This and that for your Thursday reading. – Eugene Lang takes note of the connection between rising populist anger and stagnant or falling wages for far too many people. And Chloe Rockarts writes about Jason Kenney’s plans to make matters even worse in Alberta by declaring war on workers. –
Continue readingTag: populism
Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Dennis Gruending writes about the difference between genuine populism focused on the interests of the public at large, and the discriminatory politics of the right which are often given the same label: The Oxford English Dictionary defines a populist as someone who is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Alexi White points out how tall tales about “welfare fraud” have been used as excuse to trap people in poverty. And the Star’s editorial board is rightly concerned about a social assistance review from a Ford government which couldn’t care less about anybody
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Is Left-Wing Populism The Answer?
While I personally don’t see anything on the horizon to resurrect the fortunes of the federal NDP, Avi Lewis thinks he has a winning strategy: embrace populism, something he thinks could galvanize Jagmeet Singh’s leadership. The key, he says, is to keep things simple: “Why go for something that you
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Michael Harris writes that we shouldn’t expect politicians to lead the way toward the action we need to combat climate change. Katie Dangerfield reports on new research showing that the economic effects of carbon pricing are modest, while ignoring climate change will have
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Putting Populism In Perspective
Martin Amis offers his acerbic assessment of the current populist mania: Recommend this Post
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Patrick Kingsley points out how children are feeling the effects of the UK’s austerity, including by being driven into avoidable poverty. And Michelle Bellefontaine reports on the predictable damage to Edmonton’s schools even from the cuts being bandied about by Jason Kenney
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Joesph Stiglitz writes that history has proven wrong the theory that the weak recovery from the 2008 economic crash was the result of “secular stagnation” rather than a woefully insufficient public policy response. And Sam Pizzigati points out how the U.S. public is
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Playing To The Lowest Common Denominator
…looks like this: Recommend this Post
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Matt Bruenig points out that public ownership of businesses produces a number of beneficial incidental effects, including by ensuring that knowledge and investment stay in place over time rather than being subject to the whims of the capital class. – Sarah Smarsh
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Oliver Moore reports on Greyhound’s elimination of most of its Western Canadian bus service. Emily Riddle offers a reminder that the lack of transportation puts Indigenous women and other marginalized people at risk. And Simon Enoch highlights the obvious need for Saskatchewan to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Matt Bruening comments on the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s research showing that minimum-wage workers are unable to afford basic housing across the U.S. – Sarah Butler reports on the UK’s latest parliamentary study of precarious work. Jordan Press reports on the state
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the parallels between the presidency of Donald Trump and the danger of a Doug Ford-led government in Ontario. For further reading…– Hugh Mackenzie has done the math on the PCs’ non-platform, finding a fiscal hole of $13.75 billion every year. – Graeme Gordon reports on Ontario Proud’s voter
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: An Excellent Introduction to Neoliberalism. It’s Essential to Grasp How Its Adherents in Our Political Caste Undermine Democracy.
A lot of us see neoliberalism, manifested in the rise of market power and the spread of globalism, as a plague on society. It is a plague on democratic society. That purpose was forged almost a century ago in Austria as it emerged from the ashes of WWI. With the end
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Martha Friendly, Susan Prentice and Morna Ballantyne discuss how universal child care is a necessary element of any serious push toward equality for women. Dennis Grunding notes that it will take a concerted public effort to secure the universal pharmacare program Canadians want
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Managing Dissent and the threat of Populism in the US
We’ve had a few pieces on the disconnect between the public and the political process. This essay by Richard D. Wolff looks to answering the question why, despite there being two different political parties in the US, that the overall arc of the US body politic maintains the same general
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The NYT Asks: What Does Real Populism Look Like?
The term “populism” has been smothered in negative connotations lately as though it is the preserve of sketchy characters like Donald Trump or Victor Orban. Yet theirs is a perversion of true populism, a ploy to foment and harness public discontent for ulterior purposes. Having spent some time over the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Bernie Sanders comments on the need to take back political power from the wealthiest few: Now, more than ever, those of us who believe in democracy and progressive government must bring low-income and working people all over the world together behind an
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Marty Warren highlights why Tim Hortons workers – and other people facing precarious and low-paying work – need union representation to ensure their interests are respected. And Christo Aivalis writes that the current discussion of minimum wage pairs fairness issues about distribution of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Eduardo Porter examines how high-end tax cuts create gains for only the wealthy few. And Lydia DePillis points out that decades of increases to top-end incomes haven’t translated into anything close to proportional spending which would share the gains with society at large.
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