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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.

The Minimum Wage Is a Fight for Women

Isaiah Poole OurFuture.org
Despite decades of efforts on behalf of equal pay for women, women still earn on average 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. Legislation increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 would narrow that gap by 5 percent

Socialism for the Rich -- It's Capitalism - A Nation of Takers

Nicholas Kristof, Op-Ed The New York Times
The wealthiest Congress in history, the first in which a majority of members are millionaires, we have a one-sided discussion demanding cuts only in public assistance to the poor, while ignoring public assistance to the rich. And a one-sided discussion leads to a one-sided and myopic policy. We're cutting one kind of subsidized food - food stamps - at a time when Gallup finds that almost one-fifth of American families struggled in 2013 to afford food.

Polarization - European Parliament Elections

Barbara Steiner, Anna Striethorst, Walter Baier transform! europe
The elections to the European Parliament (EP) in May 2014 will be marked by the capitalist crisis and its - regionally quite differentiated - political impact. By contrast to 2009 when the elections evidenced a shift to the right, this time they may result in a polarisation between a new bloc of right-wing populist parties and the left wing of the left.

The Rise of Vermont's Fracked Gas Battle: Communities Organize Against Pipeline Plans

Keith Brunner Toward Freedom
If built, the proposed Addison-Rutland Natural Gas Project would extend Vermont's gas pipeline grid south into Addison and Rutland counties, with the possibility of further expansions linking up with the US pipeline network in the Albany, New York area. The entire pipeline project was dealt a major blow on March 4, 2014, when three affected communities passed Town Meeting Day resolutions opposing the pipeline.

Beyond the Minimum Wage: Interview With Jobs With Justice's Sarita Gupta

Amy Dean, Truthout Interview Truthout
There's a growing population of people who have to make ridiculous choices between paying for food or paying for rent or paying for health care - basic necessities. There's actually a need for us right now to create a whole new generation of smart policies. The fight for raising the minimum wage and all these wage campaigns are actually part of creating a long-term vision around what economic democracy looks like and needs to be.

Tidbits - March 27, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Ukraine; Russia; Climate Change; Wall Street; Capitalism; Wanted: Populist Movement of the 99%; Angela Davis; Charter Schools; Government Spying, NSA; NCAA Racism; TPP Announcements - Left Labor Project - Election Strategy Discussion -New York -Apr 3; Need 100 Jewish voices in New York against anti-boycott bill; 2014 Moving Beyond Capitalism Conference; New resource - Politics and ideology in the American Historical Profession

Jonathan Schell Dies at 70; Author and Anti-nuclear Activist

Times Staff and Wire Reports Los Angeles Times
With unrelenting rage and idealism, Schell focused on the consequences of violence in essays and books that conveyed a hatred of war rooted in part in his firsthand observations of American military operations in Vietnam.

A Bottom Up View of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers

Steve Early CounterPunch
Neuburger’s volunteer assignments as an inside organizer in UFW recruitment campaigns, combined with his “shop floor” experience with many different employers, gave him a perspective on the union that’s rare for a gringo. Where he could, he played a very different role than the many college-educated activists who acquired UFW “membership” by virtue of their boycott activity the country or appointed staff positions at union headquarters in La Paz.

The NCAA's "Student-Athlete" Charade Is Officially Crumbling

By Jordan Weissmann Slate
The broader point of Ohr’s ruling is that Northwestern’s scholarship football players really do work for pay. They are recruited largely for their football abilities; they spend an inordinate amount of time on their sport; they’re rewarded with valuable scholarships, which can be canceled; they’re subject to special rules other students aren’t; and their labor is clearly valuable to the school, which brings in millions of dollars in football-related profits.
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