The UBI Bait and Switch
Finland’s UBI experiment serves as a cautionary tale for basic income proponents on the Left.
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The Problem with the “Canadian Model”
The successes of Canadian single-payer are overstated — not because of outsized government involvement, but because public provision isn’t generous enough.
Andrew Yang Is Ross Perot for Millennials
Andrew Yang likes to present himself as a serious policy thinker. But he's just the latest corporate salesman pitching a quack remedy to suffering people.
Taking Back Control
Old ways of thinking about mass democratic politics won't cut it in today's globalized, atomized society.
No, Andrew Yang Should Not Be New York City’s Mayor
Andrew Yang might be gearing up to run for New York City’s mayor. But he’s more likely to be the pro-developer, pro-cop second coming of Mike Bloomberg than a real alternative.
Bad and Bourgeois
The super-rich talk to one another about a rising tide lifting all boats, all the while arming their yachts ahead of potential crisis.
MLK Was a Radical Who Hated Not Only Racial Subordination But Class Exploitation
Throughout his adult life, Martin Luther King Jr believed in striking down not only racial apartheid but class exploitation. That twin commitment was embodied in his final effort: the often-forgotten Poor People’s Campaign.
Basic Income in a Pandemic and Beyond
Politicians who represent the interests of capital clearly grasp the point that a UBI would tilt the playing field in favor of workers. That’s why they’re fighting the idea tooth and nail, even amid an unprecedented crisis.
Second-Wave Feminism’s Unfinished Business
Women are forced to take on both wage and social reproductive labor, then made to negotiate this contradiction individually. Second-wave feminism tried to change that.
What Democrats Must Do
The Democratic Party’s pursuit of well-off whites undermined its ability to deliver gains for all workers. Going forward, it must place the multiracial working class at the center of its political vision.
American Unemployment Insurance Is a National Disgrace. It’s Time to Federalize It.
The slow, decades-long destruction of the US unemployment insurance system has resulted in more than just personal hardship for millions of workers — it has further weakened the fighting strength of the whole working class. The solution is to fully federalize it.
Our Political Leaders Could Have Prevented Mass COVID-19 Deaths. They Chose Not to.
The US has never seriously considered far-reaching responses to the coronavirus pandemic like a national lockdown or a universal basic income that would allow people to stay at home without immiseration. The result: unnecessary mass deaths, with more on the way.
Why We Need Free College for Everyone — Even Rich People
Centrists claim free college is a giveaway to the rich. That’s just a smokescreen for their opposition to universal social programs.
A View of the Green New Deal From Argentina
The Green New Deal is gaining prominence internationally, with transformative green programs that respond to the specific needs of national economies. In debt-laden Argentina, leftists are arguing for a new Gran Pacto that implements a basic income and suspends all external-debt payments.
Ross Douthat and the Young Marx
Why Marx loved work — and we should, too.
Why We Need a Federal Job Guarantee
Giving everyone a job is the best way to democratize the economy and give workers leverage in the workplace.
The Solution to Britain’s Cost of Living Crisis Is Higher Wages
The cost of living crisis is causing Britain’s biggest fall in living standards in decades. The only way to change this: wage increases across the economy.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar’s End Child Poverty Act Is a Political and Policy Home Run
US reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar just introduced the End Child Poverty Act, which would set up a universal child benefit. It’s a major improvement on previous proposals to help poor and working-class families — and would instantly slash child poverty.
Portland Is on Its Way to Winning Universal Preschool
In Portland, Oregon, a coalition of parents, childcare workers, socialists, unions, and progressive organizations has collected tens of thousands of signatures to put a universal preschool measure on the ballot — all in five weeks, and in the middle of a pandemic.
Mike Gravel Was on the Right Side of History
While Mike Gravel never earned the respect of the political establishment, he passed from this Earth with his conscience untormented by the ghosts of screaming civilians whose lives those in Washington regularly snuff out with their afternoon coffee.