It’s all up and down with democracy these days as right-wing populists, some bordering on fascism, come and go. The most prominent case, of course, was our great neighbour to the south electing Donald Trump and then trading him in for one of the best and most progressive presidents in
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Views from the Beltline: A loss for illiberalism, a gain for democracy
Generations of Communism is not the best training for democracy. So perhaps we shouldn’t have expected that when the Soviet Union collapsed under its own dead weight, the countries that emerged would quickly become functioning democracies. Actually some have done very well, others not so much. Russia and Belarus, riddled
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: November
There are things going on. From absurd numbers of kids home sick from school, to the Grey Cup going on today in Regina. The most vocal civilian critic of the SaskParty’s support of abusive religious schools (who were teaching dinosaurs were around with Creationist people), had their home vandalized with
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Front Page of Polish Paper – ‘How to Spot a Jew’
The right wing is alive and in charge in Poland today as that country joins Hungary and Italy in descending into illiberal democracy. It therefore should come as no great surprise that the latest edition of the Polish weekly, Only Poland, has on its front page an article entitled “How
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Taking Democracy for Granted. We’re Probably On This Road Too.
Andrew Sullivan has a thought-provoking essay in New York Magazine about how we’re killing off liberal democracy and not just in Poland or Hungary or the United States either. This elite condescension toward challenges to their power stems, philosopher John Gray recently argued, from a fundamental and demonstrably false assumption that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Chrystia Freeland should not be punished for her grandfather’s sins, but for misleading Canadians about them
PHOTOS: Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland during her visit to Edmonton in the midst of the 2015 federal election. Below: Former Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Who would ever have imagined major Canadian media companies would conclude collaborating with the Nazis when they were on
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Women on strike in the US and Poland
For International Women’s Day, two interviews on women’s protests and strikes, in the USA and in Poland. My first guest is Barbara Smith. Barbara is an icon of the US women’s movement, particularly it’s Black radical wing. She helped establish Black women’s studies as a discipline, was a founding member
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Poland’s Iron Consensus
The new Polish parliament represents a full spectrum of opinion — from the liberal right to the populist right to the ultra-conservative right. The relatively monolithic composition is hardly a surprise. With a solid right-wing electoral consensus before the October 25 elections, the Right’s strong showing just signaled that its hegemony is firmly intact. The
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Political Eh-conomy Radio: the left in Greece and Poland
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/podcast-150123-poland-greece1.mp3 I’ve been visiting family in Poland for the past few weeks so, fittingly, this week’s podcast deals with the situation of the left at two opposite ends of the European periphery: Greece and Poland. My first guest is Yanis Varoufakis, professor of economics at the University of Athens and candidate for SYRIZA
Continue readingThings Are Good: Carbon Output Shrinking as Economies Grow
Some odd people think that environmental policies and mandated efficiencies ruin economies, well, now there is another reason why those people are wrong. A report just released will hopefully have an impact on the climate talks in Poland happening this month shows the disconnect between economic growth and destroying the
Continue readingArt Threat: Blasphemous maggot artist erects new illegal billboards
Provocative Polish artist Peter Fuss is back with a new pair of guerrilla billboards. Each monochrome board is wallpapered with 36 depictions of an US one-dollar bill, with the text “reasons are still the same” pasted in loud, bold type across the rightmost panel. Fuss has pushed political buttons with
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