Multilevel Marketing Scams Expose Capitalism’s Foundational Lie
Pyramid schemes aren’t a corruption of capitalism — they’re a microcosm of how the class system arbitrarily creates winners and losers while falsely promising opportunity for all.
301 Articles by: Luke Savage
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Luke Savage is a staff writer at Jacobin.
Joe Biden Is Poised to Gut His Own Political Agenda — and the Democrats’ Electoral Prospects
Joe Biden’s whole agenda is being held for ransom by a handful of corrupt extortionists in the Senate — and Biden seems basically fine with it.
US Billionaires Got 70% More Wealth Under COVID. They Didn’t Deserve Any of It.
New data shows that Elon Musk’s fortune grew by 750% during the pandemic. It’s not because he worked 750% harder than the rest of us.
Bernie Sanders Is Showing the Democrats How to Take on Joe Manchin
For months, Bernie Sanders has been making a case for the multitrillion-dollar reform bill he’s spearheaded in the Senate. Now, he’s taken that case to Joe Manchin’s home turf in West Virginia — and is facing backlash from the mainstream media for breaching the norms of Beltway etiquette.
The Pentagon’s Bloated Budget Undermines American Democracy
The Pentagon’s bloated budget is a colossal waste of resources that could be better used elsewhere. But it’s also an outrage to democracy.
Gig Companies Are Taking Their War on Workers Beyond California
Just as it did in its campaign for California’s Prop 22, Big Tech is claiming rideshare drivers in Massachusetts will earn as much as $18 an hour if a new pro–gig company law is passed. But new analysis finds a majority will actually make less than $5 an hour.
Andrew Yang’s New Political Party Exposes the Farce of Radical Centrism
Andrew Yang’s new Forward Party is the latest in a long line of efforts that seek to shake up American politics by leaning into the status quo.
The Many Saints of Newark Sets Itself an Impossible Task — and Does Okay
The jumble of characters and subplots in the Sopranos prequel makes for a less-than-focused production that can’t stack up to the original series. But then, what can?
The Pandora Papers Have Exposed the Corrupt System that Lets the Rich Worldwide Avoid Paying Taxes
The Pandora Papers — 12 million files on the global 1 percent and the legal tricks they use to get out of paying taxes — are one of the biggest journalistic bombshells in years. They expose a system with one set of standards for the rich and another for everyone else.
It’s Not Just Billionaires – Local Elites Also Dominate Our Society
It’s not just millionaires and billionaires in big cities. What Patrick Wyman calls America’s “local gentry” exercise a massive influence on our day-to-day life — and their pernicious power is too often ignored.
Ryan Grim on the Budget Reconciliation Bill: “Progressives Have Leverage”
In the byzantine parliamentary politics surrounding the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, progressives have more cards to play than in past policy fights. But corporate-backed Democrats like Kyrsten Sinema are still standing in the way.
Conspiracist Thinking Is the Result of 40 Years of Social Atomization
Amid a disorienting explosion of crises and social shifts, there are worrying signs that some parts of the Left are becoming more susceptible to conspiracist ways of thinking. It’s a symptom of social atomization in the neoliberal era — but we don’t have to accept it as inevitable.
Canada’s Far Right Is More of a Threat Than You Think
The good news is that Canada’s far-right party was shut out of Parliament in this week’s federal election. The bad news is that the People’s Party still tripled its vote and is now in a position to exert a dangerous influence on the political mainstream.
Canada’s Pointless Election Has Weakened Justin Trudeau
In what was supposed to be an easy victory, global liberalism’s would-be savior lost the popular vote for the second time in two years — and now enjoys the slimmest popular mandate of any prime minister in Canadian history.
You Can’t Be Against “Forever Wars” Without Cutting the Military Budget
These days, a lot of politicians say they’re against “forever wars” — and that’s a good thing. But the acid test for genuine opposition to the national security state is support for cutting the military budget.
You Really Can Fight Poverty With One Weird Trick: Giving People Money
New numbers from the Census Bureau show that even as the US economy collapsed last year, the poverty rate actually went down. There’s no mystery why: the government gave people money.
Justin Trudeau’s Election Promises Were Made to Be Broken
After pledging billions in new spending to salvage his electoral fortunes, Canada’s prime minister has decided to spend the final week of the current election campaign doing what he does best: defending the wealthy from tax hikes.
Barack Obama, the Hollow Icon
The Obama presidency gave rise to a uniquely powerful iconography that projected a sense of hope and radical possibility. But behind the president’s messianic imagery was a country unraveling at the seams — and a president who stood for nothing.
British Columbia’s NDP Needs to Mandate Paid Sick Days
In British Columbia, the social democratic NDP has disappointingly dragged its feet on legislating paid sick days. With a plan in the works for next year, the New Democratic Party needs to ignore the business lobby and side with workers.
The War on Terror Militarized America More Than Ever
The War on Terror projected American power abroad with devastating consequences. But it also wrought suffering and waste at home, with consequences we’re still living with today.