Actually, it is much closer than that, hiding in plain sight. Recommend this Post
Continue readingTag: Neoliberal Agenda
Politics and its Discontents: A Powerful Voice Is Stilled
It was Henry David Thoreau who said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” Harry Leslie Smith was not part of that mass of men. Harry, who I wrote about several times on this blog, has died at the age of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Amerika’s Formula For Success
As noted the other day, the United States or, as I like to call it, Trump’s Amerika, no longer even bothers to conceal its contempt for the rest of the world. It’s disgraceful threats at the the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly against Ecuador for sponsoring a resolution to encourage
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: American Thuggery
By almost any metric, the United States is a rogue nation. The depth of its depraved thuggery was recently made evident to the world: A resolution to encourage breastfeeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: When Is A Scab Not A Scab?
When (s)he is a ‘replacement worker’. I have always loved the word ‘scab’. A fitting description of strikebreakers, it is a word that conjures up ugly imagery, imagery quite appropriate for those who act without integrity by engaging in strikebreaking behaviour, which are essentially shameless public declarations of individual extollment
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Neoliberal Creep – Part 2
While Part 1 dealt with the neoliberal agenda influencing Bill Morneau’s retraction of his pharmacare promise, today’s post deals with that same influence, this time on Canada’s ‘evolving’ position on foreign aid. International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says she wants to use the new $2 billion in extra aid dollars
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Star Readers Are Not Impressed
Star readers can spot a corrupt policy process when they see one, an acuity they make known as they opine on Bill Morneau’s pharmacare plans: Morneau’s unwise decision to backtrack pharmacare, Walkom, March 2 Every parent knows this: If you aren’t really going to take your kids to the zoo,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Update On The Fraser Institute’s Essay Contest
OCDSB Trustees spoke out loud & clear against this distribution. Staff have responded by pulling it. — Theresa Kavanagh (@ironmaamt) January 24, 2018 Last week, I posted about the deplorable essay-writing contest sponsored by the notorious Fraser Institute in which students were invited to write about why increasing the minimum
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Public Asset Sales
Selling off public assets that yield steady and lucrative revenue streams is rarely a good idea. In Ontario, Kathleen Wynne did just that with 60% of Hydro One so she could claim a balanced budget. It is a betrayal I will never forgive her for. As I have written previously,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Guest Post: A Response To Flying Blind
Yesterday’s post dealt with the announcement that a degree of self-regulation is to be conferred on the airline industry by the Trudeau government. Given the fraught history of self-regulation in this country, it is alarming news. BM, a frequent commentator, offered an analysis of the situation as well as an
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Flying Blind
Many will recall that during the Harper era, our country moved toward greater self-regulation in various industries, often with disastrous results. From tainted meat to railway disasters, the lesson is clear: leaving safety up to the corporate sector, whose prime directive is to maximize profit for their shareholders, is a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Art Of Misdirection
While it is difficult in some ways to attribute anything resembling a method to the madness of the American Moron-in-Chief, it would be wrong to think he is totally unmoored and rudderless. Trump’s tax-reform plan attests to this. As does the furor that was stoked over U.S. Health Secretary Tom
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: When It Serves Economic Interests, Ignorance Is A National Policy
Burying their heads in rapidly disappearing sand is something of a national characteristic of Americans when it comes to climate change. However, when it is aided, abetted and promoted by monied interests, all should be concerned. I think it is reasonably well-known that several states have banned any references to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Guest Post: A Provocative And Fascinating Thesis
I recently published a guest post by BM entitled, The Creep Of Corporatism. In a followup, he has written something that I think many will find both fascinating and thought-provoking: Thank you for featuring my comment as a blog post. In line with your other recent post on Canadian sovereignty,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Creep Of Corporatism
Responding to my post on the secret study conducted by the Trudeau government on privatizing our major airports to raise much-needed cash, BM offered the following, which I am featuring as a guest post today: Well, this is the usual way corporatism works. Change a capital investment into an eternal
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Trudeau Dissected: A Guest Post By Pamela MacNeil
In response to yesterday’s post on Justin Trudeau, frequent contributor Pamela MacNeil left the following response, which I am taking the liberty of featuring as a guest post today: Bill McKibben is spot on in his assessment of Trudeau and his hypocritical betrayal of supporting climate change, Lorne. While climate
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Haves Certainly Have It
This from today’s Letters To The Editor, to which I have nothing to add: Re: Two richest men as wealthy as poorest 30 per cent, Jan. 16 It is telling that this news report was not a front-page headline in the Star. As if the world needed any more data
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: (Bitter) Fruits Of Our Neoliberal Governments
It would seem that Star reader Douglas Porter of Peterborough sees with unusual clarity what so many prefer to ignore: It seems that many things in history do a repeat cycle about every 80 years. I hate to think that we are on target for another societal unravelling evidenced by
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Meanwhile, Back At Home
While the Gong Show unfolding in the U.S. will likely continue to preoccupy a great many of us in the weeks, months and years to come, we would be remiss to ignore disquieting occurrences in our own country. Many of these occurrences are unfolding under the blinding glare of our
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Youth Voice is Our Voice
If ever there was ever any doubt about the neoliberal agenda being pursued by our ‘new’ government, Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s recent comments removed all uncertainty. He asserted that precarious work is here to stay and Canadians must adapt to having a variety of jobs throughout their lives as they
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