Place: North America

It’s Profitability: A Response to “Why Stagnation?”

Recently in the Marxist Sociology blog, David Kotz, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Sheridan Scholar at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Distinguished Professor in the School of Economics at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics offered an explanation as . . .

Read more ›

It’s Time For a People’s Court

Draconian legislative attacks on abortion access in Georgia, Ohio and Alabama require a renewed defense of women’s and trans men’s bodily autonomy. The Supreme Court cannot be relied on to provide this defense under any circumstances. The American left should hear the call to defend Roe v. Wade and come back with a more radical demand: abolish the Supreme Court.

The Road to Prison Abolition: A Practical Solution

Seemingly overnight, politicians are tripping over themselves as they clamor for prison reform in a climate where cases of police murder and prison abuses have drawn thousands in protests onto the streets. Today, few would doubt that America’s criminal justice . . .

Read more ›

Are we at a tipping point? Assessing the US political terrain

“Liberal democracy is crumbling.” A Harvard Law Professor opened a recent talk with this matter-of-fact statement and the audience readily murmured its assent.
The daily headlines certainly seem to confirm this assessment—that we are a nation in crisis. Yet, the nature . . .

Read more ›

Should the Green Party Stand Down in 2020?

We can expect much commentary on why the socialist left should unite behind the Democrats in 2020 to get rid of the dreaded Trump. The Green Party will be told to stand down in the 2020 presidential campaign.
The quadrennial attacks . . .

Read more ›

No U.S.-Guaido Coup – Let Venezuelans Decide!

The U.S.-sponsored coup in Venezuela appears to have fizzled on the first day. But the country remains on a knife-edge. A failure of this coup would leave the Trump administration facing the prospect of its own “Bay of Pigs”-type debacle . . .

Read more ›

New York City nurses threatened to strike against the Hospital Alliance—and won

But the Fight's Not Over

In late fall of 2018, nurses from five private New York City hospitals in three competing hospital systems delivered their contract proposals to management. Born from a protracted gestation of surveying democratic priorities and tracking experiences with the previous contract, . . .

Read more ›

Trump’s Controversial Decision on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

There is little question that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is bad news. Some of its units have engaged in severe repression of nonviolent dissidents, supported Assad’s brutal counter-insurgency operations in Syria, backed hardline Islamist militia in several foreign countries, . . .

Read more ›

Gertrude Ezorsky

Gertrude Ezorsky, professor emerita, in the philosophy departments of Brooklyn College, and the CUNY Graduate Center, died at home peacefully on April 19 age 92.

California Teachers on the March: An Interview with Joel Jordan

Johanna Brenner (JB): On February 21, Oakland’s 3,000 teachers went out on strike after two years of failed negotiations with the Oakland Unified School District.  Clearly, the strike got the District’s attention and a deal was won after teachers held . . .

Read more ›

Hands Off Venezuela! For Socialist Democracy!

The foul, brutal hands of U.S. imperialism and its allies are tightening around Venezuela, and there is a strong possibility that a far-right takeover will occur in the near future.  This would extinguish the last vestiges of the left-of-center Pink . . .

Read more ›

Coming to Terms with Actually-Existing Black Life

A Response to Mia White and Kim Moody

My central contention with both White and Moody lies in their reluctance to engage in meaningful class analysis of black political life.

Call for the Formation of a Transnational Socialist-Humanist Solidarity Network

Critical developments around the globe compel the creation of a new type of transnational socialist and anti-authoritarian solidarity network.

Can the Military Be Reformed?

Six Unusual Veterans Ponder Active Duty and Its Aftermath

It happens all the time in small towns and big cities across the country. A young person from a poor or working-class family can’t find a good job or afford to pay for higher education. Other family members, a teacher, . . .

Read more ›

A response to an Open Letter from Professional Staff Congress leaders on “$7K or Strike!”

As members of the $7K or Strike Campaign (which includes City University of New York [CUNY] adjuncts, tenure-track/tenured faculty, HEOs, CLTs, students, and other NYC union members) we are deeply disappointed by the March 21, 2019 letter signed by PSC . . .

Read more ›

More on the Oakland Teachers’ Strike

Editor’s note: This article responds to analysis New Politics has already published on the Oakland teachers’ strike. In hosting different viewpoints on the strike, New Politics continues its tradition of opening its pages (and now its website) to debates about . . .

Read more ›

An Election Challenge: Time for Change at NewsGuild?

The 21,000-member NewsGuild, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), is a rarity in organized labor. It’s one of the few national unions that lets all members vote for its top officers, instead of choosing them at a convention . . .

Read more ›

Capitalism and the Reactionary Power of White Identity Politics

Momentum for building a post-neoliberal U.S. has been gaining strength with each passing day. However, despite the rise of new and exciting figures, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the tide of striking teachers in even GOP dominated states, we must remain aware that whenever there has been potential for revolutionizing government and politics, there has always followed a reactionary and brutal backlash.

Reminiscences of the First Sanders Campaign

The words jumped from the screen like the familiar opines of old love letters.
‘Single-payer healthcare’, ‘break up the banks’, ‘fifteen dollar minimum wage’, ‘tuition free college’.
I had been surreptitiously scrolling through the news on a short break from my daily . . .

Read more ›

Can the “Green New Deal” Save the Planet?

It is never comfortable to give up long-held beliefs and connections, but the impending climate crisis makes that a burning necessity. And the fact that, scientifically, it’s possible to avoid the worst of this climate disaster gives a positive incentive to do . . .

Read more ›

Oakland teachers’ strike: Balance sheet, lessons, and what next?

Jack Gerson, retired Oakland teacher and former executive board and bargaining team member, analyzes what occurred and why in the Oakland teachers’ strike.

Top