- Winter 2019
- Out Now
- Subscribe
A True Story of the Future
It should be remembered that the political education of Social Democracy, before the Revolution, was in one respect materially deficient. We had learned how to be an opposition. We had to take over Government, and that in the fullest sense; in industry, in the localities, in the State. The task had been studied, it is true, but theoretically, from the outside. We are only now beginning to see it from within. Our previous studies have proved anything but superfluous; indeed, they have been our best guides. But they are insufficient.
Buy the issue
Front Matters
Forward Ever, Backward Never
The Soapbox
Letters + The Internet Speaks
Send better letters.
Struggle Session
Don’t Call It a Comeback
As 2020 approaches, Jacobin indulges in some crass Sunday morning horse race punditry.
Friends & Foes
You Can Have Brandeis or You Can Have Debs
Elizabeth Warren’s political tradition is the left edge of middle-class liberalism; Bernie Sanders hails from America’s socialist tradition. Don’t confuse the two.
The State We Need
Socialists throughout history have understood that holding office is not the same thing as winning power. Working people can only entrench their victories through a fight to change the state itself.
Means of Deduction
The great corporation which employed you lied to you
Vulgar Empiricist
Socialism Is for the Children
Raising kids should be a joy. But in the United States today it often means poverty and stress.
Uneven & Combined
Solving Poverty Is Simple
Corporations are making record profits. That’s money we could use to lift millions out of misery.
Reading Materiel
One may become a demagogue out of sheer political innocence
Canon Fodder
What Is Europe?
Europe Since 1989 is a book about neoliberalism in Europe written by someone who doesn’t know what neoliberalism is, and hasn’t really paid much attention to Europe.
Canon Fodder
In His Own Words
Here's Bernie Sanders in his own words — from denunciations of US militarism to his prediction that “within a decade, Mississippi could become one of the most progressive states in the country.”
Field Notes
When Social Democracy Radicalized
A CIA report from November 1967 reveals the agency’s deep fear of Swedish social democracy, and its rising star Olof Palme.
Wielding the Imperial Presidency
Within the Existing Constitutional Framework, What Could A Future Left-Wing President Do If They Had a Popular Mandate, but Faced a Hostile Congress?
A Plan to Win Socialism in America
The Welfare State Isn’t Enough. A Sanders Government Needs to Pursue Policies that Diminish the Power of Capital and Radically Democratize the Economy.
Winning Democracy in America
Forget socialist democracy; by virtue of its Constitution, the United States barely has political democracy. If we take expanding democracy seriously — and if we want to implement sweeping social reforms — we need some serious changes.
Cultural Capital
All Art is Propaganda
Red Channels
The Man Who Shot America in the Face
Vice reminds us of the hell Dick Cheney wrought, with help from a rogue’s gallery of perps, hacks, creeps, and fall guys.
Ways of Seeing
Our Very Own Albert Speer
The architect Philip Johnson had some good qualities. He was also talentless, a fascist, and a liar.
Ways of Seeing
The Real Life of Social Realism
The communist Charles White created images of dignity to portray America’s working class. Now, forty years after his death, his art is back in the mainstream.
Color lithograph. 30 1/16 x 22 5/8" (76.3 x 57.4 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago. Margaret Fisher Fund. © The Charles White Archives / © The Art Institute of Chicago.
Modern Monetary Theory Isn't Helping
___ ___
/\ \ /\ \
|::\ \ |::\ \ ___
|:|:\ \ |:|:\ \ /\__\
__|:|\:\ \ __|:|\:\ \ /:/ /
/::::|_\:\__\ /::::|_\:\__\ /:/__/
\:\~~\ \/__/ \:\~~\ \/__/ /::\ \
\:\ \ \:\ \ /:/\:\ \
\:\ \ \:\ \ \/__\:\ \
\:\__\ \:\__\ \:\__\
\/__/ \/__/ \/__/
MMT is billed by its advocates as a radical new way to understand money and debt. But it’ll take more than a few keystrokes to change the economy.
________________
The Tumbrel
It’s difficult for someone to understand Something when their salAry depeNds on not understanding it
The Worst Estate
Propagandists of Privilege
Corbyn’s experience is proof: if the media won’t give the Left a fair hearing, they can be circumvented.
Girondins
Where Are They Now?
We went looking for our favorite Obama and Clinton campaign alums. We found them in corporate America.
Girondins
The Hater Class
As long as the upper middle class exists, it’s going to be at best ambivalent about our program.
Versailles
The Whitlam Coup
In 1975, the Queen’s loyal representative, governor-general John Kerr, decided he’d had enough of Australian social democracy.
Leftovers
I’m gonna stay right here and fight for this lost cause
Popular Front
The Purgatory of Canadian Social Democracy
If Canada’s NDP is to have a future, it needs to rediscover its militancy.
The Dustbin
Revisiting A Very British Coup in the Age of Corbyn
It’s a reminder that the state is not neutral, and the ruling class has more than capital strikes at its disposal.
Means & Ends
Socialism: An Idea That Will Live on Beyond 2020
Make sure Jacobin can keep carrying its torch.
