5LL - The First 100 Lefty Links
Alternative Economies
Inside Mexico's Anti-Capitalist Marketplaces
Ava Tomasula y Garcia, In These Times
How some Mexicans are using barter and alternative currencies to build an economy beyond profit.
Anarchy
Anarchy: What It Is and Why Pop Culture Loves It
Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue
It’s a complicated philosophy that’s more than just a punk rock phrase.
Anxiety
We Are All Very Anxious
Plan C
All forms of intensity, self-expression, emotional connection, immediacy, and enjoyment are now laced with anxiety. It has become the linchpin of subordination.
Tell Me It's Going to be OK
Mika Tokumitsu, The Baffler
Self-care and social retreat under neoliberalism
Authoritarianism
How to be a Socialist Without Being an Apologist for the Atrocities of Communist Regimes
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
Opposing economic exploitation doesn’t mean supporting authoritarianism…
Capitalism
Capitalism is Beyond Saving, and America is Living Proof
Jacob Bacharach, Truthdig
Policies that fail in the same way over and over are not failing. Someone is lying about their intent.
How to Be an Anticapitalist Today
Erik Olin Wright, Jacobin
Anticapitalism isn't simply a moral stance against injustice — it's about building an alternative.
Capitalism is Not the "Market System"
Richard Wolff, Truthout
To the extent that capitalism’s problems – inequality, instability (cycles/crises), etc. – stem in part from its production relationships, reforms focused exclusively on regulating or supplanting markets will not succeed in solving them.
Children
The Record-Low Birthrate Offers Yet Another Sign That Millennials are Economically Screwed
Alex Press, Vox
Would you have kids if you were drowning in debt?
Every Parent Deserves a Nanny State
Vanessa A. Bee, Current Affairs
There needs to be a public commitment to easing the burdens of parenthood…
American Meritocracy is Killing Youth Sports
Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
Expensive travel leagues siphon off talented young athletes from well-off families—and leave everyone else behind.
Climate Change
Capitalism Killed Our Climate Momentum, Not "Human Nature"
Naomi Klein, The Intercept
We can confront that economic order and try to replace it with something that is rooted in both human and planetary security, one that does not place the quest for growth and profit at all costs at its center.
The 1.5 Generation
Eric Holthaus, Grist
My generation is radically remaking climate activism. Will it be enough?
If You Want Your Children to See a Coral Reef, Join the Left
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
If we actually believe what we say (and what the science says), then even if it’s “politically difficult” it’s morally necessary to put ecological issues at the very top of our agenda, and work tirelessly to convince the public of their significance.
Ecosocialists Believe the Only Way to Stop Climate Change is to Abandon Capitalism
Kaleigh Rogers, Vice
This week's devastating IPCC report has brought the impending impacts of climate change, and just how far we are from meeting our goals to stop them, into crisp focus.
We Need a Green New Deal, and We Need It Now
Kate Aronoff, The Outline
Incumbent House Democrats are starting to push for a plan that would help save our planet, curb corporate greed, and create jobs. How can literally anyone be against this?
Co-Ops
Want Better Working Conditions in Restaurants? Build a Co-Op
Brenna Houck, Eater
When employees make decisions and advocate for themselves, good things happen.
What If Employees Co-Owned the Business Where They Work?
Nathan Schneider, The Guardian
A quiet consensus is emerging across the political divide: Bernie Sanders and Paul Ryan both advocate enabling Americans to co-own the businesses where they work
Communism
The Forgotten World of Communist Bookstores
Joshua Clark Davis, Jacobin
Communist bookstores were one of the most important public spaces for radicals in twentieth century America.
Courts
Judging the Judges
Brianna Rennix and Oren Nimni, Current Affairs
What are judges for? Do we need them? Is there any alternative?
It's Time to Go to War With the Supreme Court. Here's How.
Sean McElwee, Buzzfeed News
The time has come for the left to constrain the court and limit the power of its right-wing majority.
Elections
Three Lessons for Winning in November and Beyond
Jane McAlevey, The New York Times
What union organizers can teach Democrats.
The Case for Giving Every American $25 "Democracy Vouchers" for Every Election
Adam Eichen, In These Times
Refusing corporate donations is just a start—we need real campaign finance reform to revive democracy. A radical experiment in Seattle may point the way forward.
