(The following was originally published in Grist.)
It’s been a pretty good year here in Seattle for your average living wage-wanting, proletariat lovin’, socialist-revolutionary-leaning progressive. Last November, Socialist Alternative party member Kshama Sawant made national headlines by getting elected to city council. And just last week, Seattle became the first major U.S. cityto increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, winning a historic battle for workers’ rights and setting the bar for the highest minimum wage in the world.
Socialists in political office? A fair living wage for workers? Where are we, Denmark? What’s next?
What’s next is Jess Spear. She’s young (32), she was a driving force behind the $15 minimum wage campaign in Seattle, and now she’s running for Washington State Legislature … as a socialist. She also happens to have a background in climate science, and favors taxing corporations to build investment in renewable energy and away from fossil fuels.
Here are five reasons you should be watching Jess Spear: