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Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it.

Freedom of Assembly Still Matters

Jan-Werner Mueller Project Syndicate
Protests are essential to the democratic experience and can never be replaced by online activism or voting.

High Score, Low Pay: Why the So-Called Gig Economy Loves Gamification

Sarah Mason The Guardian
Supporters of Uber and Lyft drivers cheer. Gamification is the use of game elements in non-game contexts. Incentivizing workers based on individual competition and bonuses isn’t new, but when Sarah Mason became a Lyft driver she found the gig economy had taken gamification to another level.

Hidden Hunger - How Families Slip Through

Tara Duggan San Francisco Chronicle
One in 10 Bay Area residents earns too little to cover the cost of living; of those, 62 percent earn too much to qualify for food stamps.

Why the Perfect Red-State Democrat Lost

Alec MacGillis The New York Times
Taylor Sappington is exactly the kind of candidate his party should want in Ohio. He couldn’t get union support. Democrats were at such a woeful level in Ohio that unions felt as if they had no choice but to make friends with some GOP candidates.

The Skokie March That Wasn’t - Lessons for Today

Isaac Brosilow Jewish Currents
Skokie and the Nazis - there were massive counter-demonstrations, black and Jewish solidarity, Holocaust survivors who vowed to confront the Nazis in the streets, and a grassroots of proud, leftist Jews.This untold history offers lessons for today.

Going Native: Losing the Hate

Mark Anthony Rolo The Progressive
Since the 1980s, Indian people have sought to put an end to racist names and mascots in schools, colleges, and professional sports teams. The outcry against such racism continues to gain momentum from tribes, celebrities, and racial justice groups.

The Stories War Tells Me

Rory Fanning TomDispatch
So many years later, fragmented memories from my time in Afghanistan still flood my head when I least expect them. Sometimes, I’ll push them out quickly; other times, particularly since my kids were born, they just won’t leave.
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