How the Mexican Revolution Made John Reed a Red
John Reed’s thrilling dispatches from the front lines of the Mexican Revolution could have made him a pop culture celebrity. Instead, the experience made him a committed socialist.
350 Articles by: Meagan Day
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Meagan Day is an associate editor and former staff writer at Jacobin. She is the coauthor of Bigger than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism.
The Rise of the UniverCity
As they come to resemble corporations, universities increasingly wield the kind of power and influence that were hallmarks of ruthless employers in isolated company towns. Historian Davarian Baldwin calls this ominous trend the “rise of the UniverCity.”
Socialists Are Winning in Astoria, Queens
Since Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign, the diverse working-class neighborhood of Astoria in Queens, New York has been the epicenter of the US revival of socialist electoral politics.
To Protect Democracy, Defend Public Education
America has never fully realized the promise of either public education or democratic government. That is no coincidence: throughout US history, strong public schools have been inseparable from a strong democracy.
“Antiwar Sentiment in the Military Is Stronger Than Ever.”
Iraq War veteran Mike Prysner on what the military-industrial complex gained by staying in Afghanistan so long, what’s next for US empire, and why antiwar sentiment is rising among active-duty soldiers.
The Right Wants to Starve Workers Into Submission. Does Joe Biden Agree?
On Fox News, Laura Ingraham asked, “What if we just cut off the unemployment? Hunger is a pretty powerful thing.” With benefits set to expire, Joe Biden has three weeks to decide whether he agrees with her.
When Oklahoma Was the Heartland of American Socialism
In 1917, impoverished Oklahoma tenant farmers were the backbone of the US’s flourishing socialist movement. That year, hundreds mobilized — armed — to march on Washington and force an end to the World War I draft.
Fassbinder and the Red Army Faction
As his fellow West German radicals began to embrace violence in the 1970s, legendary filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder decided to celebrate another path for emancipation: class struggle in the workplace.
The Problem Isn’t Classism, It’s Class
Under capitalism, prejudice against workers is common. But it only adds insult to a deeper, more profound injury.
Scabby the Rat Lives, But His Enemies Never Sleep
The labor movement’s iconic inflatable rat has survived a pathetic judicial attempt at extermination. But though Scabby is free, unions remain hamstrung by the oppressive federal prohibition on secondary boycotts encoded in the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.
Elites Profit From “Nonprofit” Charter Schools
Charter schools don’t improve education outcomes. But they do funnel taxpayer money into the pockets of unscrupulous — often criminal — school operators. It’s a national disgrace that needs to end.
Biden Just Turned Down a Golden Opportunity to End Vaccine Apartheid
Joe Biden publicly supports proposals to waive vaccine patents to help end the COVID-19 pandemic. But so far he appears to have no intention of spending political capital to make those proposals a reality.
The Olympics Is a Racket
The world’s top athletes coming together in a spirit of friendly competition is a beautiful vision. But the Olympics have become a machine for the ruthless extraction of profit at the expense of working-class people.
A New Texas Law Puts a Bounty on Abortion Care Providers’ Heads
Texas’s new “heartbeat bill” offers private citizens $10,000 to successfully sue organizations that help women get abortions. It’s a public subsidy for the anti-abortion movement that harms working-class women.
The Supreme Court Just Dealt a Blow to Farmworkers — And All Other Workers, Too
Agricultural bosses won a Supreme Court case barring California unions from talking to farmworkers on the job site. It’s a major setback not just for farmworkers but all other workers, too.
India Walton’s Historic Victory in Buffalo Needs Defending
Buffalo mayor Byron Brown is launching a write-in campaign against socialist primary winner India Walton. Brown has bipartisan establishment support and organized money. Walton will need the Left to rally to her defense.
Bob Marley’s Peace Gesture Supported Radical Change in Jamaica
An iconic 1978 image shows Bob Marley uniting left- and right-wing party leaders on stage, calling for a truce. Misread as apolitical, his gesture was actually meant to rescue a socialist political movement in danger.
China’s Downwardly Mobile Millennials Are Throwing in the Towel
Exhausted and alienated Chinese students and white-collar workers are “lying flat” to register discontent with the status quo. For their protest to produce change, they’ll need to transform individual passivity into collective activity.
In the Era of Decolonization, West Indies Cricketers Refused to “Grovel”
The 1970s in the Caribbean were marked by major political and social upheaval. Cricket became a primary vehicle for asserting West Indian independence — and defeating England was paramount.
Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute
It has long been rumored that a strike in outer space occurred in 1973. Astronauts say that isn’t quite true, but the real story is still a testament to the potential of strikes — or even just the threat of strikes — to shift the balance of power in the workplace.