Reaction to the debt ceiling deal made between the Democratic and Republican parties has generated a misunderstanding as to the role of the deal itself, those of the parties themselves and their leadership. As there is no serious organized Left in the United States, let alone a class-conscious movement of the working class, the interpretation of the debt deal will inevitably be colored by the image of the deal proffered by the media and the parties themselves. Politics in the twenty-first century has been completely subsumed into, as Debord argued, the spectacle, but its victory is so complete that it is a lazy one at that. Our task, then, is to examine the reality of the deal and the social relations between the actors and party organizations. Continue reading

Even as tens of millions of New Yorkers and other East Coast residents face a public health emergency from climate-driven wildfires in Canada, legislative leaders at the State Capitol are sending their members home for the rest of the year without taking action of many key climate issues. The United Nations has repeatedly warned that governments are moving far too slowly to keep global warming below the safe target level of 1.5 degrees C. Scientists now expect that tipping point to be breached within the next five years (if not sooner), an existential threat to humanity, especially for the many developing countries located in the tropics where climate change is taking place fastest. This week the heat index in parts of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean soared to 125 degrees F, a situation that scientists called “astonishing.” A “once-in-200-years” heatwave has engulfed Southeast Asia and China. Continue reading

My name is Tony Ndege. I am a co chair of North Carolina Green Party and one of several National Co-chairs of the Green Party US Federation Today I come here first and foremost as an Anti-War fighter of more than twenty five years and one of dozens of organizers who helped to put together the largest action against US-led War in North Carolina history right here in Raleigh. Feb 15 2003. That event was part of the largest global Day of anti-war resistance in history.  Continue reading

By Garret WassermannDecember 2, 2022 2022 appears to be yet another year in which the “lesser evil” narrative has driven much public debate. While the anger with Democrats for not making meaningful action toward fulfilling their campaign promises is palpable, it is overshadowed by fear of what a Republican majority in Congress and state houses might bring regarding civil rights including abortion rights and other important issues.  Continue reading

After the latest gut-wrenching, overly protracted election cycle, cluttered by attack ads, misleading surveys and Big Money influence, several takeaways are clear. Both major parties will stay gridlocked in a dysfunctional system that panders to extremism, rewards rhetoric over results and, by condemning compromisers to political oblivion, fails to address critical issues. Continue reading

By Margaret Kimberly Juneteenth was a people's holiday with deep meaning for the descendants of enslaved people. But the declaration of an official federal holiday has turned it into an opportunity for corporate exploiters and cynical politicians to show pretend concern for Black people. At best Juneteenth provides a history lesson and an opportunity for much needed political education. "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere." General Order Number 3, June 19, 1865 Continue reading

On February 3rd, National Missing Persons Day focuses the attention of the country long enough to recognize the national tragedy of missing persons.   Continue reading

The Democrats belie their commitment to democracy by repeatedly suing to get the minor party off ballots Democrats have framed their voting-rights legislation as a "battle for the soul of America." President Biden last week said that "the right to vote and to have that vote counted is democracy's threshold liberty." But what about the right to a real choice? Continue reading

By Howie Hawkins The Freedom to Vote Act, the pared down voting rights legislation that Democratic Senators unveiled on September 14, must be supported to preempt GOP state laws for partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression, election subversion, and intimidation of voters and election administrators. Yet this bill also deserves vigorous protest from the Left for its public campaign financing provisions, which are effectively for the two big capitalist parties only. Continue reading

By Mark Dunlea, author, Madame President: The Unauthorized Biography of the First Green Party President Twenty years after 9/11, America is less safe, a deeply troubled country, ravaged by COVID, racism, inequality, extreme weather from global warming, and political strife. Its political leaders have embraced an Orwellian approach to the truth, war is peace, with society embracing widely divergent concepts of reality. Continue reading