Skip to main content

World's Most Famous Economist Says Bernie Sanders Could "Change the Face of the Country"

Zeeshan Aleem Policy.Mic
The Vermont senator's success so far demonstrates the end of the politico-ideological cycle opened by the victory of Ronald Reagan at the 1980 elections. Piketty's doesn't see Sanders as following in the footsteps of Europe's social democratic models, but rather leading the United States toward a possible return to the nation's pioneering 20th century experiments with extremely progressive taxation and social spending.

Why America Is Moving Left

Peter Beinart The Atlantic, Jan - Feb 2016 issue
Republicans may have a lock on Congress and the nation's statehouses - and could well win the presidency - but the liberal era ushered in by Barack Obama is only just beginning. The need to win the votes of Millennials and minorities, who lean left not just on cultural issues but on economic ones, will shape how whoever wins in the general election, and governs once in office.

Why India’s Leading University is Under Siege

Vijay Prashad Counterpunch
For generations, the Extreme Right in India has sought to erase the Left. What is it about the Left that the Extreme Right fears? It fears that the Left has an alternative narrative of India’s history and of its possible future -- one rooted not in social exclusion and economic inequality, but in the very opposite of that.

My Visit to Logan Prison

Alan Mills Uptown People's Law Center
Alan Mills, executive director of Uptown People's Law Center (UPLC), shares the stories of several women incarcerated at Logan Prison in Illinois who are members of the plaintiff class in UPLC's recently-settled case challenging the way people with mental illness are treated in Illinois prisons (Rasho v. Baldwin). This essay was originally posted on UPLC's blog.

Can the New Left Govern Europe?

Conn Hallinan Foreign Policy In Focus
After a year of earthshaking victories and devastating setbacks, Europe's new progressive parties are slowly learning how to balance governance with activism.

The Enduring Solidarity of Whiteness

TA-NEHISI COATES The Atlantic
Black poverty is fundamentally distinct from white poverty—and so cannot be addressed without grappling with racism.

Media Bits and Bytes

portside
Rewriting Bernie's history; Black community loses WWRL; Skills gap; Kids depart social media; Flint fail; Copyright crisis

When Scalia Died, So Did ‘Friedrichs’—And an Even Grander Scheme To Destroy Unions

Moshe Z. Marvit Working In These Times
When the Supreme Court ties 4-4, no precedent is set. Anyone in labor worried about that outcome in Friedrichs can rest a bit easier remembering that no precedent is needed here. Abood created the precedent in 1977, and Friedrichs was a shameless ideological ploy to overturn that longstanding precedent.

American Cartel: How America's Two Major Parties Helped Destroy Democracy

Frank Castro The Hampton Institute
Remember the age-old question, what do all those with power want? More power. As such, two monopolies have dominated American politics for over 150 years-the Democratic Party, founded in 1828, and the Republican Party, founded in 1854. Together, they form a political cartel, or an association of political parties with the purpose of maintaining concentrated power and restricting or repressing competition.