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There’s an over-used, often-modified, bullshit slogan along the lines of “If you are not a socialist at the age of 20 you have no heart; if you are still a socialist at the age of 40 you have no brain.” This pearl of supposed wisdom gets a lot of people’s heads nodding in agreement, especially amongst the bumper sticker/talk radio set, but also amongst some who consider themselves left-leaning or “progressive.” The argument is that socialists are childish, and that devotees of capitalism are grown up. Another assumption is that as people age, they abandon their earlier left-leaning . . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: There’s an over-used, often-modified, bullshit slogan… Canadian provinces cooperate in order to save money: Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers have worked out a deal to buy six generic drugs in bulk, which will save us an estimated $100 million. Imagine that, politicians from across the country working together for the common good! In today’s divided and dysfunctional Canada! We need more of this national cooperation and national planning (and nationalization of key industries). According to un-Canadian capitalist extremists, cooperation is weakness and tantamount to communism (and thus very bad). Conservatives promote a winner-take-all society based on brutal competition, greed and cheating. This, despite the “There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…” This week, I attended a talk put on by the International Socialists, featuring an organizer with OUR Walmart, by Skype from Texas, and a Toronto-based union activist. Both speakers were terrific and so inspiring, but although I took copious notes, I’m not posting a summary of the talk. It was similar to the talk I blogged about here - from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity - and an extension to an article I wrote recently: workers doing it for themselves: fighting . . . → Read More: wmtc: are we seeing the beginning of global people’s revolution? I was very pleased to see this run in the New York Times. I guess it was safe because the writer didn’t actually use the word socialism. But this Op-Ed is all about the dead-end of capitalism, choking the life out of the working person, and more recently, the middle class. …we struggle with our personal finances not because we spend too much money on small luxuries but because salaries have stagnated at the same time as the costs of nonluxuries have gone up. Even as the average household net worth plunged by almost 40 percent between 2007 and 2010, . . . → Read More: wmtc: why you cannot save your way to a comfortable retirement In this children’s book review, I look at a book about military war resistance and analyze its lessons and conclusions. Shot at Dawn deals with many unpleasant realities of war – including some shameful episodes in Canada’s past – with open eyes and without sugar coating. Ultimately, the author pulls his punch, forcing a conclusion that is palatable to mainstream sensibilities. At the same time, though, the book insists on difficult questions without clear-cut answers. So while it doesn’t square with my own views, neither does it satisfy pro-military or nationalist propaganda. I add this book to my ongoing exploration . . . → Read More: wmtc: what i’m reading, children’s book edition: # 3: a war resister story of sorts
Happy 2013 to all good and decent people who deserve it. Fuck Off And Die to all enemies of freedom, justice, equality and truth. It’s a different year, but it’s the same old struggle. —————————————————————————————————— The video is for the song “Different Day” by The Rough Kutz. A friend sent me a link to this blog, written by a man from the UK, a Socialist Workers Party activist, now retired and living on the Greek island of Samos. It’s a picture from of life under extreme austerity – how people are suffering, but also how they are coming together. It’s very scary. People are living under the harshest of conditions. Too often, the response is scapegoating and violence. Attacks on undocumented immigrants, Roma, and others read like European history repeating itself in the worst possible ways. Yet this blog also highlights the seeds of hope. Grassroots initiatives . . . → Read More: wmtc: unrelenting austerity and the promise of self-reliance: a blog from greece Four European workers explain why their union is participating in the general strike: “Why we are striking against austerity in Europe” in The Guardian. In many sectors, union “leadership”, content to settle for crumbs, were dragged along by the organi… . . . → Read More: wmtc: european general strike: "end this downward spiral" In a few hours, people all over Europe will wake up and begin their days. Many will find it difficult to get anywhere or do anything. Many more will not report to work or school, and will instead take to the streets.November 14, 2012 will mark a histor… . . . → Read More: wmtc: n14: european general strike! A claymation version of Ed Broadbent makes a clear and logical 3.5-minute presentation on income inequality and politics in Canada. . . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: A claymation version of Ed Broadbent makes a clear and logical… I’ve never reblogged something before, but this story really impressed me so I had to share. alittlecoconuttart: Occupy Group Buys Consumer Debt And Throws It Away November 10, 2012 By Nathaniel Downes The debt collection industry is one of the l… . . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: I’ve never reblogged something before, but this story… One of the wonderful things about no longer working for Evil Corporate Law Firm – and there are so many! – is no longer contributing to a firm that represents some of skeeviest organizations in the world, including the Conservative Party of Canada. I’ve worked for many a skeevy law firm, because writing and activism doesn’t pay the bills, and a decent salary lets me do good in the world. If I were a lawyer, I hope there’d be a different equation, but as support staff, well, we don’t blame fruit pickers for pesticide use. Like most corporations these days, . . . → Read More: wmtc: corporate greenwashing and the myth of consumer sovereignty True words written by David Brooks. But the next step is for him to realize that the Democrats are not actually socialists at all but are the Traditional Conservatives he is talking about and pining for. In Canada we used to call them Progressive Conservatives and they’re all but dead up here too, having merged into a more economic conservative party and the centrist party. For most of the