
Michael Brooks Made the Left Brighter
Amid the pettiness and factionalism that so often plague the Left, Michael Brooks’s socialism was warm, vibrant, and intellectually omnivorous. We can all learn from his example.

Amid the pettiness and factionalism that so often plague the Left, Michael Brooks’s socialism was warm, vibrant, and intellectually omnivorous. We can all learn from his example.

The Bank of England's interest rate hike is an attempt to force the economy into a recession, increase unemployment, and lower wages even further. In other words, workers will be forced to pay even more for the cost of living crisis.

With the death of John Lewis, we’ve lost another giant of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s up to us to carry on the struggle for the “beautiful community” he spent his whole life fighting for.

Joe Biden and the Democrats have steadfastly refused to articulate a compelling alternative political vision to Donald Trump’s reactionary right-wing politics. Trump looks likely to have lost, but without creating an alternative to defeat it, Trumpism could return with a vengeance four years from now.

Since the 1990s, Mexico’s banks have been privatized, bailed out, and sold off, resulting in a massive upward transfer of wealth. The AMLO administration is introducing a public option for basic banking, but it must go further to rein in the untrammeled power of the banks.

Strikes are the labor movement's muscle, and when unions don't strike, that muscle atrophies. Unfortunately, the latest data shows just how atrophied that muscle is. Simply put, workers aren't striking.

Next month, a little-discussed election will decide who will occupy one of the country’s most powerful offices: the Manhattan district attorney. But a divided left could throw the race to a Wall Street–funded opponent of criminal justice reform.

The owner of Zara is worth $50 billion, and this year net profits at Zara’s parent company Inditex increased 41 percent. Workers are demanding a bigger share of the profits they created.

Last week, Democrats finally agreed on a major package of climate legislation. But in order for it to actually work, its worst parts will have to be killed or repealed. There are signs progressives in Congress are gearing up to do just that.

In its latest assault against the Kurds, Erdoğan’s Turkey is targeting civilians and refugees along the Iraq border — a brutal campaign to stamp out democracy and self-determination in Kurdistan.

Democratic Party leaders have accused Ilhan Omar of “moral equivalency” because she rejected the brazen double standard underpinning US foreign policy. But Omar is right: murderous violence against civilians is no less criminal when Israel or the United States are the perpetrators.

For a century, the official labor movement in Mexico has been a racket of company unions and protection contracts for bosses. Now that there’s a genuine push to grow independent unionism, President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador must get behind it.

Anglo-American commentary has lost its mind, blending “VAR-gentina” complaints with outrage over Milei’s cozy relationship with Trump and Netanyahu. Don’t buy the moralizing: Argentina is still worth rooting for.

Everyone knows it’s extremely difficult to organize a union in the US. Two often-overlooked reasons why: media consolidation and a dearth of public spaces where workers can come together, socialize, and organize.

Just 25 miles across the English Channel from France, Dover is one of Europe’s most important ports. Yet massive outsourcing has allowed shipping giants to evade British labor law, putting passengers in the hands of underpaid, overworked agency staff.

In industries across the economy — from airlines to tech — the past two weeks have seen workers and their unions take the lead in combating Donald Trump’s far-right base.

The shipping industry is making record money as supply chain snarls and consumer demand drive up opportunities for profit. It’s the perfect moment for the 15,000 dockworkers who keep the goods flowing to negotiate their new contract.

Moscow-based socialist Mikhail Lobanov is a leading left-wing critic of Vladimir Putin. His jailing this Thursday reflects authorities’ determination to silence critics of the war, the disastrous effects of which are playing havoc on Russian society.

After spending most of 2021 on the picket line, nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, are returning to work. Their strike holds two lessons: health care corporations will erode standards infinitely for profit, and worker solidarity is the only way to stop them.

Joe Biden may indeed win in November. But he has run an inconsequential and pathetic campaign — one that could pose enormous dangers in the coming years.