Democrats: The Party of American Capital
The Democratic Party has become, improbably, the preferred party of American capital. But in doing so, it’s lost more and more of its working-class base.
69 Articles by: Paul Heideman
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Paul Heideman holds a PhD in American studies from Rutgers University–Newark.
Donald Trump Would Be Weaker the Second Time Around
Donald Trump wants the ideology of William McKinley and Gilded Age Republicanism, but with a totally different social base. It won’t work.
American Socialists: Study the Civil Rights Movement
Socialists in the US are more likely to be experts on the Russian Revolution than the American civil rights movement. That’s a mistake: this homegrown revolution is a strategic guidebook for winning social change today.
With Kevin McCarthy’s Removal, a Long Government Shutdown Just Got More Likely
Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker shows just how hopelessly divided the Republican Party is. But divided doesn’t mean harmless — the hard right can still inflict pointless suffering on the millions of people who depend on government services.
The Antiabortion Movement Is the Rotten Fruit of a Brutally Unequal Society
Abortion bans aren’t a capitalist plot to increase the labor supply. But they are an outgrowth of the brutal inequalities of capitalism, which systematically subordinates women to men.
The GOP’s Puppet-String Populism
Republican populism may have a new sugar daddy, but they’re hawking the same old solutions.
The Life of Socialist George Woodbey Must Not Be Lost to History
This May Day, we’re celebrating the life of George Woodbey, a former slave who became a leading socialist. Though he’s often forgotten today, Woodbey’s life speaks to the crucial connection between labor struggles and fights against racial oppression.
Vivek Chibber: “Bad Ideas” Aren’t Keeping Workers From Fighting Back
Critics often say the working class doesn’t fight back against exploitation because it’s confused about its real interests. But this ignores how capitalism itself leads workers to resign themselves to their situation — and how we can overcome that resignation.
For Republicans, There Will Be No “Return to Normal”
Rightward Republican Party radicalization is well-positioned for continuing political success, even as it promises to bring political and economic instability for the country and the world with it.
Dysfunction Is Central to the Basic Functioning of American Society
Pandemic measures like the stimulus temporarily helped and empowered working-class and vulnerable people. And that’s quickly becoming a problem for an economy based on their hyper-exploitation.
The Virginia Governor Race Shows That Dems Can’t Count on Running Against Trump
The GOP won Virginia not with a Trump-style reactionary, but a boring old country-club Republican. That spells bad news for a Democratic Party banking on running against Trump-style conservatives.
Dentists of the World, Unite?
The middle class isn’t going away — and we’re not sure they’ll help us.
Know Your Enemy
G. William Domhoff’s work is a vital reminder that the task of changing society begins with understanding who holds power in it, and how.
Jim Clyburn Is Wrong About FDR and the New Deal
Was the New Deal bad for black people? Rep. Jim Clyburn says it was. He’s wrong — and it’s time we set the record straight about both the New Deal’s real flaws and its overall hugely egalitarian impact on workers of all races, including black workers.
Joe Biden Is Not Ready to Confront Corporate America
Joe Biden will likely govern to the left of Barack Obama. But his willingness to spend has everything to do with capital’s relaxation of deficit worries — and where capital says “no,” no one should expect Biden to say “yes.”
Bring Back the Superdole!
By providing workers an extra $600 every week in unemployment insurance, the CARES Act delivered the most significant expansion of the welfare state since the 1960s — and delivered the Left its most impressive policy victory in years. We should demand that the government do it again.
Joe Biden’s Narrow Win Won’t Hold for Long Once He’s in Office
Joe Biden’s empty campaign may well have won over some suburban Republican voters. But the fragile majority he has likely eked out this time should have been many times larger, and without a more serious reorientation, it won’t hold for long.
The Left Can Win the American South
Republicans captured the South through racist “dog-whistle” appeals and by exploiting the deindustrialization that ravaged the region after NAFTA. But we can’t write off the South as hopelessly reactionary — there’s a base for progressive politics that speaks to workers of all races.
The Soul of the Democratic Party Has Always Belonged to Capital
Henry Wallace was an ambitious left-winger in Roosevelt’s Democratic Party who, as secretary of agriculture and then as vice president, helped make radical the New Deal of the 1930s. His ultimate defeat by the right of his own party shows the obstacles the insurgent left has always faced within the Democratic Party.
To Fight Racial Inequality, We Have to Attack the Power of Corporations
Corporations are a central driver of racial inequality in American society. But it’s not because they haven’t thought enough about racial injustice — it’s because their basic goal is to maximize profits, even when it decimates the lives of black people.