western world your Democratic Party is very conservative socially and embodies all these cautious step forward values you discuss. Truly progressive parties around the world are not timid about proposing universal (Read more…) Did you ever wonder about economic growth? Take the time to question your assumptions on economic growth and how it effects you? Thomas Homer Dixon has and what he says is quite interesting. From The Upside of Down pages 192 – 193. “One might even say that we’re collectively fixated on maintaining growth. But this is a curious fixation because beyond a certain point – a point many of passed long ago – the higher incomes that growth produces don’t make us any happier. When psychologists have questioned people over the years about how happy . . . → Read More: Dead Wild Roses: Failures of Capitalism – Unquestioned Assumptions on Happiness Revolutionary thought of the day: A voice cried out, I was killed in Maryland in 1877 When the railroad workers made their stand Well, I was killed in 1963 one sunday morning in Birmingham Well, I died last year crossing the southern desert My children left behind in San Pablo Well they left our bodies here to rot Oh please let them know We are alive Oh, and though we lie alone here in the dark Our souls will rise to carry the fire and light the spark To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart Bruce Springsteen“We When did “entitled” become a dirty word? Why do we hear “entitled” being used as catch-all slur, a derogatory description to be thrown at progressive people working for change? And why should we permit this word to retain such a heavily negative connotation? Here are some people I have seen called entitled in this negative sense by bloggers and commenters. Brigette DePape. Occupy protesters. Refugee claimants. Quebec student protesters. People opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. Voters who believe they were defrauded by the Conservative Party of Canada. Here is a synonym for entitled: deserve. Here is another synonym . . . → Read More: wmtc: why is "entitled" a dirty word? some thoughts on what we are all entitled to. One of the best talks I attended at this year’s Marxism Conference was given by my friend Pam Johnson. I know little about Canadian labour history; my knowledge of labour struggles is mostly about the US. Learning about the 1965 postal workers strike was thrilling, both in the discovery of history, and in the possibilities for the present and future * * * * The 1965 Postal Workers StrikeMay 24, 2012Pam Johnson, dancer, educator, union member, labour activist The 1965 postal workers strike was a milestone struggle in the history of the Canadian labour movement, leading to . . . → Read More: wmtc: marxism 2012 program notes: the 1965 postal workers strike There’s a saying that defines madness as doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. By that criteria, it’s clear that the European Union’s response to the long and painful crisis unfolding on that continent is utterly and completely mad. With the appearance a few years ago of a Greek sovereign crisis – it must be said for debt levels that weren’t much higher than those Revolutionary thought of the day: That’s a very American value right there: if you screw up in your early 20s, you — and your children — are on your own for life. . . . Why does it seem like a reasonable policy suggestion to tell Jessica she needs a husband, and pie in the sky to say she needs a union? Or a national day care system like the one in France, where teachers are well-paid, with benefits? Katha Pollitt, “The ‘New York Times’ Misses the Mark on Inequality, Marriage”, in response to “Two Classes, Divided By ‘I Do’”. Newsflash: a This and that for your Thursday reading. - Vaughn Palmer discusses the unfortunate gap between the outrages that may lead to a government being pushed out of power, and a new government’s ability to actually reverse what’s been done. Which, a propos of nothing, makes it rather important to push lame-duck incumbents to respect the democratic will of citizens rather than pushing through controversial plans without even the bare pretense of public consultation. - I don’t have any problem with the idea of “hardheaded socialism” as a successful economic and political model, particularly as it fits the NDP’s . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links Revolutionary thought of the day: There are limits to how far a people can be pushed. And if violence continues to be the preferred mechanism for control, if the state refuses to institute rational economic and political reforms to address the growing misery that corporations inflict on the citizens, it will, as at Blair Mountain, engender a violent response. Chris Hedges, “The Battle of Blair Mountain” How could the Conservatives or the Liberals weaken the New Democratic Party? Show Canadians what New Democrats stand for, the end of capitalism. Because both Conservatives and Liberals have for so long ignored the NDP’s first principle, socialism, it may seem like an exaggeration to ordinary Canadians that the orange wave wants to sink Canada’s capitalistic system however that’s exactly what the party stands for. In the preamble of the New Democratic Party’s constitution, a document that is the foundation of the party and which for obvious reasons was not posted on its website for many years, it declares that . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: The Difference In Popularity Between NDP & Its Principles In 2005, the 25 hedge-fund managers averaged $363 million. Paul Krugman observes that these 25 were paid three times as much as New York City’s 80,000 public school teachers combined. And because their pay is taxed as capital gains rather than salary, the teachers paid a higher tax rate! From The Great Capitalist Heist: How Paris Hilton’s Dogs Ended Up Better Off Than You by Gerald Friedman It would be ludicrous to suggest Stephen Harper is a socialist, because he’s not, he is however similar to one. Creating the biggest government in Canadian history, running the largest deficit, using government programs to dictate where people live and work, increasing spending while reducing taxes, government intervention in labour disputes, and centralizing power in one man, may all seem like the actions of a socialist, and they are, but they are also the actions of Stephen Harper. Unlike many of our southern neighbours, the association made between the leader of the so-called Conservative Party of Canada and . . . → Read More: The Scott Ross: Stephen Harper Isn’t Socialist But Don’t Tell Him That |
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