Vladimir Putin is perhaps first among the anti-democratic strongmen that have emerged to soil the world. At the recent G20 summit he couldn’t resist taking a shot at liberal democracy, suggesting that it is becoming obsolete. The fact is that while the system he so loved, and faithfully served—Soviet Communism—lies
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Alberta Politics: Message to my American Cousins: It’s mellow up here; there is no communist revolution yet; no one wants to take Manhattan
Dear American Cousins, literal and metaphorical: The day before yesterday, medical and recreational cannabis became legal in Canada. The Canada correspondent for the New York Times reported excitedly that we Canadians were calling this C-Day. We were? Beats the hell outta me where she got that idea. I’m pretty sure
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Fear of Soviet bombers a concern during the Trans Mountain Pipeline debate of 1952
The current debate around the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline centres around political posturing, provincial jurisdiction, investment priorities, climate change, coastal protection and consent by First Nations communities, but when the pipeline was originally being built in 1952, civil defence and the threat of war with the Soviet Union was
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The "But Communism Was Bad" Argument
Lately, when debating matters of economics, people that I will broadly call “small government advocates” (usually hardline fiscal hawk conservatives and libertarians) will inevitably start throwing about the argument that “communism is a failed ideology” when they are challenged directly about the specifics of what they would cut from government,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Impact of growing opioid crisis on life expectancy in the United States is more evidence that neoliberal austerity kills
PHOTOS: This scene is in Paris. It could be anywhere in our “globalized,” that is, neoliberalized world. (Photo: Eric Poulhier, Wikimedia Commons.) Below: Rundown but dignified Havana, high-profile U.S. economist Paul Krugman (Photo: Flickr, Commonwealth Club) and political economist Alan Nasser (Photo: Evergreen State College). Will Mexico eventually decide it
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jim Hole, high-profile Alberta horticulturalist, does his bit to make cannabis cultivation respectable in Canada
PHOTOS: Hole’s Greenhouses co-owner Jim Hole at yesterday’s news conference at his store in St. Albert. Below: Atlas Growers President and CEO Sheldon Croome. Below him: Mr. Hole tests the light in his pot-growing enclosure for a group of mildly bemused reporters. As readers can see, the unit can also
Continue readingScripturient: Where is Che now that we need him?
Maybe it’s simple nostalgia, but it seems to me the world was a lot better off when the Soviet Union was around. Really. Bear with me while I explain. When the USSR was the main enemy of our loudly-proclaimed free and democratic society, we strug…
Continue readingScripturient: Mao: The Unknown Dictator
Although I have read many biographies of the European dictators, and many histories of Europe and the Americas in the first half of the 20th century, I hadn’t read much about modern China until recently. Mao: The Unknown Story (by Jung Chang and …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Calgary-Foothills: The first by-election in Alberta’s post-PC political world
Today’s by-election in Calgary-Foothills is the first litmus test for Alberta’s political parties in the post-Progressive Conservative political world. When Rachel Notley led NDP candidates to victory in fifteen constituencies in the city on May 5, 2015, the “Orange Wave” broke at the boundaries of this constituency as conservative… Continue Reading →
Continue readingThe anti-communist memorial—an outrage to Canadian heritage
I recently wrote the following letter to The Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages: Dear Minister: I am writing in regard to the Memorial to the Victims of Communism proposed for a site immediately southwest of the Supreme Court of Canada. My interest in this project
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: The Soviet Machiavelli
I’ve written a new piece for my Municipal Machiavelli blog about the late (1982) Mikhail Suslov, the “Soviet Machiavelli.” You can read it here: www.ianchadwick.com/machiavelli/the-soviet-machiavelli/ Suslov was the power behind the Soviet throne; in fact behind several thrones. From joining the Party in 1921, he rose to the top echelon. He
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Harper Describes Himself
One of the more ludicrous things the Harper Government has been pursuing is creating a “monument to the victims of communism”. A more cold-war propaganda-esque move is almost unimaginable. But, in Harper’s speech at a fundraiser yesterday, he opened his mouth and promptly engaged in self-description. In language reminiscent
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Some Canadian content for Mayday (International Workers’…
Some Canadian content for Mayday (International Workers’ Day): This video is a documentary about the Toronto folk music group The Travellers, who started out in 1953, mixing traditional folk songs, Canadian patriotism, communism and Jewish culture (sometimes singing in Yiddish). They were inspired by, and worked with, Pete Seeger. They are
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2013-10-25 22:00:00
NORMAN BETHUNE AND BLOOD TRANSFUSION: A GREAT CANADIAN LIE If you visit pretty well any Canadian government site, or one receiving its funding from the government, you will come across the claim that the Canadian Communist surgeon Norman Bethune founded the first mobile blood transfusion unit in the world
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: The un-Canadian Harper Conservatives recently announced they are…
The un-Canadian Harper Conservatives recently announced they are giving away $1.5 million of our tax dollars to fund a politically motivated monument with the misleading name Memorial to Victims of Communism—Canada, a Land of Refuge. It’s not “victims of Stalinism”, “victims of totalitarianism”, “victims of dictatorships”, “victims of the Soviet
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Tommy Douglas…Commie?
Probably not, but according to Dennis Gruending the RCMP spied on the guy for decades without coming to any firm conclusion. Didn’t they have some kind of test? Like tie Tommy Douglas up with rope and throw him in the river and if he sinks he’s innocent?
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: http://issuu.com/randalljaykay/docs
http://issuu.com/randalljaykay/docs: The above link is to an archive of various scanned articles and newsletters from the 1980s and 1990s that are related to topics such as anti-fascism, radicalism, socialism, anarchism, prisoners’ rights, anti-imperialism, First Nations rights and anti-racism, They are interesting historical documents, and many of the issues they discuss
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Any fool who still says “better dead than red” in…
Any fool who still says “better dead than red” in this day and age should have to prove it. Try both options and get back to us.
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: There’s an over-used, often-modified, bullshit slogan…
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
Continue readingThe Quantum Buddha's Blog: Media, Monopoly and Marxism.
I had a discussion on Facebook today, with someone who disagreed with socialism, yet supported clearly socialist ideas and policies, as I find so often. A reply by someone to the original Facebook post stated fascism and socialism were wrong, as well as all monopolies (as monopolies were assumed to
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