Portside

For one season, American capitalism lies to us about what it values. The American Christmas Movie promises us that love matters more than money, that cruel bosses are bad but also lonely, that family togetherness is more important than the perfect dinner. The Christmas Movie business exploits our desire to believe this, but we do – and we should.

“Demonizing the homeless is not new. There is no more manifest example of the failure of the system than bullying the vulnerable and criminalizing mental illness.”

Resolving the conflict between being visionary and being pragmatic is critical for those who want to transform society. Can we be both visionary and strategic?

Benjamin Netanyahu leads a new Israeli government, the most right-wing ever of all Israeli governments. What will happen next? Within months, perhaps a year, barely concealed settler militias will be running rampant against West Bank Palestinians.

While a big victory, Medicare did not provide full coverage for all services, and from its inception, there has been a drive to privatize and hand it over to profiteers. With privatization, profits ensue as additional restrictions are imposed.....

Democratic candidates for governor were victorious in key battleground states in 2022. Their successes, like those of Democrats up and down the ballot, were in part powered by the support of young voters, who backed Democrats by large margins.

Reader Comments: Congress to the People: Jan. 06 The Grave Crimes of Donald Trump, IRS Returns Show Paid Zero Taxes; Remembering Charlene Mitchell; Readers Disagree: Ukraine War; Concern about AI; White Lotus; Countries with Most Female Inventors

We need to be far more generous with each other, able to hold conversations without resort to insults and abuses. Out of disagreement comes understanding. But out of malicious slander only comes disorientation.

The final hearing of the January 6 committee showed that the former president was far from alone in fomenting the insurrection. Here are some of his confederates.

There is growing fascination and nostalgia for dictators, extreme right-wing government in some countries and “illiberal democracy” in others. Why is this? What has happened to permit such a distortion of memory? How do myths replace reality?