Nick French

Worker-Led Unionism in the 21st Century We interviewed Eric Blanc about his new book to discuss what it will take to organize workers on a mass scale and reverse the US labor movement’s long decline.

Had a great discussion with @nickfrenchnyc.bsky.social about recent debates over union strategy (and my new book)

www.left-notes.com/p/worker-org...

Worker-Led Unionism in the 21st Century We interviewed Eric Blanc about his new book to discuss what it will take to organize workers on a mass scale and reverse the US labor movement’s long decline.

For Left Notes and @inthesetimesmag.bsky.social, I interviewed @ericblanc.bsky.social about his new book, with an eye to how we should understand “worker-to-worker organizing” in relation to older traditions of left-wing unionism. open.substack.com/pub/leftnote...

Worker-Led Unionism in the 21st Century Labor scholar Eric Blanc’s new book We Are the Union argues that worker-to-worker organizing can allow unions to scale up and help reverse the labor movement’s long decline.

How might labor finally reverse its long decline?

@nickfrenchnyc.bsky.social and @ericblanc.bsky.social discuss the promise of worker-to-worker organizing.

Maybe We Shouldn’t Normalize AI Relationships More and more people are building “relationships” with AI chatbot friends and lovers. It’s an extremely depressing sign of the times.

For Left Notes, I wrote about the depressing trend of people forming intimate relationships with AI www.left-notes.com/p/ai-chatbot...

Left Notes’ 2024 in Review This year was less a year for the record books and more a year for the dustbin of history — at least from the point of view of left-wing politics. But we’re looking back on it anyway.

Not a lot to crow about from 2024, but I'm proud of the writing work @nickfrenchnyc.bsky.social and I did. Check out some of the highlights from our year taking notes for the left. www.left-notes.com/p/left-notes...

Left Notes’ 2024 in Review This year was less a year for the record books and more a year for the dustbin of history — at least from the point of view of left-wing politics. But we’re looking back on it anyway.

Left Notes’ 2024 roundup: @nealmeyer.bsky.social and I look back on the year www.left-notes.com/p/left-notes...

Jimmy Carter Worsened the American Malaise He Decried In July 1979, Jimmy Carter described a spiritual “crisis of confidence” that could “destroy the social and the political fabric of America.” But the neoliberal policies of his administration helped ma...

I wrote about Jimmy Carter’s infamous “malaise” speech, and how as president Carter worsened the problems he decried jacobin.com/2024/12/jimm...

N.Y.C. Grocery Prices Are High. Could City-Owned Stores Help? (Gift Article) A New York City mayoral candidate wants the city to open its own, more affordable grocery stores. The idea has gained momentum in Chicago and other cities.

Grocery prices are out of control. 1 in 4 NYC kids isn't getting enough to eat. Local government must act.

Today I'm announcing a major new proposal to lower costs and tackle price gouging: city-owned grocery stores.

More at @nytimes.com.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/n...

A beautiful mind

Anne in 2002 you called for the killing of Palestinian journalists for the crime of simply making Israel and the US look bad. This year Israel, consistent with your position, has killed 150+ journalists in Gaza. Is it your opinion that killing Palestinian journalists “suppresses real journalism”?

Bernie Sanders: We Need More Working-Class Candidates to Challenge Both Parties Politics / Q&A / November 26, 2024 Bernie Sanders: We Need More Working-Class Candidates to Challenge Both Parties The senator says in this exclusive interview that challengers to status quo politics ...

Hell ya Bernie: "I think that what Osborn did should be looked at as a model... He took on both parties... [W]here people can run in the Dem primary and win, that’s fine. Where it is more advantageous to run as an independent... we should do that..." www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Democrats’ much-touted ‘ground game’ was a disaster. Here’s how to fix it Cable ads and bussed-in volunteers don’t cut it any more. If the party wants to win, it must engage voters in a collective push for change

Training what Gramsci called "permanent persuaders" — party activists who constantly are organizing their neighbors/coworkers/friends — is a critical political task. Volunteers knocking on strangers' doors and having 30 second convos at election time isn't enough. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

This Is What Democracy Looks Like? A manifestly unfair, hypocritical, atomized society is a perfect breeding ground for right-wing pathologies. Curing them means figuring out how to inject some badly needed doses of solidarity.

I wrote some reflections on the deep roots of Trumpism’s success in the US today, beyond the particular campaign failures that Democrats are now agonizing over www.left-notes.com/p/trump-rawl...