We Are Watching the Rise of Democratic Fascism
Bertolt Brecht predicted it in 1942: American fascism would be democratic in the American fashion. He was right. That's precisely what makes it so hard to stop.
Blog
Donald Trump Is on a Mining Offensive in DR Congo
The Trump administration wants a new sphere of influence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. US businesses are already rushing in, but many locals insist their mineral wealth should be for the Congolese themselves.
The Corporate Thriller Lied to Us
Criterion Channel is hosting a retrospective on Hollywood’s “corporate thrillers” from the 1980s through the early 2000s. If anything, their message about the capitalist rot in America’s institutions looks far too tame for how the last couple of decades turned out.
Capitalism Was Built on the Ruins of the Commons
The Industrial Revolution’s chief product was not goods but a new class of laborers who owned nothing and worked to survive. Historian Peter Linebaugh traces the creation of this working class through the violent enclosure of the commons they once relied on.
Messing With Childcare Ratios Is a Terrible Idea
Donald Trump’s childcare czar says he wants federal regulations for daycare centers to “fit on an index card in my back pocket.” His plans contain many causes for alarm, not least his dangerous proposal to raise child-to-adult ratios.
Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” Is a Board of Naked Power
Rebuilding Gaza under Trump’s Board of Peace is diplomacy for warmongers, imposed on Palestinians.
The Historic Strike That Transformed the Danish West Indies
In 1916, a mass strike led by black labor organizer David Hamilton Jackson upturned power relations in the Danish West Indies. Its success owed partly to support from Denmark’s labor movement — a true labor internationalism as rare then as it is today.
How Massachusetts Teachers Transformed Their Union
Outgoing Massachusetts Teachers Association president Max Page reflects on a decade of rank-and-file reformers turning a cautious, staff-driven union into a militant, member-led force by striking, winning stronger contracts, and pushing to tax the rich.
Barbara Kopple on Her Labor Documentary Masterpieces
Barbara Kopple’s films Harlan County USA and American Dream captured labor struggle as it was happening: on picket lines, inside unions, and under pressure. Decades later, both remain some of the finest labor documentaries ever made.
May 1: Day of Work or Workers’ Day?
In France, May Day has long been a day for all workers to stop working. A recent proposal for some businesses to remain open forced unions to defend the idea that French workers keep May Day as a day to themselves.
Strikes Are Down, but Workers Are Rediscovering Their Power
A group of researchers tracking every strike in America for the past five years write that after a promising increase in strikes and number of strikers in 2022 and 2023, strike activity dropped off significantly in 2024 and remained low in 2025.
May Day: An Answer to Rampant Individualism
Countless influencers and quack positive-thinking gurus tell us that success is all a matter of individual effort. International Workers’ Day reminds us that individuals are happiest when we have others standing alongside us.