Category: USA
-
The California Disaster: What is the Link Between Wildfires and the Coronavirus?
I live in the San Francisco-Bay Area outside of Berkeley. Following the COVID-19 outbreak we went into shelter-in-place in March and officially never left after a second wave in early … Keep reading »
-
Popular Radicalism in the 1930s
The History of the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill At a time when unemployment is skyrocketing in the US and millions of out-of-work Americans have been abandoned by the federal government, it … Keep reading »
-
The Police and Racist Vigilantes
Under Trump, the collaboration of armed white supremacist Trump supporters and police is an explosive mix of violence aimed at communities of color. Keep reading »
-
Donald Trump: A New Emperor of the Lumpenproletariat?
In The Dangerous Class: The Concept of the Lumpenproletariat (University of Michigan Press, forthcoming 2020), I argue that US President Donald Trump should be understood as a “Prince of the … Keep reading »
-
Trump’s Withdrawal From WHO: A Cover-Up for His Abject Failure on COVID-19
Gutting the WHO, the only instrument of global cooperation during a pandemic, is a road to disaster. Keep reading »
-
Trump Is Daring Us to Stop Him
Trump’s deployment of federal officers to Democratic-run cities is extreme even for him. Keep reading »
-
Racism, COVID-19, and the Fight for Economic Justice
While the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests sweeping the United States were triggered by recent police murders of unarmed African Americans, they are also helping to encourage popular recognition that … Keep reading »
-
Racist Violence Can’t Be Separated from the Violence of Neoliberal Capitalism
“I don’t see an American Dream; I see an American Nightmare” — Malcolm X. As a renewed Black Lives Matter uprising fills the streets following a spate of high-profile police … Keep reading »
-
Donald Trump Is Using the Coronavirus Crisis to Attack Social Security
Donald Trump’s proposal to cut the payroll contribution rate is a stealth attack on Social Security. Even if the proposal were to replace Social Security’s dedicated revenue with deficit-funded general … Keep reading »
-
How Socialists Can Govern
Many on the US left fear governing power, in part because it has been so difficult to achieve. More recent optimism among socialists is a welcome development – but we need a middle ground between being cynical and naive. Keep reading »
-
The Deconstruction of the American State /w Clyde Barrow
A month after Donald Trump took office as 45th President of the United States, his chief political strategist Stephen K. Bannon declared that “the new administration is in an unending … Watch video »
-
California of Fire and Profit
Intentional blackouts by power companies were designed to prevent fires. Yet the strategy has not spared California from infernos caused by faulty infrastructure. It’s a case which sheds light on the equally untenable condition of capitalism applied to public administration. Keep reading »