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It is not covered by Medicare nor Medicaid. © 2020 fi rst STREET for Boomers and Beyond, Inc. 85217 VOLUME 44 NUMBER 12 ELECTION 2020 ON THE COVER How to Seize the Moment 14 A Green New Deal They’re Organizing It’s Together That for the South Like Their Lives We Survive Disaster Amid devastating hurricanes, the Depend on It A conversation about mutual Gulf South pushes for a climate aid with law professor and plan that puts the community first Healthcare workers see on-the- activist Dean Spade job solidarity as essential work BY CASEY WILLIAMS BY CLARA LIANG BY ALICE HERMAN 6 30 22 DECEMBER 2020 = IN THESE TIMES 1 No political movement can be healthy unless it has its own press to inform it, educate it and orient it. “ — IN THESE TIMES FOUNDER JAMES WEINSTEIN ” TABLE OF CONTENTS FOUNDING EDITOR & PUBLISHER JAMES WEINSTEIN (1926–2005) DISPATCHES FEATURES EDITOR & PUBLISHER Joel Bleifuss EXECUTIVE EDITOR 6 A Green New Deal 22 LABOR (ON LEAVE) Jessica Stites EXECUTIVE EDITOR for the South Healthcare Workers Are (ACTING) Diana Babineau BY CASEY WILLIAMS Organizing Like Their EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Christopher Hass Lives Depend on It WEB EDITORS Miles Kampf-Lassin, From Student 7 BY ALICE HERMAN Sarah Lazare Debtor to Soldier GUEST EDITORS Jack Mirkinson, BY ANNA ATTIE 30 It’s Together That We Susan Rinkunas LABOR REPORTER Hamilton Nolan Survive Disaster INVESTIGATIVE FELLOWS 9 LABOR A conversation about mutual Alice Herman, Indigo Olivier This Is What Solidarity COPY EDITOR Bob Miller aid with law professor and Sounds Like PROOFREADERS Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, activist Dean Spade Rochelle Lodder, Lindsay Muscato BY LIZ PELLY BY CLARA LIANG SENIOR EDITORS Patricia Aufderheide, Susan J. Douglas, David Moberg, Salim Muwakkil, Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) VIEWPOINT CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kate Aronoff, CULTURE Theo Anderson, Michael Atkinson, Frida Berrigan, Michelle Chen, Sady Doyle, Pete 12 LABOR Karman, Kari Lydersen, Moshe Z. Marvit, 34 The Violent Story of Power Comes From Jane Miller, Shaun Richman, Slavoj Žižek American Whiteness CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dean Baker, Class War, Not Biden BY KIM KELLY Rebecca Burns, Barbara Ehrenreich, BY HAMILTON NOLAN Jeremy Gantz, Leonard C. Goodman, Mindy Isser, Naomi Klein, Chris Lehmann, John 38 Comics Nichols, Rick Perlstein, Micah Uetricht EDITORIAL INTERNS Frank Carber, ELECTION 2020 40 In Those Times: Hannah Faris, Clara Liang, Janea Wilson Last Gasps for the GOP? CREATIVE DIRECTOR Rachel K. Dooley How to Seize the Moment DESIGN ASSISTANT Matt Whitt CARTOONS EDITOR Matt Bors CARTOONISTS Terry LaBan, Dan Perkins 14 Introduction DEPARTMENTS BY DIANA BABINEAU DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 4 In Conversation Lauren Kostoglanis 16 Beware the Neoliberal DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Jamie Hendry Backlash 7 This Month in PUBLISHING ASSISTANT Caroline Reid BY BARBARA RANSBY Late Capitalism CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Rebecca Sterner 18 Biden’s First Priority: IN THESE TIMES BOARD OF DIRECTORS 9 By the Numbers: M. Nieves Bolaños, Tobita Chow, Kevin Undo the Damage Mental Health Creighan, Dan Dineen, James Harkin, BY RICK PERLSTEIN Robert Kraig, Paul Olsen, Rick Perlstein, 10 In Case You Missed It Margaret Rung, Steven Saltzman, Stacy 20 Biden Must End the 13 The Big Idea: Sutton, David Taber, William Weaver War He Helped Start Boycott, Divestment, BY SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI The work of In These Times Sanctions (BDS) writers is supported by the Puffin Foundation. pms 3015 pms 130 ON THE COVER Our staff and Illustration by Rachel K. Dooley writers are represented by Photos via Getty Images these unions: 2 IN THESE TIMES + DECEMBER 2020 EDITORIAL Inside-Outside, a Winning Strategy ne of the big wins for progres- benefactors might turn off the money spigot. His sives in 2020 is not electoral but post-election campaign coffers, which include organizational. significant corporate donations, have ballooned Since its founding in 1976, In These to $2 million cash on hand. Times has championed a political orga- The Friday before the election, Sen. Bernie Onizing principle known as the “inside-outside Sanders (I-Vt.) joined an online public discussion strategy.” It posits that, to effectively build pow- hosted by the Squad—Democratic Reps. Alexan- er and enact policy, progressives should work in- dria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), side the political system, building footholds in Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.). the system of representative government. Pressley thanked Sanders for “ushering [in]” Simultaneously, to challenge power from the outside, they should build popular It is essential that our insiders be movements in the streets, on the shop strategic and aggressive. Meanwhile, floors and on the National Mall. those on the outside must organize the We first wrote about the inside-outside strategy in a June 1977 story about the unorganized and build a movement. Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Caucus members, initially lacking the inside-outside strategy. “Forever, power in Congress, worked on the there was the movement versus elect- outside as a kind of leadership group for ed officials,” Pressley said. “The truth the Black community. As their seniority is, there is an inside-outside [strategy], but in the House increased, so too did their in- if you are getting it right, it’s all one movement.” fluence within the Democratic House leadership. Ocasio-Cortez thanked Sanders for “normaliz- As CBC members have gained rank and picked ing” the “ruckus on the Democratic Party.” “Every up committees, however, their focus has increas- single one of us got our seats challenging the Dem- ingly turned toward raising corporate donations to ocratic establishment,” she said. “And now, from fund Caucus infrastructure. Today, for example, a grassroots perspective, people are realizing, ‘Oh, one of the most powerful members in the House is we can hold our party accountable and we can put CBC member Majority Whip James Clyburn (D- the fire on our own party. It doesn’t just have to S.C.), a darling of Big Pharma who, in the past 10 be Republicans.’ And in that way we prevent the years, has taken more pharma money than anyone rightward drift of the Democratic Party.” else in Congress. All told, 33 corporations are rep- Let us hope this commitment to the inside-out- resented on the CBC Foundation’s Corporate Ad- side strategy is replicated in the soon-to be-restruc- visory Council, including Exxon Mobil, Walmart, tured Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). Eli Lilly and JPMorgan Chase. Long a caucus with many members but little cohe- With all this corporate backing, is it any won- sion, the CPC is set to centralize leadership behind der that Clyburn has become a leading knock- Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and require its er of the progressive reps who remain committed members to vote as a bloc more regularly. to playing inside-outside politics? Two days af- At a time of crisis for our nation, it is essential ter the election, the New York Times reported that, that insiders be strategic and aggressive.