After Donald Trump, the Last Thing We Need Is Unity
Joe Biden has long prized bipartisanship above all, and some of his early actions indicate he simply wants to restore the country to its pre-Trump form. That would be a disaster.
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The True Story of Indonesia’s US-Backed Anti-Communist Bloodbath
The massacre of the Indonesian left in 1965–66, backed by Washington, was one of the great crimes of the twentieth century. A new generation of scholars has uncovered its long-suppressed history of slaughter of up to a million people in the name of anti-communism.
BlackRock Is Profiting Off the Climate Crisis
For companies like BlackRock, the climate crisis is a valuable investment opportunity. They've positioned themselves to make money no matter how — or whether — governments address climate change.
We Don’t Have to Keep Shoveling Money to Big Ag
Big Ag had a field day last year at the federal trough, gulping down more subsidies than ever before. We can do much better — promoting sustainable farming while empowering farmworkers and challenging the power of Big Ag.
Trumpism After Trump
Don’t count right-wing populism out. While technocrats have seen their fortunes rise under lockdown, the sense of national decline and disarray that first brought leaders like Donald Trump to power still has a bright future.
Why the Uprising in Belarus Failed
It's six months since the fraudulent election in Belarus sparked mass protests against Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian regime. The collapse of his statist model of capitalism has fed mass discontent with his rule — but the liberal opposition's own promises of change also drew skepticism among working-class Belarusians.
The New Deal Put Huge Numbers of Unemployed Artists to Work
New Deal job programs didn't just absorb unemployment but allowed thousands of artists and writers to work on ambitious creative projects. Works Progress Administration funding allowed a golden age in US culture — but drew vicious anti-communist attacks, offering a foretaste of McCarthyism.
Finland Had a Patent-Free COVID-19 Vaccine Nine Months Ago — But Still Went With Big Pharma
A team of leading Finnish researchers had a patent-free COVID-19 vaccine ready last May, which could have allowed countries all over the world to inoculate their populations without paying top dollar. Yet rather than help the initiative, Finland's government sided with Big Pharma — showing how a patent-based funding model puts profit over public health.
It Didn’t Take Long for Joe Biden to Betray the Labor Movement
After promising to be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen,” Joe Biden is staying silent as Amazon workers try to unionize in Alabama. It could be because he’s just being Joe Biden — or it could be because of the massive leverage and influence the company exerts through its size.
The Anti-Colonial Revolt Was Key to Lenin’s Vision of Revolution
The Russian Revolution enthused anti-colonial movements around the world, fueling hopes that the European empires could be overthrown. But the revolt against empire was also fundamental to Lenin's own strategy, as he worked to unite workers’ revolts in the metropoles with national struggles to end colonial exploitation.
Oren Cass Is Insisting That Starving Some Kids Is Important for Society
Despite branding himself as a fresh “pro-worker” conservative, former Mitt Romney adviser Oren Cass believes that excluding poor children from key social welfare benefits is good and we should do more of it. It’s conservative, all right — but the furthest thing from “pro-worker.”
Military Conscription Is a Crime Against Humanity
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a reminder that military conscription remains foundational to modern warfare. It is a reckless, self-defeating, and criminal practice that makes us all less safe — and it should have been abolished long ago.
Intel Wants Public Money to Make Rich Shareholders Richer
Intel is awash in cash, spending billions on stock buybacks that made shareholders even richer. Yet the Biden administration is poised to give the company a no-strings-attached bailout that could further enrich those same shareholders.
The Ruling Class Isn’t Worried About Inflation
With the passage today of the $2 trillion stimulus bill, deficit-phobia appears to be waning in Washington. But it’s not because lawmakers have been won over to redistributive policies — it’s because they think the working class is too weak to set off inflation.
Adam Curtis Talks to Jacobin About Power, Politics, and His New Film
We talk to legendary filmmaker Adam Curtis about politics, power, music, and his new six-part documentary, Can’t Get You Out of My Head.
Turf War
Many of the national liberation movements that dominated the news throughout the 20th century have given up the gun. Others have risen to take their place.
Kenyan Police Have Committed Murder on Behalf of Property Developers
Over 70 percent of Nairobi’s inhabitants live within just 5 percent of the city’s residential space. Kenyan police are displacing — and sometimes even killing — these residents to make room for property developers and highways for the rich.
AMLO Is Fighting to Make Mexico’s Energy a Public Resource
Over the last thirty years, resource-rich Mexico has had its energy grid handed over to corporations and foreign multinationals — when it should be in the hands of the Mexican people. Andrés Manuel López Obrador is trying to reverse that trend by bringing back the nation’s long-debilitated public energy sector.
The Paris Commune Taught the Bolsheviks How to Win a Revolution
Lenin was so enthused by the Paris Commune that he danced in the snow the day the Bolshevik government had lasted longer than its French forebear. Both the successes and ultimate defeat of the commune gave practical lessons to generations of Russian revolutionaries — most importantly, that working-class rule was possible.