Negin Owliaei

Negin Owliaei

Negin Owliaei is a co-editor and researcher at IPS's Inequality.org. Before joining IPS, she worked as a journalist and digital producer at Al Jazeera Media Network, where she covered social movements and the internet for the award-winning program The Stream.

Articles by this author

Their enormous wealth offers them an outlandishly oversized role in our democracy. It’s poisoning both our politics and our media. (Photo: Shutterstock) Views
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Time for a Billionaire Ban
Bill Gates wants you to know he pays taxes. “I’ve paid more than $10 billion in taxes. I’ve paid more than anyone in taxes,” Gates told journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. “But when you say I should pay $100 billion, OK, then I’m starting to do a little math about what I have left over.” Supposedly Gate...
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Supporters rally for universal health care in Chicago. (Photo: Shutterstock) Views
Thursday, September 26, 2019
No One Should Have to Bargain for Health Care
Nearly 50,000 members of the United Auto Workers began striking earlier this month, demanding that General Motors pay them their fair share of the billions in profits the company raked in last year. The response from General Motors was shocking. The automaker, which accepted billions in government...
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The worst tragedy is that companies get to make millions attacking indigenous people and burning down vital ecosystems. (Photo: Shutterstock) Views
Friday, September 20, 2019
Who’s Burning the Amazon?
While the world watches in horror as fires rage in the Amazon, activists are naming culprits. “Put out the flames, we name your names—politicians, corporate vultures, you’re the ones we blame,” demonstrators chanted as they marched from the White House to the Brazilian Consulate on September 5. The...
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Amazon Watch, a California-based organization that works in concert with indigenous and environmental groups, issued a report earlier this year documenting the dozens of companies that stand to make money as Bolsonaro strips regulations in Brazil. (Photo: Victor Moriyama/Greenpeace) Views
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Activists Follow the Money Fueling Amazon Fires
While the world watches in horror as fires rage on in the Amazon, activists are shining a light on the big businesses destroying what’s popularly known as the “lungs of the Earth.” On September 5, people around the globe stood in solidarity with the rainforest’s indigenous communities by partaking...
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Most of these localities also have poverty rates far higher than the U.S. average. (Photo: Shutterstock) Views
Friday, August 16, 2019
Red States Cut Worker Pay by $1.5 Billion
Last month, the House voted to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. If the Senate passes the bill, it would be the first federal minimum wage increase in more than a decade — far too long for residents of the 21 states that don’t have their own higher minimum wage. Here’s another...
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US Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) speaks as, Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (D-MN)(L), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) (2R), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hold a press conference, to address remarks made by US President Donald Trump earlier in the day, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on July 15, 2019. - President Donald Trump stepped up his attacks on four progressive Democratic congresswomen, saying if they're not happy in the United States "they can leave." (Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP) Views
Monday, July 22, 2019
‘The Squad’ Keeps the Focus on Bold, Inequality-Busting Policies
“We are one of the wealthiest countries in the history of this world. And yet millions of adults in the United States still don’t have health insurance,” Rep. Ilhan Omar told an audience of her Minnesota constituents on Thursday evening. A day after the president of the United States incited...
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45 percent of Americans—including a third of households making more than $180,000 a year—worry they could go bankrupt over a major health issue. (Photo: Shutterstock) Views
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Medicare for All Would Save Money—And Lives
One night a few years ago, my partner woke up delirious with fever, a bright rash, and joint pain so bad he couldn’t get out of bed without help. I was scared — mostly for his health, but also for our financial situation, which weighed heavily on me during our 4 a.m. ride to the emergency room. As...
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A small group of independent drivers and supporters protest against Uber and other app-based ride-hailing companies near the Wall Street Charging Bull, May 8, 2019 in New York City. The protests in more than a dozen cities come ahead of Uber's anticipated Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) which could put the ride-hailing firm's calculation as high as $91.5 billion. Drivers are seeking higher wages and better rights as employees. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Views
Monday, May 13, 2019
Uber Drivers Strike As Execs Make Millions Off IPO
With the ring of a bell, controversial former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick became a billionaire on Friday when the ridesharing company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. But while Uber execs former and current cashed in on the IPO, the drivers that actually build the company’s wealth won’t...
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Employees are still calling on the fast food franchise pay $15 an hour and respect their right to unionize. (Photo: Shutterstock) Views
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
It’s Time for $15 and a Union
Last month, McDonald’s announced a dramatic about-face in its political priorities. After years of strikes and protests from labor activists, the burger giant has decided to end its involvement in lobbying campaigns against increasing America’s paltry $7.25 federal minimum wage. It’s a big victory...
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Amazon provides much of the infrastructure for the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration databases, the report points out, which means it holds the information that facilitates the mass surveillance, detention, and deportation of immigrants. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Organizers Oust Amazon HQ2 From New York
mazon offered New Yorkers the best possible Valentine’s Day gift — a breakup. The union-busting, deportation-aiding company announced it wouldn’t go forward with plans to build a new headquarters in Queens, financed in part by tax breaks and capital grants, thanks to the sustained organizing...
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