Unions and Health Care Reform  

With health care the number-two priority of voters-behind jobs but still before terrorism-hopes are riveted on the 2004 election for reform that would extend coverage to forty-five million uninsured and safeguard the care of those lucky enough already to have …









The Last Page  

You go shopping and find yourself in a long line, waiting for help from a competent but overwhelmed cashier. On your right you see four self-service stations with no lines. A cashier stands ready to train you on how to …







Health Care: What Ought to be Done?  

How should Democrats think about health care reform now? And what should Democrats do about it? The simplicity with which one can pose such questions is misleading. Health care reform is a topic marked by much ideological cant, ferocious interest …



The Golden Notebook  

One of the most laudatory reviews of The Golden Notebook when it first appeared in 1963 was by this magazine’s founding editor, Irving Howe. Writing in the New Republic, Howe praised Lessing’s abilities as a novelist: “Precise and nuanced dialogue …





A Muslim Manifesto from France  

“We are of Muslim culture. We oppose misogyny, homophobia, anti-Semitism, and the political use of Islam. We reassert a living secularism.” Ed. Note: Dissent does not usually publish manifestos, but when we learned of the remarkable one below, we decided …



A Thought Experiment for the Left  

Here is a thought experiment for the left. It requires a bit of historical imagination, something for which the left is known. Its political implications are weighty. So weighty, I think, that the answer-your answer, Comrade Reader-to the question I …







Israel: No Souvenirs  

I went to Israel to talk, and I talked a lot, but I did my best to listen, too. On my first day, I sat in a Jerusalem café with Z, a comparative literature student, who told me that just …