Crimea Is a Powder Keg
Whether the Ukraine war brings on a global catastrophe will hinge in large part on whether Washington decides to back a Ukrainian effort to retake the Crimean peninsula.
14659 Articles by: Kendra Strauss
Kendra Strauss is director of the Labour Studies Program and associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University.
France’s Once-Mighty Socialist Party Must Change or Die
Once a major national force, today’s French Socialist Party finds itself outcompeted by both the radical left and neoliberal president Emmanuel Macron. But last month’s congress shows many leaders would rather kill the party than sign up for radical policies.
Automation Isn’t the Cause of Unemployment — Capitalism Just Can’t Generate Enough Jobs
Social theorists identify automation as both the main cause of unemployment and the future launchpad for a high-tech post-scarcity world. But, Aaron Benanav argues, the problem is the stagnation of global capitalism and its inability to generate enough jobs.
Loblaws Is Crushing Canadians With High Food Prices — While Raking in Enormous Profits
“Let them eat price gouging” appears to be grocery giant Loblaws’ response to the rising number of food-insecure Canadians. The company blames supply chain issues and inflation for soaring grocery costs — yet is posting stratospheric profits.
Israel’s Law of Return Lets Criminals Abroad Run From the Law
Israel routinely refuses to extradite its own citizens — including people who’ve flown there purely to escape justice. Its Law of Return rewards criminals who can claim a vague connection to Israel, even as it denies innocent Palestinians their homeland.
Even When Times Are Tough, Keep Socialism as Your North Star
Achieving a fully socialist society is going to take a long time, and there’s no guarantee of victory. But we should never lose sight of the goal, because every step we take in that direction makes life better for working-class people and deepens democracy.
Railroad Corporations Are Blocking Safety Regulations to Protect Profits
For years, rail companies have resisted federal safety regulations to cut costs. The major train derailment in Ohio last weekend, which resulted in the emergency evacuation of residents nearby, is the fruit of such profit maximization.
For the GOP in 2024, It’s Still Trump
Since he first ran for president, Donald Trump has not only become the dominant figure in Republican politics — he’s embedded his own priorities and personal style deep in the GOP base. They’ll accept no substitutes for the real thing at this point.
France’s Left-Wing Coalition Risks Splitting Apart
Mass protests on Tuesday showed the strength of popular anger at Emmanuel Macron’s plans to raise the pension age. But the coalition of left-wing parties, NUPES, has fallen into infighting — which risks wasting the progress it has made since last spring.
Gandhi’s Assassin Helped Build the Forces Ruling India Today
Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948 shocked the newly independent India. Seventy-five years later, the assassin’s associates are now in power and dismantling secular democracy.
At a New Jersey Factory, Workers Are Up Against a Pension-Backed Private Equity Giant
Workers at a soft drink maker owned by private equity megafirm KKR say the company is stalling in contract negotiations and denying workers more than six weekends off per year. Ironically, KKR’s union busting is funded in part by union pension investments.
The Judiciary Has Never Been Impartial — Something the GOP Has Long Known
The idea that judges are objective interpreters of the law is a polite fiction. With their ability to carry out a far-right agenda through democratic means declining, the GOP is embracing judicial partisanship.
Joe Biden Still Has No Plan to Turn His Rhetoric Into Reality
Joe Biden actually showed signs of life in his State of the Union. And Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s response reflected a GOP determined to stay weird and unhinged. But whatever his rhetorical innovations, Bidenism in practice remains grounded in Beltway orthodoxy.
The Grinding War in Ukraine Could Have Ended a Long Time Ago
An early peace deal could have ended the bloody war in Ukraine. But NATO opposition and revelations about the Russian massacre of civilians at Bucha, along with US media that all but ignored potential routes to peace, dashed those hopes.
If You Care About Human Freedom, You Should Reject the Capitalist Work Ethic
The capitalist work ethic insists that we keep our heads down and work endlessly, even if our job is degrading. Democratic socialists want to free workers from drudgery so we can develop our full human potential and simply enjoy the one life we have.
Liz Truss’s Press Tour Is an Exercise in Reality Denial
Britain’s short-lived Tory prime minister Liz Truss has finally emerged from hiding to tell the story of her less than two months at 10 Downing Street, and she’s already rewriting history.
In Los Angeles, the Left and the Labor Movement Are Shifting the Center of Power
Between several massive strikes, democratic socialists getting elected to city council, new union organizing campaigns, successful ballot measures to tax the rich, and the ouster of several reactionary political figures, it’s a good time to be a leftist in Los Angeles.
Every State-Level Parental Leave Program in the US Is Horrendous
Thanks to exclusionary work history requirements, the 12 state parental leave programs in the US make one in three women ineligible for benefits on average. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Inland Empire Amazon Workers Say They’ve Forced Concessions From Bosses by Organizing
Despite recent breakthroughs in Amazon organizing nationally, it’s still a tough slog for workers to get the company to change. But workers at an Inland Empire, California, Amazon facility recently showed that it’s possible.
Russell Brand: Elites Are Using Liberal Ideas to Justify Inequality
The comedian, actor, and political activist Russell Brand on political polarization and how establishment voices attempt to silence dissent.