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Debates

What has become of the left?

A large part of the left often seems ashamed of having at one time defended egalitarian politics. The extent to which many left-wing leaders go to pretend that they have never defended these politics, or that they are not to much of an irritant the economic powers-that-be, has led them to adopt ways of intervening in politics with people and parties that was characteristic of those on their right.

Analysis Social Issues United States Women

The ghost of Anthony Comstock

So far in 2023, state lawmakers have introduced a record-breaking least 483 anti-trans bills. Put differently, only four states have not done so. These include banning parents from allowing their teens to attend drag shows, barring insurance companies from covering gender-affirming medical care (already in use for several decades), and even making it illegal for parents and medical providers to dispense gender affirming care to minors.

Analysis Politics United States

Chicago’s new mayor Brandon Johnson: A “different machine”?

This “new machine” is supposed to press the corporations to pay their fair share. But given the dynamics of electoral politics—where there is always another election to plan for—and where Johnson will be looking to shore up his support, that “new machine” can become the vehicle by which Johnson’s wing of the Democratic Party co-opts another generation of activists.

Analysis Europe World

British doctors stand firm: “This opportunity will not come again”

Not only are the strike days consecutive, but all doctors have been called out, including those who work in emergency care. This puts the BMA at the forefront of the present trade union upsurge, and it is a significant step forward from the union’s last wave of strikes in 2016, which ended with the government unilaterally imposing an unpopular contract on junior doctors.

Analysis Middle East World

Far-right Israeli ministers lead settler march to illegal West Bank outpost

Senior officials in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right Cabinet—including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich—and numerous right-wing lawmakers joined a crowd of as many as 20,000 pro-apartheid demonstrators who marched to Evyatar in a bid to legitimize the outpost, The Times of Israel reports.

Analysis Global Economy World

Banking crisis: Is it all over?

What is certain is that credit terms are tightening, bank lending will drop and companies in the productive sectors will find it increasingly difficult to raise funds to invest and households to buy big ticket items.  That is going to accelerate economies into a slump this year.

Analysis Middle East World

Pogroms and protests in Israel

It is undeniable that the situation for Palestinians has become more dire over the last decade. The Israeli state has shifted even further to the right. After decades of military occupation, polls and surveys suggest that about 60 percent of Jewish Israelis favour segregation from Palestinian Israelis, and that 60 percent identify as right wing (rising to 70 percent among those aged 18-24).

Marxist Education

Eric Blanc’s political metamorphosis

In a period of 8 years, Eric Blanc moved from being a keen critique of labor’s “suicidal subordination to the parties of the bosses” (2014) to the idea that the labor movement should engage in “some form of electoral alliance” with liberal Democrats (2022).