Revolutionary thought of the day: We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both. Louis Brandeis (1856-1941)
Continue readingTag: Socialism
Writings of J. Todd Ring: Socialism, Capitalism, Corporatism, & The Future Of Humanity: Ideology vs Reality
A few thoughts on the recent, very thoughtful and interesting discourse and debate, between Professors Brookes and Wolff, linked in the video below: To Professor Wolff:Bravo – brilliant crystalization. To Professor Brookes:Great respect for your human decency and moral sentiment of basic justice and compassion, certainly, but are you not
Continue readingwmtc: capitalism won because it is better and other right-wing lies
In recent years, I see a greater awareness that capitalism — at least in its present form — is the root cause of so many issues that plague our society. This awareness makes sense, given how extreme the evidence has become. Proof is all around us We grapple with the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Caitlin Johnstone offers a grim but fair evaluation of the barely-existent left in the U.S. and elsewhere – while recognizing that the obvious implication is the need to build capacity to demand systemic change. And David Suzuki discusses how an obsession with perpetually
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Zak Vescera reports on the CCPA’s new research showing how an increasing number of jobs in British Columbia are precarious – with already-disadvantaged workers especially likely to be affected. Don Pittis points out the Bank of Canada’s continued attempts to hold wages below
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Luke Savage points out that even biased right-wing polling is finding broad support for stronger social programs and limitations on corporate domination in Canada and the U.S. But Jake Johnson writes that the Biden administration is instead increasing military funding while putting
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Francesco Pierri et al. study the roots of COVID-19 vaccine denialism, with misinformation becoming more and more prevalent as the pandemic continues. And David Climenhaga discusses how Alberta (and many other Canadian provinces) are taking a new step in pandemic denialism by planning
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: At Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s 10th anniversary conference
In October, the New York office of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung celebrated its 10th year of operation. CD columnist and editor André Frappier was there. Photo by Behance. The Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung held its annual meeting in New York on October 28-29, the 10th anniversary of the opening of its
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Cate Swannell discusses how research showing the multitude of harms which can result from COVID-19 infection. Calixto Machado-Curbelo, Joel Gutiérrez-Gil and Alina González-Quevedo study how new variants are entering the brain in different ways than prior versions – easing the respiratory damage associated with
Continue readingwmtc: hard times: we are ruled by banks, corporations, and the governments that enable them. it doesn’t have to be this way.
In Canada this year, food bank usage hit an all-time high. In March 2022, there were almost 1.5 million visits to food banks — 15% more than there were one year ago, and a whopping 35% more visits than in March 2019, pre-pandemic. Food prices have ballooned at the highest
Continue readingwmtc: barbara ehrenreich, rest in power. i will miss you.
I was very saddened by the news that Barbara Ehrenreich had died earlier this month. She was one of my favourite thinkers and writers, and I found it difficult to bundle my thoughts and feelings into a tribute. From her last book, Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: In memoriam: John W. Warnock
Jack Warnock at home in Victoria, BC. Photo supplied by William Carroll. Last month we lost a brilliant activist-scholar. John W. Warnock passed away on May 27, after a long struggle with ALS. I was just arriving for a stay in Tokyo when I received the news, and have been
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Neoliberal failures expose the need to defund the police
Police cannot ever solve broad social and political problems created by the neglect of the neoliberal state. They will forever be locked in a chase to find more crime which is continuously generated by our economic system. A dog chasing its tail. Alternatives must be found.
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: How capitalism made the pandemic worse, every step of the way
The internal logic of capitalism has tainted our government’s response to the pandemic. Corporate profits were preserved, while the interests of the working class were disregarded. Pandemic austerity and vaccine nationalism were the primary themes of government responses, and have grave consequences for the working class and health of humanity.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Katherine Wu, Ed Yong and Sarah Khang write that the Omicron COVID-19 wave is seeing governments make the same familiar mistakes in an accelerated time frame, while Umair Haque laments the continued combination of incompetence, ineptitude and indifference. And the Star’s editorial board
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Communist Family
From each according to his abilityTo each according to his needs* If you did not know the source of this you could easily mistake it for a description of the family. After all in a family the family unit takes care of all of your needs from birth, and as
Continue readingNorthern Currents : Should Leftists and Progressives trust Pfizer and Big Pharma?
The Left has always had a strong tradition of emphasizing the importance of science and empirical understanding of the world. Remember that foundational socialists such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels considered their approach to economics as “scientific socialism.” Marx himself admired the scientific advances made possible by
Continue readingNorthern Currents : Will elections ever save us? No, but a strong Labour movement will.
Giving Labour more power within the capitalist system should be seen as a win for the Left, especially after decades of neo-liberal decay. If we are to progress as a society, building worker’s power within a strong intersectional, labour, and Indigenous coalition would be a great starting point. Change only
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Ian Austen takes Alberta’s shame to the international stage by pointing out how the UCP’s “best summer ever” has given rise to the fourth wave of COVID-19. Adam Hunter points out how similarly disastrous pandemic mismanagement hasn’t yet produced the same political
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