Lauren Benton’s new book, They Called it Peace, finds that the era of gunboat policing anticipated the age of the predator drone.

In Roofman, Channing Tatum plays a real-life lovable burglar and family man trying to make it in America. But while writer-director Derek Cianfrance clearly wanted a lighthearted, feel-good movie, Roofman is instead a dark exploration of American pathos.

Rural Americans need good internet and good jobs. And they were poised to get them — until Elon Musk saw an opening to grow his fortune with a plan that will provide worse internet and fewer jobs.

David Brooks, elite pundit par excellence, has been giving a master lesson for years in how to talk about class without actually talking about class. But class is about material realities, not empty cultural signifiers like one’s TV habits or food preferences.

The relentless negativity and performative cruelty of American politics is exhausting. Following Zohran Mamdani’s lead, leftists can distinguish ourselves with a concrete political program paired with genuine enthusiasm for ordinary people.
Capitalism isn't just killing the planet — it's keeping us on it.

SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents won six NLRB elections in January 2025 involving 250 or more people. This string of victories has become somewhat commonplace for a rapidly growing union.

Living in Gaza in “normal” times is unbearable. Israel’s siege, bombardment, and forced removal are making it an impossible nightmare for Palestinian civilians, with a million displaced and more than 2,000 killed.