
Every Economic Question Is a Question of Power
The links between business, finance, and the state do not represent a perversion of liberal democracy — they are an unavoidable feature of capitalist political economy.

The links between business, finance, and the state do not represent a perversion of liberal democracy — they are an unavoidable feature of capitalist political economy.

Each year, Congress mandates the US military disclose how many civilian deaths it was responsible for globally. In its latest report, the Pentagon refused to acknowledge any — following a long history of failures to own up to documented killings of civilians.

The state of Georgia is subsidizing Hollywood CEOs to the tune of $1 billion a year. That money could go to schools, roads, health care, and good public jobs. But sure, a little peach logo in the credit sequence is cool too.

Late last month, 500 grocery workers went on strike in Brainerd Lakes, Minnesota. The strike exemplified the growing militancy in the United Food and Commercial Workers, who mounted successful strike threats against employers across the state last year.
Work in a capitalist society is a conflicted and contradictory phenomenon.

Teaming up with Big Pharma and Wall Street, universities are profiting by fighting government efforts to curtail soaring drug prices. A case in point: UCLA has reaped more than a billion dollars from its development of Xtandi, a lifesaving cancer drug.

Alabama executed a man last night using a method that experts have deemed too cruel for animals. It was a display of barbarism.

The US is pushing for a peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia that could involve the US signing a defense pact with the Gulf monarchy. The US would thus be obligated to militarily defend a state where democratic institutions do not exist, even in name.

Many health insurers’ online provider directories are inaccurate or out of date. With no recourse for the negligence of insurance companies, providers and patients alike are suffering the consequences.

Only a select few get sinecures at conservative magazines like the National Review. Those few don’t have to work much, but they must carry out a key task: denouncing any effort to make life more bearable for the vast majority of us working stiffs.

The Trump administration is attacking jobs and wages in the building trades, as well as the rights of immigrant workers. Building trades unions have been divided over whether to try to curry favor with the president or confront the attacks head-on.

Polish president Karol Nawrocki is shutting off welfare benefits for Ukrainians in Poland. Earlier welcomed as refugees, Ukrainians are now pushed into a role as second-class guestworkers in their host country.

Remember the policy “nudges” of the Barack Obama years, which purported to fix all manner of social ills by pushing people to behave differently? Surprise, surprise: its intellectual edifice, behavioral science, has been exposed as a fraud.

Critics of new anti-scab legislation in Canada are worried about the ability to “get things done.” But halting production is the very purpose of strikes — to create disruptions that force bosses to negotiate.

Public pools are a vital resource in the United States. We need more of them.
When it comes to reforming our food system, consumer choice isn’t enough.

Elon Musk is wrecking the government. If he read Marxist state theory, he’d at least understand how it works.

Palestinians in Israel are not the kingmakers of Zionist politics. The Joint List leadership should uphold their just national cause and actively organize against their social exclusion. They shouldn’t support coalition governments that oppose it.
The cold calculus of fantasy football leaves little room for the sentimentalism at the heart of fandom.