archive

Of the American Left

From Democracy, Timothy Noah on how economic policy isn’t just another front in the culture war — we must champion both fairness and efficiency regardless of popular whim; Jordan Michael Smith reviews Losing the Center: The Decline of American Liberalism, 1968-1992 by Jeffrey Bloodworth; and Elbert Ventura on how the conservative assault on government workers is in full swing — progressives are doing too little to fight back. David Harsanyi on the Left's phony defense of freedom: The NSA scandal didn't just reveal PRISM — it also exposed serious hypocrisy in the Democratic Party. Andrew Levison and Ruy Teixeira on why the Democrats still need working-class white voters: For all the excitement about left-leaning demographics, a real majority party needs better numbers among blue-collar whites. Generation Leftover: Jeffrey St. Clair on the silent death of the American Left. Far from posing a progressive alternative, the Democratic Party represses the revolutionary energy of workers to keep them firmly within the system. Walter Williams on understanding liberals and progressives. What’s Left: Have progressives abandoned every cause save gay marriage? (and part 2) Bhaskar Sunkara on how liberalism — including much of what’s published in The Nation — seems well-intentioned but inadequate; the solution lies in the re-emergence of American radicalism.