How to Resolve the Chicago Teachers Strike?

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is bringing a holistic approach to bargaining to benefit both their members and students. This means bringing common good demands such as affordable housing and sanctuary schools into the contract negotiations...

Left Organizers Should Join the Fight for Impeachment

As Congress returns to Washington, the impeachment proceedings are likely to gain steam. The authors argue the left can't afford to sit this fight out, but should be a part of the broad anti-Trump front working to protect and expand democracy.

Mainstream Media Mantra: Medicare for All Is Impossible

The insinuation that Medicare for All would somehow leave people currently insured under a private company behind elevates a popular right-wing talking point used to dissuade Americans against single-payer health care.

Civil Rights on Chopping Block before Supreme Court

As the Supreme Court moves increasingly to the right with the recent additions of Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, we can expect the continued evisceration of civil rights and civil liberties.

Oct. 17, 2019-Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements

Reader Comments: Impeachment and Rule of Law; Sanders, Warren and Trolls; Biden and corruption; Chicago Teachers Strike; Turkey, Kurds, Syria; "Glass Floor"; Housing; Puerto Rico; Resource: Stopping Workplace Sexual Harassment; Announcements (lots)

Young Voters: Why Dem. Socialism beats Democratic Party

As the presidential debate comes to Ohio, the students in a local chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America are defining their political identity.

Black Confederates: Exploding America's Persistent Myth

Americans still struggle over coming to terms with the core issues of the civil war and reconstruction

When German Unions Built Housing for the People

In postwar Germany, a cooperative run by trade unionists created Europe’s largest housing company. Building over 400,000 homes, “Neue Heimat” showed we don’t have to live on the terms dictated by landlords — we can take control for ourselves.

Vietnam Moratorium: A Day To Remember

The organizers had a simple idea; on this one day, people opposed to the war would halt “business as usual” and take some action – large or small - to signify their desire for peace.

Global Left Midweek - October 16, 2019

The Assault on Kurds in Syria * Ecuador * Scientists for Climate Action * Poland * Indonesia * Tunisia * UK * Bolivia * Egypt
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Culture

books

Insular, Controversial Picks for Nobel Literature Laureates

Jennifer Wilson The Nation
Next year, says the reviewer, the Nobel Committee for Literature should look beyond Europe. Despite the differences between awardees Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke, they both reflect a divided Europe as viewed only from within its borders.

film

'The Irishman": The Ghost of Jimmy Hoffa Won’t Go Away

Steve Early Jacobin
Martin Scorsese’s new film The Irishman continues Hollywood’s obsession with the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. We’re more concerned with what happened to Teamster working conditions under his son, James P. Hoffa.

poetry

Noon in a three star restaurant

Marge Piercy Chiron Review
“He does not represent us,” writes poet Marge Piercy about the misogynist Senator, but knows the “clichés that light up brains.”

books

Top 10 Books About Black Radicalism

Kehinde Andrews The Guardian
In honoring Black History Month, the author lists 10 superlative books by radical voices instrumental in cohering modern black thought.

Labor

labor

Government-Sponsored Retirement Plans for Private-Sector Workers Fall Short

By GREGORY N. HEIRES www.thenewcrossroads.com
The government-promoted plans let employers completely off the hook and put the entire burden of retirement savings and investment management on workers. They put another nail in the coffin of traditional plans in which employers share the expense.

Friday nite video

video

Jokerman | John Cruz

A new video from Playing for Change featuring John Cruz's soulful rendition of Bob Dylan's "Jokerman." Filmed on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawai'i.