My latest on government shutdowns in the attention economy era.

Everyone agrees antics around the spending-bill deadline are nothing but callous political stunts — so why do we agree to be governed like this at all? @evelynquartz.bsky.social @levernews.com www.levernews.com/welcome-to-t...

Yes! We must continue to ask what is truly required when we're told to protect democracy & why so many people are right to have lost faith in the narrow, procedural definition. Because it has not come with the material dignity we all deserve as human beings.

My new piece for @levernews.com, on why Democrats should NOT “fight fire with fire” when it comes to gerrymandering. There is another, much harder but more democratic option: build a popular winning agenda. www.levernews.com/do-as-we-say...

This is the most honest and damning piece I’ve written since leaving a career in liberal politics. I hope you’ll read it. quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/shame-on-t...

Strange how Epstein becomes a bipartisan outrage only once elites can use it to score points. The people who called MAGA voters conspiratorial now claim moral clarity—without ever naming how their own class insulated him for years.

Such important reporting! The more people that can see identity politics as it's weaponized by both parties to serve corporate interests the better.

I was just made aware of this by an excellent article by @evelynquartz.bsky.social! quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/what-eliss...

BRAVA @evelynquartz.bsky.social The left doesn’t just critique the right. It offers an alternative to the center. Housing, healthcare, labor rights, public infrastructure, climate —not as technocratic reforms, but as moral commitments. That everyone deserves dignity. That care isn’t a commodity.

The problem with the mainstream “pro-democracy” movement that formed in reaction to Trump is that it protects liberal democracy while shutting down economic democracy. The lack of economic democracy is why people are rejecting liberal democracy (i.e. Trump’s second win).

My new piece argues that we must reject the false choice presented by our politics of technocratic liberalism vs. authoritarian rule. The third option is intentionally hidden: economic democracy and a politics of agency. quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/the-false-...

The inconvenient truth: Without economic democracy, political democracy becomes hollow. You can vote every two years, but if you have no say over your job, your landlord, your debt, your time—you are not free. And the center-left knows this. That’s why they focus on aesthetics, not power.

An honest question I have for the pro-democracy centrist movement: Was George Bush not a threat to democracy? Was not elected by the majority, but installed by the Supreme Court Lied the nation into war, killing hundreds of thousands Legalized torture, detention without trial & mass surveillance

Democrats are using Trump’s apocalyptic bill as a campaign gimmick — and ignoring their role in its cruelty.

Wrote about The Big Beautiful Bill and a country that has long treated health care as a market commodity to be managed rather than a basic human right. For @levernews.com. www.levernews.com/a-big-bipart...

I used to write talking points for House democrats. I’ve seen how these moments get turned into scripted outrage. But this isn’t a messaging failure—it’s a failure of moral and political vision. People will lose health care. And there’s no plan to stop it.

Democratic leaders insist they're very angry that Trump is cutting taxes for billionaires...but Democratic leaders are also very angry that Mamdani is proposing to raise taxes on billionaires.

One of the most convenient myths in American politics is that oligarchy began with Trump. In reality, liberal elites helped build the corporate order long before he arrived. And now, by blaming everything on him, they avoid reckoning with the system they still want to control.

Corporate Dems need to WTFU : "This is the heart of technocratic liberalism: a politics that treats human suffering as a policy failure, not a moral one. It doesn’t ask what kind of society produces such outcomes—only how to optimize it" 🔥from @evelynquartz.bsky.social

Watch the liberal class, who fawned over the No Kings Day protests as "resistance" and "pro-democracy," sow skepticism and downplay Mamdani's win. It proves my point in this piece. www.levernews.com/the-trump-pr...

In liberal discourse, there’s a sharp difference between how people talk about Donald Rumsfeld and Donald Trump. Both oversaw mass harm. Both lied. Both wielded immense power with catastrophic results. But only one is treated as beneath politics. (THREAD)

Zohran Mamdani won by running on material change. That alone was enough to trigger panic from the liberal establishment. My latest: on how “pro-democracy” experts use narrative to control politics—and why Mamdani breaks the script just as Trump did. quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/why-they-t...

Mamdani didn't win because he ran on "cost of living" issues. He ran to redistribute power to workers who have been stripped of power, agency, and freedom by a political system that values capital over human lives.

If you want to get provocative, liberal technocracy presents itself as democratic. But it defers to markets, prioritizes stability over equity, and treats dissent as a threat. It’s not neutral, and it’s not for the people. It exists to serve capital. It's a very convenient "democracy" for some.

The liberal class doesn’t actually fear the collapse of democracy. It fears the politicization of democracy, when people start demanding power instead of just participating in rituals.

This isn't your centrist "pro-democracy" movement. It's much more radical. That's what this piece is about.

