Place: North America

Perspectives on the DSA Convention

The backdrop for the last two DSA conventions was resistance to Donald Trump and the anticipation of a second Sanders campaign. In 2021, that is gone: Trump is no longer president. Sanders lost. In the Biden era, what is DSA?

Democratic Socialists of America Faces Challenges at Convention

Without fear of Donald Trump and hope in Bernie Sanders, DSA seems to have lost some of its energy. There has been less membership participation in preparation for this convention.

Learning from Industrialization’s Mixed Legacy

Notes on Class Struggle Unionism under Biden

In my remarks I look back at the tradition of the Third Camp, articulated in publications of and about the Workers Party and Independent Socialist League, as well as my involvement in Berkeley with the Independent Socialist Club and the International Socialists.

Black Candidates Lead in New York City, Black Socialist Wins Mayor in Buffalo

The big surprise of the New York State election, was the victory of India B. Walton, a Black woman and a self-described socialist in the Democratic mayoral primary in Buffalo, New York, a poor city of 250,000 people, 37% Black.

Lies and Professional Politicians

Professional politicians are a relatively recent historical phenomenon and their lies are to a great extent a response to social structural imperatives that did not exist in precapitalist societies.

Beyond Atlanta: Contextualizing Anti-Asian Hate and Violence

We must broaden the contours of what is anti-Asian violence to also include Asian workers being exploited, or Asian women being sexually attacked, a pattern of misogyny and oppression linked to colonialism and white supremacy.

Nicaragua: Ortega Arrests Opposition Candidates Ahead of November 2021 Election

We should reject the argument made by some on the left that we have to support the dictator Ortega and his government because the U.S. is now opposed to it.

Why Have the Republicans Gone Off the Deep End? Is it All Because of Trump?

The social and economic crisis of capitalism has radicalized sections of the middle class. It has also driven sections of smaller corporate capital in a more desperate right wing direction.

DSA Convention Primer: 2021 Edition

It should be a major red flag that the number of proposals has sunk compared to previous years, especially when we weight them by the size of the organization. A small minority of proposals are coming from rank-and-file members.

A Century Since the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921

One hundred years ago, a white mob attacked the black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma and in two days killed hundreds of people, burned to the ground every building, and left ten thousand homeless.

Biden, the Oil Companies, and the Environment

Years of education, protest, and lobbying seem to be finally having an effect on U.S. environmental policies, though not without constant Republican resistance and Democratic vacillation—and so far, neither fast enough or strong enough for the change we need.

Remembering Mark Levitan: Comrade and Dear Friend

Student radical, trade union militant, and economist. Michael Hirsch pays tribute to a comrade who has gone too soon.

American Progressives and France’s Surge to the Right

Macron’s newest orders banning demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine reveal even more clearly the real nature of France’s anti-Muslim campaign, one that the U.S. and French Left have with few exceptions mostly ignored.

Progressives Break with Biden Over His Uncritical Support for Israel

For the first time, the Democrats face a small but determined group within the party who demand a break from unconditional support for Israel and support for Palestinian rights.

Republicans Pass State Laws to Restrict Voting Rights: A Return to Jim Crow

Republicans are passing state laws to restrict voting that will particularly harm black voters in ways not seen since the period of Jim Crow.

Ruger and the Far-Right NRA

Ruger and the NRA seem to be joined at the hip. Ruger’s goal is to sell guns and make money. Fear of crime sells guns. Fear of a “gun-grabbing government” sells guns. The NRA creates the hysteria. Ruger rakes in the cash.

Will Biden Be Another Roosevelt?

Biden’s progressive domestic policy is motivated by a desire to rebuild America so as to reestablish the global hegemony of American imperialism.

Political lessons the left should learn from Donald Trump

The issues that gave rise to Trump still exist, and so far, they aren’t being adequately addressed by the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the Trump wing continues its domination of the Republican Party. The country is still deep in the woods.

Chauvin’s Conviction and the Future of Policing

The Chauvin conviction was momentous, and could be a turning point, but police reform ultimately depends on building a popular movement for reform in education, health, housing, as well as ending police racism and violence.

Biden, Borders and the Fight for Migrant Rights

Join us for this online event on Sunday, April 25, 2pm ET/1pm CT/12pm MT/11am PT. Sponsored by: New Politics, puntorojo, Rampant, and Tempest.

Biden to Remove U.S. Troops from Afghanistan

The U.S.-Afghanistan War, which has lasted almost twenty years, has cost the United States 2,300 soldiers’ lives and two trillion dollars, while more than 100,000 Afghanis have been killed.

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