The damage that wealthy bankers did to the economy back in 2007/08 is still with us, and that has led to a whole generation questioning the validity of modern hyper-capitalism. That same germination witness ongoing environmental destruction and the erosion of labour rights (amongst a litany of other ills) all
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The Progressive Economics Forum: Ease up on shareholder payouts, pay your workers more instead
With Alberta and Ontario raising their minimum wage to $15 per hour, and BC possibly following suit soon, the usual suspects have begun their predictable howling about how this is a bad time, or it’s happening too fast, or how it will simply hurt those we are trying to help.
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: A despot in disguise: one man’s mission to rip up democracy
George Monbiot The Guardian It’s the missing chapter: a key to understanding the politics of the past half century. To read Nancy MacLean’s new book, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, is to see what was previously invisible. The history professor’s work
Continue readingThe Political Road Map: Don’t Be Afraid of Raising The Minimum Wage!
I decided to write this post in response to the usual chatter that is generated, whenever the government decides to impose an increase on minimum wage. Usually, you will hear some form of Libertarian or Anarchist arguing that the increase in minimum wage will not only lead to higher prices,
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Desmond Cole, the Toronto Star and Another Existential Crisis for Professional Journalism
DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. I see this as a two-fold issue; firstly, actions and secondly, words. I’ll consider both briefly and then elaborate on my concerns. Actions There is no point in rehashing here the now well-known details of what lead to Desmond
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: The role of NGOs in Africa: are they a force for good?
Some critics argue that the neo-liberal policies advanced by powerful non-governmental organizations, NGOs, limit states’ influence and sovereignty while benefiting NGOs. In Africa, NGOs also place Africans at the mercy of donors. The post The role of NGOs in Africa: are they a force for good? appeared first on The
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Brazil Having it Own ‘The Jungle’ Moment – Capitalist Meatpacking Woes
“They use everything about the hog except the squeal.” ― Upton Sinclair, The Jungle Driving into work today I listened to a story about how many large countries of the world had recently banned imports of Brazilian beef and chicken into their countries. Reports from a whistle-blower about cardboard being
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Quote of the Day – Susan Rosenthal on Capitalism
“As children, we count each birthday, eager to become adults so we can do what we want and make our own decisions. Once arrived, we discover that adult freedom is an illusion. Our childhood dreams of an exciting life are replaced with never-ending work and little to show for it.
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Gender and Coffee – Socialization in Action
We can change society in the (sociological) blink of an eye. Unfortunately, it is usually in service of making a buck. Highlights from JSTOR’s public section. “For caffeine addicts, a morning without a pot of coffee is a no-go. But it hasn’t always been as convenient to make coffee
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Can Capitalists Afford a Trumped Recovery? Guest post by Jonathan Nitzan & Shimshon Bichler
This provocative guest post submitted by Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, was published earlier this year on their bnarchives website. Nitzan, professor of political economy at York University, and Bichler, who teaches political economy in Israel, are authors of Capital as Power, a Study of Order and Creorder and numerous related
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Democracy and the Crisis of Confidence – Christopher Lasch
The excerpt is from a great piece by Christopher Lasch writing in the short lived journal “Democracy”. Written in the 80’s, details the systemic problems facing US democracy. The situation described shows the roots of where we are now, and how (unfortunately) we have arrived here. “The centralization
Continue readingAlberta Politics: How to put Christ back in Christmas: It starts with Christians pressing ‘Reset’
ILLUSTRATIONS: Santa Claus … not Jesus. Below: Karl Marx (not mentioned in the story) … also not Santa Claus. Jesus Christ (quoted at length) … not Santa Claus either. This is an edited version of a post that first appeared in this space in 2012. With the Right in Alberta
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: A New Title for Black Friday – Lemmings Day!
Happy Lemmings Day! a.k.a Black Friday Should we besmirch this plucky rodent’s escutcheon by associating Lemmings as the embodiment of greed and feral-consumerism known to a good chunk of the western world as ‘Black Friday’? It isn’t really fair (hey, just like capitalism) to play on the misunderstood ‘suicidal tendencies’
Continue readingThings Are Good: Slavoj Zizeck on the Ethics of Consumption
Slavoj Zizeck is a modern thinker that has done a great job of critiquing the overarching assumptions in our society when it comes to power dynamics and the insidiousness of neoliberalism. In the video above his views on capitalistic consumption are summed up rather nicely. It’s worth the ten minute
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Panama Papers: Now You Can Help Track Down Tax Cheats
All over the world today some of its richest people are quivering in their boots.Because for over a month hundreds of journalists have been digging through the so-called Panama Papers, the more than 11.5 leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mo…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: David Cromwell – On Academic Collaboration with the Private Sector
David Cromwell excels at identifying key points of friction between public and private interests. In this excerpt he examines how higher learning is being bent to fulfil its corporately mandated responsibilities to society. “This [Academia] is a privileged sector where critical thought and enquiry into human society, the natural world and the cosmos ought to […]
Dead Wild Roses: Syrian Human Traffiking
Wouldn’t it be nice if people, for once, didn’t decide to make money of the misery of others? (I know, I know. Capitalism would collapse the End Times would start, et cetera). One news story that caught my eye was the tomfoolery going on with some Immigration Consultants and their business of getting Syrian […]
The Canadian Progressive: How Women-Led Movements Are Redefining Power, From California to Nepal
Around the world, movements led by women are challenging “growing corporate power, land grabs, economic injustice, and climate change, women’s movements offer a paradigm shift,” writes San Francisco-based photojournalist and writer, Rucha Chitnis.
Th…
Scripturient: The ‘Sharing Economy’ is a Hoax
Stop calling it the sharing economy. It’s an oxymoron, like ‘creation science’ or ‘sustainable capitalism.’ It’s not collaborative: it’s the new indentured servant economy. If you believe these corporations are…
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: The Political Economy of The Sharing Economy
Introduction Today, getting a lift to the store is as easy as loading an application on a digital device and summoning a roving car to one’s door. It is fast, cheap and, many argue, less onerous than ownership. The so-called sharing economy is on the…
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