Basic Christian Morals
I was scrolling mindlessly yesterday morning, on Christmas Day, and came across some outrage around unhoused people being put up in a hotel at taxpayer's expense. The naysayers clearly have…
marx
On Burnout: "Can" is the New "Should"
I started reading about burnout when I walked away from teaching earlier than expected. Suddenly, I couldn't bring myself to open that door after over thirty years of bounding to…
On Marxism
It’s such a go-to now to call the enemy some version of a communist in a weird throwback to 1950s America and McCarthyism. And now the leader of the opposition…
Who Are The CIA?
Who are the CIA? This will tell you everything you need to know. Here’s where things really started to go wrong: 1947, the National Security Act, which created the National…
Hannah Arendt’s On Violence
Unfortunately, this is really timely. Arendt wrote this short book in 1970, but there’s nothing in it that needs to be updated today. Absolutely nothing significant has changed; it’s just…
On Capitalism’s Limitations
Every year, when we get to the part of my philosophy course where we read some Marx & Engels, and I ask for criticisms of the reading, like I do…
Defining the Left
This is a continuation of my previous post on the political correctness issue raised in last week’s Munk Debates with Jordan Peterson, Michelle Goldberg, Michael Eric Dyson, and Stephen Fry…
Avoiding the Lesser of Two Evils
It's not my country, but what happens in America affect the world. And we're right next door. The Left Forum had a panel discussion a couple weeks ago with Glen…
Avoiding the Lesser of Two Evils
It's not my country, but what happens in America affect the world. And we're right next door. The Left Forum had a panel discussion a couple weeks ago with Glen…
Robots, migration and the future of work (Briarpatch Magazine)
I have a longer read in the newest issue of Briarpatch Magazine, which is dedicated to the world of work. If you don’t know Briarpatch, be sure to check out…
Ontario’s Early Economic Development: A Political Economic Analysis
When writing about her adopted home of Ontario in Roughing it in the Bush, settler Susanna Moodie recalls penning a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Arthur requesting that he continue…
Toronto’s G20 Summit As A State of Exception
At Illuminated By Streets Lamps, I have posted a paper I have written on the security apparatus put in place for the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit. I argue that the…
Toronto’s G20 Summit As A State of Exception
At Illuminated By Streets Lamps, I have posted a paper I have written on the security apparatus put in place for the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit. I argue that the…
Locating Canada’s State Multiculturalism As A Racist Doctrine
I, like many Canadians, am a product of Canada’s state multiculturalism. My family was permitted to enter and remain in Canada, achieve legal, civil, social and economic rights and ultimately,…
Locating Canada’s State Multiculturalism As A Racist Doctrine
I, like many Canadians, am a product of Canada’s state multiculturalism. My family was permitted to enter and remain in Canada, achieve legal, civil, social and economic rights and ultimately,…
Aristotle contra the math stick: Magic numbers redux
In the last post I explored how magic numbers, such as a 90% debt-to-GDP ratio or a 2% inflation target, at once over-simplify and stifle economic policy debate. The role…
The facts are capitalist
There has been a curious debate in the past week within the world of economics blogging. It started with a post by Chris House on the contrast between a “well-known…
Karl Marx’s Revenge: Class Struggle Grows Around the World | TIME.com
Karl Marx’s Revenge: Class Struggle Grows Around the World | TIME.com. Karl Marx was supposed to be dead and buried. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and China’s Great…
Slavoj Zizek’s sharp blade: video interview on changes in the global financial and political system
The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek is one of the most engaging thinkers around, not only in terms of the ideas but in person. He’s engaging even if you don’t altogether…
Class Struggle in County Durham
Dispatches from the class struggle in County Durham: What the colliers’ dependence on the exploiters for their homes means in practice can be seen in any strike. For example, the…