Portside

Realists (Mamdani, AOC) seek immersion in mass politics; fundamentalists oppose it.

A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin’s Freedom Budget is the key to understanding the appeal of the Democratic nominee for NYC mayor. The class-based universalistic politics of the socialists of the 60s and ’70s hold important lessons for today.

Build movements from the ground up. Refuse to back down on core principles. Refuse to let the right set the terms of the debate. Because no matter what the strategists or the pundits on legacy media outlets say: Socialism is good politics.

Mamdani’s agenda will face serious obstacles. A massive wave of new voters doesn’t just carry you into office. It shifts the landscape, it creates political capital that can be turned toward other ends; changes political calculations for others...

Readers Comments: Juneteenth Freedom Day; No to U.S. War with Iran; Real Democratic Civil War; Future of Left Jewish Identity; Suzanne Crowell - Presente; Hotline When People Have Immigration-Related Court Hearing; Live-stream Socialism Conference

I still retain sparks of hope that 2025 will not see more gains for the biblical Four Horsemen—War, Pestilence, Famine and Devastation—but rather more struggle, at least a little forward and upward motion. Inshallah!

Capitalism, crisis and the left’s challenge

Reader Comments: Elections - Ten Days to Go; Hard Lessons from 1968; Gaza War: Jews for Ceasefire; Learning from the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Calling for a Peace Movement; Project 2025- Why It’s Bad-Comic Resource; Announcements; Cartoons; more....

Reader Comments: Swing State Confidential; Ta-Nehisi Coates - A Letter from Israel; Palestine-The Last Year; While You Were So Worried Socialism Would Take Your Freedoms...; CIA Says No Evidence Iran Has Decided To Build a Nuclear Weapon; more...