It’s something of a truism to say history does not reveal the past but rather the present: the refracted light of dead stars, to use the French philosopher Daniel Bensaïd’s image of the gone revolutions, will disappear in a daylight of mere facts if not recognized as...
Jacobin
If You Go See Jurassic World Rebirth, That’s on You
Jurassic World Rebirth is another entry in the dinos-eating-humans megafranchise. It is exactly what you would expect. For me, that works. Jurassic World Rebirth. (Universal Pictures) Look, it’s a Jurassic Park movie. If you go to see it, that’s on you. Crazy to have...
Rent Controls Work — but They Aren’t a Silver Bullet
Rent controls can help to make housing more affordable in cities like New York. But they must be part of a broader solution to the housing crisis that involves increasing density and building more housing. Supporters hold signs at a rally for Zohran Mamdani in...
France Risks Following America’s Bad Example
French right-wingers don’t yet have a leader like Donald Trump. Yet the creation of Fox News–like TV channels, harsh culture wars, and the decline of class politics are pushing France along a path troublingly similar to the United States. People wave French flags at...
US Teachers Are Kicking the ADL Out of Schools
The National Education Association, the United States’ largest teachers’ union, has voted to cut all ties with the Anti-Defamation League over the group’s weaponization of antisemitism and attacks on supporters of Palestinian rights. A large solidarity protest for...
Philly’s City Worker Strike Has the Garbage Piling Up
Philadelphia’s blue-collar municipal workers have entered their second week on strike. The city’s lowest-paid employees, AFSCME District Council 33 members are demanding a living wage. AFSCME District Council 33 workers on the picket line in Philadelphia on July 7,...
The US Government Is Underfunding Flood Warning Systems
Despite the rising threat of climate disasters like last week’s deadly flash flood in Texas, US lawmakers continue to underfund the federal government program supporting a nationwide flood warning system. Vehicles sit submerged as a search-and-rescue worker looks...
A Tale of Two BBBs
The enactment of Donald Trump’s horrendous Big Beautiful Bill is an indictment of the Democrats’ decision to split their agenda into two separate bills in 2021. It’s a reminder that Build Back Better’s failure wasn’t guaranteed — it was a political choice. Joe Biden...
In Shifty, Adam Curtis Charts the UK’s Unraveling
Director Adam Curtis’s latest BBC docuseries, Shifty, follows Britain’s late-20th-century retreat into make-believe as managed decline tears everything apart. It’s the familiar Curtis aesthetic, but still as powerful and haunting as ever. Then British prime minister...
In Finland, the Left Can Meme — and Win Elections
The online right loves to say the Left can’t meme. Alma Tuuva — a meme account admin recently elected in Finland — talked to Jacobin about why the libertarian right is so influential on social media and how she’s getting her anti-capitalist message across. In the...
Red-Baiting Zohran Mamdani Won’t Work
No one should be surprised that Zohran Mamdani supports democratic control over the economy, the end goal of socialism. But he won because he combined socialist politics with practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis facing working people. Zohran Mamdani speaks...
America’s Brutal Capitalist Class Tamed Its Labor Movement
Across Europe, trade unions have a long history of making political demands for universal health care and benefits. The unique brutality of the US capitalist class bred a labor movement that has often limited itself to being a private insurance provider. Samuel...