He's a Long-Shot Senate Candidate With a Message: 'Capitalism Unchecked is a Complete Disaster'
Liam Stack, The New York Times
Zak Ringelstein is running against Maine’s Senator Angus King, who is heavily favored to win in November. But for Mr. Ringelstein’s supporters, it’s the message that matters most.
A Tough-Love Letter to the Left
Sam Adler-Bell, The New Republic
A new book urges activists to avoid insularity and purism—and to focus on winning.
Entertainment
The Oscar Wilde of YouTube Fights the Alt-Right With Decadence and Seduction
Katherine Cross, The Verge
ContraPoints is an elegant, whip-smart middle finger to the putrefying swamps of the internet
The Propagandists
Andrew Helms, The Ringer
Two filmmakers from Detroit helped turn Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez into a superstar. Can they find the next wave of socialist candidates and take down the Democratic Party too?
Feminism
There is a Kind of Feminist Revolution Happening Right Now in Appalachia
Eliza Griswold, The Cut
Unlike liberal feminists, who focus principally on issues of gender and representation, feminist socialists see themselves as calling for a much more profound redistribution of power, particularly when it comes to class and race.
What is Socialist Feminism?
Barbara Ehrenreich, Jacobin
Barbara Ehrenreich on why we need socialist feminism to fight patriarchy.
The Day Iceland's Women Went On Strike
Kirstie Brewer, BBC News
Forty years ago, the women of Iceland went on strike - they refused to work, cook and look after children for a day.
The Feminist Case for Single Payer
Natalie Shure, Jacobin
It's time to take health care away from the power of bosses and spouses.
Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism
Zing Tsjeng, Vice
Kristen R. Ghodsee, the author of "Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism," explains how socialism leads to economic independence, better work/life balance, and yes, better sex for women.
Finance
The Case for a State-Owned Bank
Meagan Day, Jacobin
Regulating finance won’t cut it. To combat predatory lending, we need a fully public, state-owned bank.
The Radical Theory That the Government Has Unlimited Money
Tom Streithorst, Vice
Everyone knows governments need to tax before they can spend. What Modern Monetary Theory presupposes is, maybe they don't.
Food
A Public Option for Food
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
Does the food system prove that we should privatize public schools? No, it proves that free markets are a disaster…
Foreign Policy
A Bold Foreign Policy Platform for the New Wave of Left Lawmakers
Phyllis Bennis, In These Times
Socialists and other progressives are running for office on strong domestic programs. Here’s how their foreign policy platform can be just as strong.
What Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Think About the South China Sea?
Daniel Bessner, The New York Times
The rising left needs more foreign policy. Here’s how it can start.
Healthcare
Government Healthcare is Saving My Mum's Life
Libby Watson, Splinter
Every three weeks, the NHS gives her life. For free.
"Medicare-For-All" Means Something. Don't Let Moderates Water It Down.
Tim Higginbotham and Chris Middleman, Vox
Centrists want to co-opt the phrase and apply it to something weaker than a single-payer system.
The Great Equalizer
Megan Erickson, The Nation
Barbara Ehrenreich and the ethics of dying.
Caring for All
Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson, Current Affairs
Too many of us don’t have healthcare. We spend too much on healthcare. And we hate our healthcare experience. Medicare-for-All solves all three of those problems.
Housing
The Rising Politics of (Too Damn High) Rent
Sarah Jones, The New Republic
As fewer Americans buy homes, and wages stagnate, rent control is becoming a campaign issue from coast to coast.
Why We Need Social Housing in the U.S.
Matt Bruenig, The Guardian
An influx of publicly owned, efficiently built apartments would add to the housing supply while minimizing the displacement risks caused by luxury developments.
These Democratic Socialists Aren't Just Targeting Incumbent Politicians
Jimmy Tobias, The Nation
They’re going after slumlords and real-estate speculators.
Socialists Versus Landlords
David Dayen, In These Times
Los Angeles DSA is harnessing anger over skyrocketing rent to get nonvoters to the polls in November.
Immigration
Abolishing ICE is Only the First Step
Caitlin Bellis, Current Affairs
All immigration enforcement is family separation; we need to radically rethink the whole system…
Inequality
How We Can Get a More Equal Union
Vanessa A. Bee, New York Magazine
The problem is, striving for equality only with respect to opportunity is myopic.
