Donald Trump’s authoritarianism has been enabled by long-standing antidemocratic features of the US state — the same features that have time and again blocked pro-worker policies. The Left needs a serious program aimed at democratizing our political system.
His Rivals Wrote Him Off, but Jean-Luc Mélenchon Is Back
Critics of French left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon have repeatedly claimed that he’s finished. But as he launches his latest presidential campaign, his popularity among working-class and minority voters is again making him a real contender.
Yemen Could Be Sucked Into the US War on Iran
Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement has held back so far from full-scale involvement in the conflict between the US and its Iranian allies. But with ceasefire talks seemingly close to collapse, Yemen could be drawn into any renewed outbreak of war.
Everyone Loves the Knicks. Everyone Hates James Dolan.
The awful billionaire James Dolan’s stranglehold on one of sports’ greatest franchises is holding the New York Knicks back. The solution? Yes, that’s right: public ownership of the Knicks.
Donald Trump Is Accidentally Speeding the Green Transition
Donald Trump’s policies, especially his war on Iran, are having the unintended effect of accelerating the very green transition project he scorns. The Left must ensure the renewable energy build-out advances the well-being of the US working class.
Socialism cannot mean merely managing capitalism more fairly. It must point toward a society where survival is no longer contingent on the market — and where democracy extends into the economy itself.
Financial Speculators See Big Opportunities in Puerto Rico
Without full sovereignty, Puerto Rico is significantly constrained in its ability to design independent fiscal or monetary policies — leaving the island vulnerable to tourism investments that are becoming increasingly financialized.
Kill Dick Attempts the Great OxyContin Novel
In Luke Goebel’s much-hyped novel Kill Dick, a rich dropout is hooked on OxyContin, a drug manufactured by her lawyer dad’s biggest client. Aptly set in a strange and soporific Los Angeles, it captures the degradation of American society and interior life.
Class War on the Red Carpet
The Cannes Film Festival might seem like an elite event, but it has deep roots in anti-fascism and the labor movement. Its early history in the years after World War II tells us how cinema can truly belong to the working class.
In Hawaii, Uber Is Creating a Tax Shelter for Itself
Ridesharing behemoth Uber has quietly amassed billions of dollars in a Hawaii-based shell company, ostensibly reserved for insurance liability. This “reserve” could be used to sidestep taxes and fund Uber’s robotaxi projects.
Neoliberalism didn’t win an intellectual argument — it won power. Vivek Chibber unpacks how employers and political elites in the 1970s and ’80s turned economic turmoil into an opportunity to reshape society on their terms.
Reforming Capitalism Is Not Enough
The era of class compromise is never coming back. Any serious democratic socialist politics must pursue a politics of rupture with capitalism.
America Brings the World Cup to a New Low
Other recent World Cup hosts used sports to prettify their image. But Donald Trump isn’t so much “sportswashing” as using the World Cup to show off the United States’ ability to discriminate against other teams and their fans.
South Africa's Left Can Rebuild — If It Rejects Corruption
The South African left today is dominated by parties of patronage and corruption and small sectarian groupings. If the Left is to rebuild itself, it needs to break with these elements and forge a movement committed to emancipatory working-class politics.
Trump Is Pressing Lawyers to Share Info on Migrant Children
The Trump administration is withholding pay from legal aid groups while demanding they share confidential case data about the unaccompanied migrant children whom immigration enforcement agencies are trying to deport.