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The Forgotten History of How Automakers Invented the Crime of "Jaywalking"

Joseph Stromberg Vox
It's strange to imagine now, but prior to the 1920s, city streets looked dramatically different than they do today. They were considered to be a public space: a place for pedestrians, pushcart vendors, horse-drawn vehicles, streetcars, and children at play. As cars began to spread widely during the 1920s, the consequence of this was predictable: death.

Understanding the Greek Communists

Nikos Lountos Jacobin
Syriza is not the only left-wing party in Greece, and by some measures it’s not even the largest. In organizational terms, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) is bigger. Ignoring it, as most of the Left is content to do, means ignoring a force with important roots in the trade union movement and the longest history of all surviving Greek parties.

Can the U.S. Ever Fix Its Messed-Up Maternity Leave System?

Claire Suddath Business Week
According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, there are only two countries in the world that don’t have some form of legally protected, partially paid time off for working women who’ve just had a baby: Papua New Guinea and the U.S. The U.S. is also way behind the 78 countries that also offer leave to fathers.

Can the U.S. Ever Fix Its Messed-Up Maternity Leave System?

Claire Suddath Business Week
According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, there are only two countries in the world that don’t have some form of legally protected, partially paid time off for working women who’ve just had a baby: Papua New Guinea and the U.S. The U.S. is also way behind the 78 countries that also offer leave to fathers.

How Propaganda Conquers Democracy

Nicolas J S Davies Consortium News
America’s “managed democracy” has devolved into “inverted totalitarianism,” concentrating power and wealth in the hands of a small ruling class more efficiently and sustainably. Is this a basic test of democracy for the citizens of any country?

MLK’s Radical Vision Got Distorted: Here’s His Real Legacy on Militarism & Inequality

Geoff Gilbert Salon
In the address, Dr. King implored the necessity for the nation to undergo a “radical revolution of values,” explaining, “We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives, and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”