Should housing be a right. That is the question. But the real question is what would that mean and how do we make it more than a token right but an actual effective right. In North America we had this mythology that everyone could own their own home. That has
Continue readingTag: working class
Views from the Beltline: Finally—Democrats romance the working class
Early in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, Donald Trump was the subject of much mockery. No way this buffoon could win said the pundits. Michael Moore, left-wing rabble-rouser and and film-maker, disagreed. To put it in his words, “This wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown and full time sociopath is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – The Globe and Mail’s editorial board discusses the reality that the end of the age of oil is near no matter how many petropoliticians try to operate in denial. Carl Meyer reports on the oil lobby’s attempts to turn the pursuit of
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Conservatives and the working class
During the 2019 provincial election UCP leader Jason Kenney rambled about Alberta in a big blue pickup truck for all the world like a toiler in the oil fields. The new premier likes to present himself as one of the boys. Whether he succeeds or not, it worked electorally. He
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Revolutionary Fecklessness
Have you ever noticed that the people who are the most vociferous proponents of radical social change are often the least competent in providing for the everyday needs of the people around them? By everyday needs, I’m talking about the goods and services that glue a society together, like building
Continue readingLeft Over: The Working Class can Kiss my…
Condos without down payments could be sold by B.C. developer Buyers would get a discount on the price, which would become a virutual down payment CBC News Posted: Jan 12, 2016 9:33 AM PT Last Updated: Jan 12, 2016 9:33 … Continue reading →
Parchment in the Fire: What are political parties offering workers in the Spanish elections?
On 20 December, general elections will be held in Spain, amidst a climate marked by the fallout of the Paris attacks and the pro-independence debate in Catalonia, with a profusion of televised debates but no more than superficial coverage of the parties’ election manifestos. The People’s Party (PP) is presenting the fall in the number… More What are political parties offering workers in the Spanish elections?
Michal Rozworski » Political Eh-conomy: Podcast: A labor journalism resurgence?
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Podcast150803-Labour-reporting.mp3 As unions and workers suffered defeats over the past few decades, so has labor journalism dwindled from a mainstay of major media outlets across Canada and the US to a relatively niche reporting interest. The past few years, however, have seen a still small but noticeable resurgence of
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Working class disarmed, Canadian redux
Looking at the prevalence of strikes in the US over the past six decades, Doug Henwood writes, Second Amendment fetishism aside, there’s an old saying that the working class’s ultimate weapon is withholding labor through slowdowns and strikes. By that measure, the U.S. working class has been effectively disarmed since
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Political Eh-conomy Radio: In and out of crisis with Sam Gindin
Today’s podcast is a feature interview with fellow political economist Sam Gindin. I interrogate Sam about the political economy of the present: the exit from the 2007 crisis, the role of states, austerity, the place of finance and the possibilities of resistance. Download: podcast-140314-sam-gindin.mp3 Sam Gindin is a left political
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Why Bitcoins aren’t going anywhere: Drugs and Coffee
Bitcoin is going nowhere. I promise you that it won’t and I’m positive that I won’t be eating my words at a later date. I’m going to tell you why: 1) Drugs and 2) Coffee:….
Continue readingMelissa Fong: The demise of the Annex: Westbank bought Honest Ed site
I don’t know why this news induces both laughter and sadness in me. There’s a salty pool of tears collected by irony. Honest Eds is possibly one of the most iconic buildings, business and site in Toronto (Top 5, easily, gaining much more fondness than that phallic “free-standing” structure by
Continue readingLeft Over: The Revolution will Start, With or Without Me….
Russell Brand’s Epic Interview With BBC’s Jeremy Paxman Just Might Start A Revolution (VIDEO) The Huffington Post | By Ryan GrenoblePosted: 10/25/2013 4:11 pm EDT Many have seen Russel Brand’s remarkable interview with Jeremy Paxman, either on TV or YouTube..if not please go to the HuffPo article cited here and see it..the best ten
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Would the Making of the English Working Class get made today?
Would the Making of the English Working Class get made today? An interesting article by Rowan Cahill from Radical Sydney about whether or not Thompson’s classic work of social and labour history would see the light of day in today’s academic environment. Suffice to say, I’m inclined to think not
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Happy Labour Day weekend to all working class women and men. In…
Happy Labour Day weekend to all working class women and men. In this corrupt age of ultra-capitalism, globalization, neo-feudalism and unrestrained class war, we need the labour movement more than ever! Now is the time to stick together and take what’s ours, instead of continuing to fight each other over
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Here’s my final photo from the International Workers Day…
Here’s my final photo from the International Workers Day rally in downtown Toronto on May 1, 2013. I couldn’t resist snapping a pic of this “Bourgeois” tour bus parked near the starting point of the Mayday march. Obviously I wasn’t the only one who saw the dry humour in this,
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 3 These are various photos of…
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 3 These are various photos of the International Workers Day march in downtown Toronto during the evening of May 1, 2013. A wide range of groups, individuals, causes and ideologies were represented — under the common banner of working class power.
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 2 Two current issues that were…
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 2 Two current issues that were emphasized at the 2013 International Workers Day rally in Toronto were the deaths of hundreds of garment workers in a recent factory collapse in Bangladesh (and the continuing systematic exploitation of all sweatshop workers in that country) and
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 1 These pictures are from the…
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 1 These pictures are from the starting point of the International Workers Day rally in downtown Toronto in the early evening of May 1, 2013. The trees and sunlight in these five photos highlight the other, much older, aspect of Mayday: nature, rebirth and
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: “Power & The Glory” by Cockney…
“Power & The Glory” by Cockney Rejects
————————————————————————————
Those years ago our ships set sail to restore England’s pride.
Thousands of blokes like me and you, were on their way to d…