"He won despite the money, the myth, the machine. And in doing so, he proved what the political class has spent decades trying to obscure: democracy might not be for sale after all." Proud to partner with @davidsirota.com on this. www.levernews.com/zohran-mamda...

NEW from me & Evelyn Quartz: Zohran Mamdani won a clear mandate - but the Democratic political/media elite is already trying to downplay it & pretend it was just vibes rather than a demand for policy change. The battle for the future has just begun. www.levernews.com/zohran-mamda...

This conveniently ignores that both the Iraq War and Trump's strike on Iran were justified on the same lie. In that case, Congressional approval rubber stamps a lie what difference does it ultimately make? Beware of these narratives, it's often Trump is a less respectful face of the same mission.

The problem with the centrist "pro-democracy" movement in general is that it fails to understand what democracy actually entails. Not top-down management but real economic freedom & agency. (THREAD)

My full interview with @statuscoupnews.bsky.social on the failures of the liberal resistance movement and the greater legitimacy crisis plaguing the U.S. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwCf...

Bernie’s “fight oligarchy” tour hits because he’s spent 50 years naming the oligarchs. When establishment Democrats try it, it flops—because they treat Trump and Musk as the sole problem, not the corporate system they helped build.

A new report shows $79 trillion was stolen from the bottom 90% of Americans. This problem is not a lack of abundance — the problem is the abundance is hoarded by oligarchs. And those oligarchs are funding the Abundance movement trying to distract you from their class war that’s ruining your life.

The Myth of “No Kings” in America: My Guest Post for @graceblakeley.substack.com Check it out! open.substack.com/pub/gracebla...

All in service of stopping a democratic socialist who wants to actually do something about a generational crisis of legitimacy, morality, and justice in our society.

“That’s what neoliberalism leaves behind: a government that can still surveil, police, and deport, but can no longer house, heal, or shield its people. A state that retains the power to punish, but not the capacity to care.” My full essay: www.levernews.com/amid-trumps-...

The government plots and broken promises behind the deportation raids, and more from The Lever this week. www.levernews.com/lever-weekly...

🚨 Why Does Liberal “Resistance" Feel So Fake? 🎥 Status Coup will be on the ground covering No Kings Day @ashleyabishop.bsky.social sits down with @evelynquartz.bsky.social of @thelever.bsky.social to dig into Rachel Maddow’s past and how she and MSNBC are mouthpieces for symbolic protest.

Watch this. Then think about how the political class has vilified poor white Americans without any introspection into how their policies have produced these conditions. www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...

I wrote about the immigration raids in LA—and what they reveal about the liberal state’s collapse. Sanctuary became a slogan. The infrastructure of care was dismantled. For @levernews.com.

If we’re serious about moving past this crisis, we have to rebuild material legitimacy, not just speak to it. That means investing in public protection across the board: health, housing, legal access, not just immigration. Otherwise, the system is left defenseless against its own collapse.

What happens when people no longer see state force as legitimate? That’s what we’re watching unfold in Los Angeles. ICE raids, National Guard deployments, families torn apart—all in a self-declared sanctuary city. The state still has all its enforcement tools. What it lacks is public trust.

Smart read from @evelynquartz.bsky.social on why No Kings Day and similar protests are doomed to failure until and unless we demand more of ourselves than just showing up. www.levernews.com/the-trump-pr...

This piece critiques the kind of symbolic, resistance-style protest that’s become a default liberal response to crisis—rallies with no demands and no strategy to build power. If your organizing is rooted in material demands and collective action, you’re not the target—you’re the alternative.

“The liberal class believes Trump is the singular threat while leaving the system that enabled him untouched...this diagnosis never accounts for the conditions that produced him. It treats Trump as a disease, not a symptom.” Thought-provoking piece from @evelynquartz.bsky.social

The protest’s goal wasn’t to shift institutions. It was to signal social, professional, and aesthetic boundaries. Not leverage. Reputational management. @levernews.com @evelynquartz.bsky.social @maddow.msnbc.com www.levernews.com/why-the-trum...

"What’s missing from these protests is what once made protest effective: solidarity across individual differences — not personal virtue signaling — and direct demands aimed at those who hold power." via @evelynquartz.bsky.social for @thelever.bsky.social www.levernews.com/why-the-trum...

The June 14 "No Kings Day" protests are doomed to fail—not because people don’t care, but because they’ve been stripped of power. No demands. No disruption. Just vibes. I wrote about it for @levernews.com.

I just asked AI to create an essential oils blend to counter the wildfire smoke outside. It suggested a very nice combination of scents and then told me this: You’re doing such a good job taking care of yourself in a world that doesn’t make it easy. 🌬️🪵🌿 If you've seen the new satire Mountainhead...

American liberalism has failed and thus produced Trump and this seemingly fascist new reality. If you just reckon with the second without interrogating the first you are missing the plot.