Jacobin (magazine)

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Jacobin is an American socialist magazine and de facto associated with the Democratic Socialists of America.[1] Alongside The Nation, it is easily the furthest left publication in America that still has any relevant reach.

Political stance[edit]

Jacobin places itself in firmly in leftist politics and advocates democratic socialism.[2] And they are not kidding on the socialism part,[3][4] sometimes flirting with revolutionary politics.[5][6] As a socialist outlet Jacobin is willing to criticise liberalism[7] for its double-standards[8] on personal liberty versus the prioritization of property.[9][10] Unlike Bernie Sanders, Jacobin makes it clear that they are not referring to Nordic-style social democracy, though they do acknowledge that it is a good model within the context of a capitalist economy.[11] Speaking of capitalism, they're pretty damn sure it'll end at some point, and it'll be replaced by either communism, socialism, or some flavor of right-wing dystopia.[12]

Jacobin claims to have very strong opinions on democracy,[13] being very disdainful toward any attempts to manipulate or subvert democratic institutions, either directly or through loopholes.[14][15][16] However, some of its staff praise and whitewash dictators and authoritarian figures like Vladimir Lenin,[17][18] Fidel Castro,[19][20] and Hugo Chávez.[21][22]

Jacobin has both praised and criticized the Brexit. An example is an article calling for Jeremy Corbyn to embrace Brexit,[23] particularly a hard Brexit. Another article also advocated for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union and opposed a second Brexit referendum.[24] The crux of the argument in the latter article is that the EU weakens democracy, and that calls for second referendums are nothing more than an attempt to subvert democracy. The article points out that Ireland was the only country to put the Lisbon Treaty on a popular referendum, in which it was rejected (the other member-states had their legislatures rectify it). Later, Ireland had a second referendum in which it approved the treaty, and the second referendum had a higher voter turnout.[25]

The good[edit]

  • It is at least willing to critique the Democratic Party from the left, which is rare (and needed) in the US media.
  • A deep analysis of the ruling class in the United States, including the often overlooked one-digit millionaires that control municipal politics by virtue of effectively owning the local economy.[26]
  • A deep analysis of the right-wing and reactionary politics behind the progressive facade of Silicon Valley, with a specific focus on Peter Thiel.[27]

The awful and cringe[edit]

  • Betraying workers after purchasing the British magazine the Tribune,[28] where founder Bhaskar Sunkara promised employment if they took a settlement of only 70% of the back wages they were owed; instead those workers found themselves unemployed
  • Publishing another sympathetic piece,[29] this time about militia man Ammon Bundy; the interview was retracted when it was exposed as a hoax[30]
  • Publishing articles by Angela Nagle,[31] a plagiarist,[32] who slammed the open borders manufactroversy in the Trump-friendly American Affairs[33] and went on Carlson's show to attack the DSA[34]
  • Publishing an article opposing the firing of racists and Nazis (because how dare they face consequences!)[35]
  • Interviewing Die Linke MP Sahra Wagenknecht,[36] without making noise about her bigotry against immigrants and muslims[37]
  • Doxxing a whistleblower during Trump's first impeachment just as conservative "news" did[38]
  • Making an eulogy for Eduard Limonov, the founder of the National Bolshevisk Party,[39] and glossing over the violence and bigotry of the NazBol gang[40]
  • Had some bad takes on Ukraine in the leadup to their war with Russia, blaming the conflict on NATO expansionism and even agreeing with Tucker Carlson's apologia for Russia[41]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Walking the tightrope: Jim Creegan looks at the quandary posed by Jacobin magazine and the new DSA by Jim Creegan (22.03.2018) Weekly Worker.
  2. ↑ Towards A Democratic Socialism
  3. ↑ The Cold War Is Over. It’s Time to Appreciate That Eugene Debs Was a Marxist.
  4. ↑ The Canton Speech
  5. ↑ Rosa Luxemburg's "The Tactics of Revolution"
  6. ↑ Karl Kausky Was Once A Revolutionary
  7. ↑ Aaron Sorkin Turned the Chicago 7’s Militancy and Defiance Into Bland Liberalism
  8. ↑ Emmanuel Macron Is Creating a Liberalism Without Civil Liberties
  9. ↑ What liberalism gets right- and wrong
  10. ↑ Socialists Don’t Want to Destroy Liberalism. We Want to Go Beyond It.
  11. ↑ Democratic Socialism is not social democracy
  12. ↑ Four Futures
  13. ↑ Democracy is good, actually!
  14. ↑ "Defenders of democracy" aren't bothered by its end in Bolivia
  15. ↑ Erdoğan Will Never Defeat the Fight for Democracy in Turkey
  16. ↑ Arundhati Roy: India’s Hindu Right Are Willing to Bury Democracy
  17. ↑ The lies we tell about Lenin
  18. ↑ The Legacy of Vladimir Lenin
  19. ↑ Happy Birthday, Fidel Castro. We’ll Forever Remember Your Solidarity With Our Struggle.
  20. ↑ Fidel Castro (1926–2016)
  21. ↑ Venezuela after Chávez
  22. ↑ The Truth About Chávez
  23. ↑ Why the Left Should Embrace Brexit
  24. ↑ Leave the EU Already, originally published in January 2019
  25. ↑ Ireland votes yes to Lisbon treaty
  26. ↑ Take Me To Your Leader: The Rot of the American Ruling Class
  27. ↑ Peter Thiel Embodies Silicon Valley's Conservative Past and Dystopian Future
  28. ↑ Jacobin Accused of Reneging on Wage Deal in British Takeover of Tribune Magazine
  29. ↑ archived
  30. ↑ How a racist troll pretended to be Ammon Bundy on Twitter and punked most of the media
  31. ↑ Angela Nagle tag
  32. ↑ Kill all citations: sloppy sourcing plagues "kill all normies" book on SJWs and the alt-right
  33. ↑ The left's case against open borders
  34. ↑ Theses on Nagle, or I See a Red Door and I Want to Paint it Brown
  35. ↑ Trying to get workers fired is the wrong way to fight racism
  36. ↑ Interview with Sahra Wagenknecht of Die Linke
  37. ↑ How Sahra Wagenknecht can do a better job
  38. ↑ What's the point of impeachment?
  39. ↑ Obituary of Eduard Limonov
  40. ↑ From exile to dirtbag edgelord: Geopolitics and the rise of national bolshevism in the US
  41. ↑ The Media’s Neo-McCarthyism on Russia Is Getting Worse
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