It's Basically Just Immoral To Be Rich
A.Q. Smith, Current Affairs
A reminder that people who possess great wealth in a time of poverty are directly causing that poverty…
Labor
New Study Confirms That American Workers are Getting Ripped Off
Eric Levitz, New York Magazine
American policymakers have chosen to design an economic system that leaves workers desperate and disempowered, for the sake of directing a higher share of economic growth to bosses and shareholders.
On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant
David Graeber, STRIKE! Magazine
It's as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working.
Why You Should Care About Unions
Meagan Day and Bhaskar Sunkara, The New York Times
The average person in the United States has essentially zero power in society. That’s why millions have organized into unions over the years.
In the Name of Love
Miya Tokumitsu, Jacobin
“Do what you love” is the mantra for today’s worker. Why should we assert our class interests if, according to DWYL elites like Steve Jobs, there’s no such thing as work?
The United States of Work
Miya Tokumitsu, The New Republic
Employers exercise vast control over our lives, even when we're not on the job. How did our bosses gain power that the government itself doesn't hold?
If They Could Pay Us Less, They Would
Sam Wallman, The Nib
The wealthy seem to believe that workers seeking a living wage are the unreasonable ones.
How Restaurants Get Away With Stealing Millions From Workers Every Year
Dana Hatic, Eater
From failing to pay overtime to not giving meal breaks, there are numerous ways for employers to cheat workers out of money
Against Creativity
Oli Mould, Jacobin
The push for “creativity” at work and in society is about serving capital’s needs.
Democrats, Take Note: If You Want to Raise Wages, Put Pressure On Employers
Matt Bruenig, The Washington Post
Wage levels are determined as much by social forces as they are by market forces.
'Red Dead Redemption 2' and the Problems With Creative Work
Will Partin, The Outline
If you want to understand the hellish demands of modern labor, look no further than video games.
Confessions of a U.S. Postal Worker
Brendan O'Connor, Medium
How the Post Office’s deal with Amazon has made life hell for mail carriers
The Dark Side of Gamifying Work
Vincent Gabrielle, Fast Company
One of the most common user experiences of our time is also a tool of social control. And nowhere is that more true than in the workplace.
Leisure
Did the Fun Work?
Miya Tokumitsu, The Baffler
There has long been a proper way to do leisure, and now there are more apparatuses and feedback systems than ever to tell us how good we are at it.
LGBT+ Rights
Socialists Must Defend Trans Life
Fainan Lakha, Jacobin
The Trump administration is attacking trans people's right to access society as a whole. In response, socialists must make trans emancipation a principle of our movement.
Marxism
Who is Karl Marx: Meet the Anti-Capitalist Scholar
Danielle Corcione, Teen Vogue
The communist scholar's ideas are more prevalent than you might realize.
Masculinity
The Right to Radiance
Jessa Crispin, The Baffler
Taking off the male straightjacket with Ciara Cremin’s Man-Made Woman
The Queer Art of Failing Better
Laurie Penny, The Baffler
Queer Eye for the capitalism-damaged and toxically masculine
Mass Incarceration
How the Ongoing Prison Strike is Connected to the Labor Movement
Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue
The labor of those in prison is often exploited.
Neoliberalism
Under Neoliberalism, You Can Be Your Own Tyrannical Boss
Meagan Day, Jacobin
A new study finds an alarming rise in a novel form of psychological distress. Call it “neoliberal perfectionism.”
Nihilism
We Don't Have Time for Nihilism
Jacob Bacharach, Jacobin
We have to say, repeatedly, to everyone who will listen and everyone who tries not to: the hatred and murder we saw in Pittsburgh is the product of a political project of the Right. We have to transform our rage into solidarity and collective action against that project.
Racial Justice
How Radical Black Socialists Paved the Way for Andrew Gillum and Other Left Insurgents
Eli Day, In These Times
Gillum and other left challengers are winning on an economic agenda pushed for decades by black-led social movements.
The Color of Economic Anxiety
Malaika Jabali, Current Affairs
Is the collapse of Democratic fortunes due to economic anxiety? Of course. Just ask black Milwaukeeans.
Black and Red
Tanna Tucker and Nestor Castillo
The history of Black Socialism in America
Civil Rights Unionism
Robert Korstad, Jacobin
In 1940s North Carolina, a Communist-led union of tobacco workers fought to bring democracy to the Jim Crow South.
