After becoming the first man in space, in July 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin accepted an invitation to visit factory workers in Manchester. Gagarin delighted them by saying he was proud to be a worker — and that the collective endeavor that put him in orbit was also needed on Earth.
The Defeat at Amazon and the Union Fights to Come
The union loss in Bessemer, Alabama against Amazon was a crushing defeat. It’s a reflection of a disjunction between “laborism,” the intellectual and activist infrastructure supportive of organized labor, and the labor movement itself.
Boris Johnson Wants to Make British Imperialism Great Again
Boris Johnson wants the UK to spend more on arms and reassert its “global role.” Along with a government clampdown on anti-racist organizing, his strategy is clear — imperial grandstanding and the crushing of dissent.
Capitalists Have Never Been Friends of Democracy
Capitalists are sometimes accommodating of electoral democracy. But at no point in history have capitalists ever accepted the outcome of elections that might threaten capitalist property relations.
A New Union of Musicians Is Taking on Spotify
Over the last decade, streaming services like Spotify have become increasingly dominant, sucking up all the profits at the expense of the musicians who make the work. Now, the newly formed Union for Musicians and Allied Workers is mobilizing to ensure musicians receive the royalties they’re owed.
- Issue No. 40 out now!
- Winter 2021
Biden Our Time
In this issue
The Politics of a Second Gilded Age
The mass inequality of America’s first Gilded Age thrived on identity-based partisanship, helping extinguish the fires of class rage. In 2021, we’re headed down the same path.
From his new memoir, it’s clear that Barack Obama believes process is politics. But no amount of “process” will solve the problems that plague us — for that, we need the political will he could never muster as president.
Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin Had the Right Stuff
Sixty years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to leave our planet. The space race was inseparable from Cold War rivalry, but it also stands out as an inspiring example of what humanity can achieve through grand collective projects that aren’t geared to private profit.
In Australia, the Wangan and Jagalingou Nation Is Standing Against the Disastrous Carmichael Coal Mine
With support from the Australian government, the Adani corporation is pushing ahead with an environmentally destructive coal mine in Queensland. But the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Wangan and Jagalingou nation, are waging a determined fight to stop them.
Q: Into the Storm Exposes the QAnon Conspiracy and Its Toxic Roots
HBO’s QAnon documentary has been criticized for its hands-off approach to its subjects, who include some of the most reactionary characters on the internet. But the film is a deft portrayal how a dangerous conspiracy theory could emerge from the internet’s fever swamps and cause real world damage.
From Posting to Politics
The Left has no choice but to engage in organizing and propagandizing online. But we also have to understand that online organizing is not capable of building the kind of solidarity or coordination our politics demand.
Italy’s New “Pro-European” Government Is Intensifying the War on Migrants
When former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi was appointed Italy’s prime minister, he was widely hailed as a pro-European bulwark against the populist right. Yet the first weeks of his government have seen a wave of attacks against migrant rescue NGOs and refugees.
Revisiting the Life and Intellectual Legacy of Primo Levi
The author, anti-fascist partisan, and Nazi death camp survivor Primo Levi died on this day in 1987. His life and the cautious Enlightenment ideology he advanced in his work, Enzo Traverso writes, told the story of the twentieth century and its battles.
Justin Trudeau Hasn’t Delivered On His Pledge to Establish Public Pharmacare
Canada’s public health system is often seen as a model for the US. When it comes to pharmacare, however, Canada imitates its neighbor’s lousy practices, and Justin Trudeau has broken his pledge to establish a public prescription system that would be more just and more efficient.
Daniel Hale Blew the Whistle on the US’s Illegal Drone Program. He’s a Hero, Not a Criminal.
Former intelligence analyst Daniel Hale is being prosecuted for blowing the whistle on America’s drone program. It’s the latest in the topsy-turvy world of national security whistleblowers, who reveal illegal and immoral conduct by the US military yet face prison time as if they committed the real crimes.