“Winning is a moral imperative. The stakes are too high, and time is too short, to settle for anything else.” Naomi Klein addressed these words to the British Labour Party, but they aptly express the urgency of the climate movement today. Continue reading
What should be the left’s policy on immigration? The sensitivity of the topic sometimes precludes an open discussion. Meanwhile, right-wing populists and nativists are building considerable constituencies in many countries by exploiting anti-immigrant sentiments. Even in progressive Sweden, the influx of migrants since 2015 has propelled the far-right Sweden Democrats to third place in party rankings. We avoid the topic at our, and democracy’s, peril. Continue reading
Fascist politics poses a major challenge in the years ahead. “How do we maintain a sense of common humanity,” asks Jason Stanley in his brilliant How Fascism Works , “when fear and insecurity will lead us to flee into the comforting arms of mythic superiority in vain pursuit of a sense of dignity?” We may know the danger exists, but at what point do we take it seriously? Continue reading
“What is socialism?” Continue reading
Unchecked climate change will, almost inevitably, galvanize fascism and bring an end to capitalism as we know it. Continue reading
Recently, I had occasion to ponder the important role of activism, especially today under conditions of impending disaster. Continue reading
“They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind.” Neoliberalism as an ideology and a movement demonstrates the truth of this biblical adage. Neofascism is the whirlwind. Continue reading
“Life is man’s missed opportunity.” Although Karl Polanyi used these words to sum up Hamlet, they also encapsulate his sense after 1947 that capitalist society had forfeited a promising future – a liberating freedom in community. Yet perhaps the opportunity has not been forfeited but delayed. Polanyi’s insight into the connection among freedom, community and personal responsibility can still guide us. Continue reading
Internationalism has been the default position of the left. Suspicion of nationalism stems from its long association with a single ethnic or religious group, excluding the ‘other’ and defusing class solidarity. But is the default position valid any longer? Continue reading
Both Karl Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek addressed the ‘big’ question of how we can attain freedom in a complex society. Despite sharing similar backgrounds and experiences, they famously arrived at divergent conclusions. Who is right? Continue reading