Socialism
Socialism as a Set of Principles
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
We’re not talking about a social engineering system but a set of social ideals…
How LinkedIn Turn This "Failmom" Into a Socialist
Lori Barrett, Salon
A dismal job market and “Chapo Trap House” turned me, a middle-aged mother, into a radical.
3 Arguments Against Socialism and Why They Fail
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
Why common talking points about socialism are silly…
What is Democratic Socialism?
Neal Meyer, Jacobin
Everybody’s talking about democratic socialism these days. Here’s what you need to know about it.
For a Luxury Leftism
Current Affairs Staff, Current Affairs
If socialism isn’t about giving people nice things and good times, what on earth is it about?
Why the Democratic Socialists of America Won't Stop Growing
Kate Aronoff, In These Times
The inside story of DSA’s dramatic ascent.
Socialists Need to Fight for Economic Change — Not Just Another Version of Capitalism
Richard Wolff, Huffington Post
All the modifications made to capitalism by social democracies were difficult to achieve and remain inherently insecure.
The New Socialists
Corey Robin, The New York Times
Why the pitch from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders resonates in 2018.
What Would a Socialist America Look Like?
Derek Robertson, Politico Magazine
We asked thinkers on the left—and a couple of outliers—to describe their vision for a re-imagined American economy.
Are You a Democratic Socialist?
Maggie Astor, The New York Times
Democratic socialists have been one of the breakout groups of the 2018 election season, but many voters don't know what exactly they stand for. Do you?
Our Great Historic Socialists
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
Today’s leftists have many admirable predecessors to learn from…
Socialism is Incredibly Popular but Does Anyone Know What 'Socialism' is?
Geoff Dembicki, Vice
We asked a bunch of socialists what their vision of America would look like.
A Spectre is Haunting the White House: Why the Trump Administration is So Scared of Socialism
Miles Kampf-Lassin, In These Times
A new report from the Trump White House attempts to curb the growth of socialism in the United States. Clearly, the administration sees the movement as a real threat.
Socialists in the House: A 100-Year History from Victor Berger to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Maurice Isserman, In These Times
American socialists have a long and proud tradition in elected office. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib are the latest to carry the torch.
Student Debt
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Debt to Me
M.H. Miller, The Baffler
An American family’s struggle for student loan redemption
We Must Cancel Everyone's Student Debt, for the Economy's Sake
Eric Levitz, New York Magazine
If the government were to forgive all the student debt it owns (which makes up more than 90 percent of all outstanding student debt), and bought out all private holders of such debt, a surge in consumer demand — and thus, employment and economic growth — would ensue.
Tech
No Technology Has An Inevitable Future
Zachary Eldredge, Medium
The truth about “inevitable” social forms of technology is that nearly all of them require time, money, and effort to create.
How a Socialist Coder Became a Voice for Engineers Standing up to Management
Sean Captain, Fast Company
Bjorn Westergard was working as a programmer at Lanetix, a CRM software maker, when concern about poor working conditions led him to start organizing his fellow employees.
Innovation Under Socialism
Vanessa A. Bee, Current Affairs
We can strive for a fairer economy, under a socialist model, without conceding the technological advances that have made our lives easier.
Nationalize Amazon
Sarah Jaffe, The Outline
Is this a realistic demand? Perhaps not yet, but that’s the point.
Lyft is Not Your Friend
Meagan Day, Jacobin
Lyft is the latest brand trying to build market share by posing as a “progressive” corporation. But the fight can’t be good corporations against bad ones — it's working people against capitalism.
A Public Internet is Possible
Vanessa A. Bee, Current Affairs
Net neutrality is part of a larger fight to free internet access from corporate control…
Universal Basic Income
Could a Universal Basic Income Become a Political Reality?
Clio Chang, The Nation
New polling suggests Americans are open to bold, progressive ideas.
Social Wealth Fund for America
Matt Bruenig, People's Policy Project
Whatever you call it, the idea is simple: the government directly owns a large pool of income-generating assets and then uses the return on those assets for social welfare purposes.
Utopia
The City of Dreams
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
In defense of the utopian impulse…
Why We Need Utopian Fiction Now More Than Ever
Eleanor Tremeer, Gizmodo
The more reality starts to resemble the dystopias on our TV screens, the more we need another kind of story. Utopian fiction dares to hope that we can, and will, be better.
Dystopia in Fiction and in Fact
Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs
How “Nineteen Eighty-Four” teaches us the wrong lessons about dictatorship…
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