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The Rojava Project

Alex de Jong Jacobin
According to the back of Meredith Tax's A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State, a 'democratic society' with 'women on the front lines as fierce warriors and leaders' is growing in the midst of Syria's destruction. This new society - Rojava - was founded by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian-Kurdish offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). How does the PKK function internally, how will it deal with class divisions or regional differences?

Trump's Victory Is a Wake-Up Call to the Left; Lesson for Democrats: Back to Class

Lynn Koh; Jeff Faux In These Times
Did we do enough in 2016? And how can we build a broader electoral movement? I don't believe the Left bears the brunt of the blame for Hillary Clinton's defeat, and I reject arguments that try to score political points through guilt-tripping. Both long-term and short-term factors worked against a Clinton victory. Trump is not Reagan; 2016 is not 1980. But both elections were lost by tone-deaf Democratic elites who dismissed the economic anxieties of the working class.

Carrier Deal: A Dilemma for Unions & Labor Solidarity

Ruth Needleman
Unions must maintain unity among the workforce split by the Carrier deal, and educate its members on why they should not have voted for Trump. Election data seems to indicate that it was union white workers more than poor white workers who supported Trump to begin with. The divide between highly skilled and paid workers and minimum wage workers harkens back to the 1920s when unions focused primarily on craft workers rather than the expanding industrial workforce.

South Korean Protests Growing

SooKyung Nam Socialist Project
For the sixth straight weekend, hundreds of thousands of Koreans came out in Seoul (and with other Korean cities estimates approaching 2 million people on the streets) to demand the resignation of President Park Geun-hye. The below essays were written just after the fourth demonstration weekend.

The Blind Spots of Liberalism

Adam Fisher Jacobin
What an impoverished small town tells us about the dangers of not taking class seriously.

Why Pat McCrory Lost and What It Means in Trump's America

Tom Jensen Public Policy Polling
But the Moral Monday movement pushed back hard. Its constant visibility forced all of these issues to stay in the headlines. Its efforts ensured that voters in the state were educated about what was going on in Raleigh, and as voters became aware of what was going on, they got mad.

Historic CEO Pay Tax Proposal Passes in Portland

Mike Zacchino The Oregonian
Under Novick's tax plan, a company with a CEO-to-worker ratio of at least 100-to-1 will pay a surcharge equal to 10 percent of the amount it pays for Portland's business tax. A company with a 250-to-1 ratio or greater would pay a 25 percent surcharge.

Snowstorm Slams Water Protectors; After the Standing Rock Victory, What Next for Water Protectors?

Theresa Braine; Andy Pearson Indian Country Today
This decision is everything we had asked for: a non-granting of the easement, initiating an Environmental Impact Study, and suggestive of a reroute, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II said. 'We got it! Energy Transfer Partners will face an uphill battle in trying to dismantle the process initiated by this decision.' And, if the camp stays where it is currently located, people are risking their lives. The current weather is severe, making travel impossible.