Can the Democrats Stop the MAGA Threat? By Joe Allen President Joe Biden addressed the nation on August first in a primetime speech from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With uniformed Marine Corps guards in the background, Biden declared: I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. …

Previously posted in Tempest MARCH 18, 2022 ARTICLE Stoughton’s forever war The legacy of Vietnam in my hometown by Joe Allen The battles of the Vietnam War have given way to recurring battles over its legacy. Joe Allen looks at the war’s impact on his Massachusetts hometown. Talking about the Vietnam War these…

Socialists and Strike Support: Perspectives and Politics by Joe Allen (Previously posted in Red Madison and Midwest Socialist) The current wave of strikes in the United States is a welcome change in the class struggle in the United States. As I wrote recently: The most obvious takeaway from this year’s…

Socialists and the Rank and File Strategy: A Resource Guide by Joe Allen “The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself.” — Marx & Engels. “We will support the officials just so long as they rightly represent the workers, but we will act Independently immediately [when] they misrepresent them.” — Clyde Workers’ Committee (1915). Introduction Marxists…

Preface Posted September 13, 2021 Here is an updated reading list for the 2021 Teamster election. My first reading list was posted in October 2020. Since last October there have been several major developments in the race for the union’s leadership including, the nomination of the two slates for the…

Reflections of an antiwar labor activist 9–11 began for me with the phone ringing off the hook. I stumbled to the phone and listened to my voicemail. It was my mother calling. “Joey, something terrible has happened. Turn on the TV.” My brain wasn’t really working but I turned on…

The Teamsters Have Entered the Chat (w/ Joe Allen) Bonus Episode of the Working People Podcast hosted by Maximilian Alvarez This interview was edited for length and clarity. Please sign up for the Working People podcast on Patreon, here. Working People: A lot of folks who are watching this from…

A 2021 Teamster Election Primer: Gangsters, Reformers, and Socialists in the Teamsters. A Reading List by Joe Allen The 2021 Teamster election is well under way. After two decades in power James P. Hoffa, Jr. will not be running for reelection but there is a real contest for who will…

The threat of the Far Right by Joe Allen Joe Allen looks at the rising threat of the Far Right, its relationship to the Trump Administration, and its implications for the Left before and after the November elections. We are in a dangerous political moment. The far right has surged…