By Evan Carlson It should come as no surprise that capitalism pits our short-term needs against our long-term revolutionary goals. Want to go on strike for a living wage? Too risky. Better to have shitty pay than be out of a job. Want to confront your landlord about that black mold problem they’ve been ignoring? Again, too risky. Better to breathe tainted air than to … Continue reading The Power of Alternative Institutions

Police officers almost never get convicted for killing people. by Mark Honey When Zachary Bearheels was kicked off his charter bus last summer, he hadn’t taken his medication. He was bipolar and schizophrenic, and had no idea where he was. Omaha was certainly not Oklahoma, where his mother was waiting for him. Around midnight, hallucinating, he walked west. At the Bucky’s gas station on 60th … Continue reading Whispering Blue Murder

By Rosa Asque When I first spoke to Luiza, I was running my plans to visit South America by her. Brazil was high on my list of places to go. We had met on Instagram a few years prior, and sharing music lead us into talking about life and politics right away. How could it not? The tension was so thick, I could see the … Continue reading The Coup in Brazil Marches On

By Jack Taper I hate America. I hate this country. It’s just big ideas, and stories, and people dying, and people like you. The white cracker who wrote the national anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word ‘free’ to a note so high nobody can reach it. That was deliberate. Nothing on earth sounds less like freedom to me. — Tony Kushner, … Continue reading Flag Worshippers: Gangrenous Death Cult of the 21st Century

By Evan Carlson   In one of the most disgusting examples of fake news yet, President Trump recently tweeted, “3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico…This [report] was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico.” However, it was not … Continue reading Mutual Aid in the Climate Change Era

By Alex Collins   “There’s nothing wrong with voting for the sake of harm reduction or a slight boost to basic human dignity.” Socialists often sarcastically pose the question, “What’s the point of voting?” Usually we assume no answer. In recent weeks Republicans have shown us a crucial justification. Voting is one of the least effective ways to engage politically. Direct action, community service, education … Continue reading Harm Reduction

By Mark Honey A rebel Venezuelan military faction that attempted to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro in early August also recently met with a US diplomat. The faction, which numbered in the hundreds, was seeking help from the US in overthrowing the Venezuelan government. The rebels wanted material aid in the form of encrypted radio systems, as well as help planning details of the coup, The … Continue reading Attempted Assassins in Venezuela Met with US Diplomat

By Anna Swanson   Anna Swanson: What is the purpose of your organization? Mark: I see this group as participating in long-term class consciousness raising and building political power outside of the traditional structures here. I talk about this all the time, but I see us as operating in the void that the Democratic Party leaves in politics. Seth: I think that, like Mark mentioned, … Continue reading Slumlords Beware: An interview with Omaha Tenants United organizers

by Anthony Engebretson of DSA Lincoln   The first annual “Red State” Leftist Conference was the state’s largest explicit gathering of leftists in many decades. Nebraska DSA, Nebraska Left Coalition, Lincoln ISO, and the Black Cat House sponsored the one-day event. The purpose was to nurture unity and share ideas and strategies, all toward building a working-class movement that seeks to dismantle capitalism and other … Continue reading A Spark Away: Nebraska’s Red State Conference