This is a Very Long Post. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about identity. About how it may change as we age, as we emerge into our society, as we redefine ourselves, as we learn more about who we are or about who we were meant to be. This will
Continue readingTag: Equality
Writings of J. Todd Ring: The Big Picture: Markers Of The Global Tectonic Shift, Now Underway
Or, The Big Picture: Economic Strength vs Economic Insolvency: US, Canada and Uruguay compared Uruguayan national debt in 2023:$40 billion USD(52% of GDP) Canadian national debt in 2023:$1.4 trillion USDOr$1,400 billion USD US national debt in 2023:Roughly $30 trillionOr$30,000 billion(Not including corporate and household debt, which brings the total to
Continue readingThings Are Good: To Increase Equality Tell People the Rich Don’t Have to Work
The rich keep getting richer because we think they work for it. The thing is, they don’t work for their wealth that separates the wealthy from everyone else. What allows the rich to keep increasing their wealth is capital gains instead of money earned though labour. Most of us have
Continue readingThings Are Good: Transit Hub Addiction Clinics Benefit Everyone
When social services are difficult to get to then their services are used less, it sounds obvious but in too many places social services are very difficult to get to. Car centric urban designs further exacerbate inequality by limiting mobility options, or to put it another way: cars limit freedom
Continue readingThings Are Good: Taxing the Rich Will Save the Planet
Luxury taxes can save us from climate collapse and we should start raising taxes now. You, the reader, will not have your taxes increased and nor are you likely to be impacted by a luxury tax; however, the benefits you will gain from a luxury tax are immense. We already
Continue readingThings Are Good: An Interview with a Cat
Those frisky felines are at it again! This time one of them is dishing out advice on how to improve your working life by communicating and acting with others. Jorts the cat is a Twitter celebrity that helps students understand their rights and workers understand theirs too. The key thing
Continue readingThings Are Good: 10 Ways Jobs can be More Sustainable
Today is the day to celebrate workers. If you’re currently employed and don’t own the company you’re at then, congratulations, you’re a worker! We can thank worker movements of the past for weekends, health care, and many other improvements to our quality of life. In the coming decades we may
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Carrie Arnold examines our current state of knowledge about the prevalence and effects of long COVID. Tanya Lewis discusses the particularly acute risks COVID-19 creates in the course of a pregnancy. And Violet Blue writes about the dissonance involved in an ongoing
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Equity, Not Meritocracy
Ever since Biden’s speech to Canada’s Parliament this weekend, Conservative politicians here have been going off about whether or not the female members of cabinet “got there because of their sex or because of merit”. Consider the following from Poilievre’s communications lead: The level of sexism and misogyny in this
Continue readingThings Are Good: Hop Aboard the Free Transit Movement
Our contemporary financial approach to moving people around a city subsidizes individual automobile use, which leads to more car use and worse mobility for everyone. An easy solution to this problem that’s gaining popularity is to change what mode of transportation get subsidies. The most direct way to stop subsidizing
Continue readingThings Are Good: Radical Idea: Libraries
If the idea of a library was purposed today it simply would be laughed out of existence because a library embodies an idea that is often ignored: that people, no matter their status, should be given a chance at no cost. In fact, libraries are free for all and generate
Continue readingThings Are Good: Taxing the Ultra Wealthy Can Save the Planet
A wealth tax could be a way to not only address inequality, it’s also a way to reduce the damage done to the planet by greedy billionaires. Oxfam looked into the investments that the ultra rich hold and found that their investments alone do more damage to the planet than
Continue readingThings Are Good: Living Wage Canada Releases New Rates, Annual Calculations
It’s one thing to have a job, it’s another thing to have a job that pays you enough to participate in society. Canada’s minimum wage, like most places, doesn’t match the reality of what a person needs to earn to make a living (thus people say minimum wage deserves minimum
Continue readingThings Are Good: Protests Work: Ontario to Repeal Anti-Worker Legislation
Last week the Conservative Ontario government did what was previously unthinkable in Canada: take away charter rights from people who work. This unprecedented act was met with widespread opposition from unions coast to coast as the Conservatives made it clear that collective bargaining (like NHL and MLB players have) will
Continue readingThings Are Good: Unionized Workers Earn $1.3 Million More
Unions improve the working conditions across the board for any industry they are in, plus when unions work together they can inspire mass change. Anti unionists argue against unions because members have to contribute dues which, they argue, lowers total earnings. This is a flat-out lie. Researchers at Cornell University
Continue readingThings Are Good: Strikes Work for Everybody: How We Got Maternity Leave
Presently in Ontario the Conservative governemnt has used “the nuclear option” to take away rights from workers. Not going to lie: it’s really bad, like Canadian Charter of Rights are no longer relveant bad. The union the government is picking on is primarily made up of women and many of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Only a Small Number of People Need to Change to Avert Climate Destruction
You’re not the problem! The problem is the 1%. Our global carbon footprint has risen dramatically since 1990, but only a few people are to blame for the worst of it. The wealthy have been increasing their carbon output without regard for anybody on the planet (or future generations). Reducing
Continue readingThings Are Good: Therapy + Cash = Lower Crime
It’s a simple equation which may sound obvious to some and bizarre to others. Our current approach to crime focusses on punishment and repression, and that clearly doesn’t work given our current incarceration and recidivism rates. The good news is that simply providing people with a minimum amount to live
Continue readingThings Are Good: Patagonia Billionaire Donates Company to Fighting Climate Change
The family who owned the Patagonia clothing company recently gave the company to a new trust which will take all the profits and dedicate it to fighting climate change. Meaning that the $3 billion company will now spend the $100 million in profits it generates annually on good things. The
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