This and that for your Thursday reading. – Nathan Robinson writes that there’s every reason for younger people – in the U.S. and elsewhere – to support the principle of socialism based on a desire to achieve gains for everybody rather than only a privileged few: A better definition, at
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Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Paul Thacker discusses the importance of addressing the climate crisis as a health issue. CBC takes a look at a few of the ways a deteriorating climate is affecting Canada. And Taylor Noakes points out the central role a national public transit
Continue readingwmtc: laundromats, underground libraries, and criminal charges: a library link round-up
I have so many cool stories about libraries and librarians, scattered through multiple email and social media accounts. Lucky for you, I wanted to gather them all in one place. Thanks to everyone who ever sent me one of these. * * * * * Librarians in laundromats! Community librarians
Continue readingwmtc: laundromats, underground libraries, and criminal charges: a library link round-up
I have so many cool stories about libraries and librarians, scattered through multiple email and social media accounts. Lucky for you, I wanted to gather them all in one place. Thanks to everyone who ever sent me one of these. * * * * * Librarians in laundromats! Community librarians
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Bryan Palmer: The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike heard around the world
Winnipeg, July 20, 2019: Professor Bryan Palmer at the 14th annual forum of the World Association for Political Economy. Photo: Paul S. Graham The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike was followed with great interest by people around the world, says Dr. Bryan Palmer, Professor Emeritus at Trent University. Professor Palmer was
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: The US/Canadian attack on Cuba and Venezuela
Winnipeg, Oct. 3, 2019 – Arnold August, speaking at the University of Manitoba about US and Canadian foreign policy regarding Cuba and Venezuela. Photo: Paul S. Graham There is no doubt that Canadian foreign policy has taken a hard turn to the right, especially with regard to Latin America. Arnold
Continue readingwmtc: "how dare you": thank you, greta thunberg and #climatestrikers
Also: Why is Greta Thunberg so triggering for certain men, Jennifer O’Connell, Irish TimesCanada’s #climatestrike day is Friday, September 27.
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Why you should care about Venezuela
Most Canadians imagine Canada to be a force for good on the world stage. Polite, reasonable, peace-loving and progressive. At least, that is how we like to imagine ourselves. Winnipeg, July 20, 2019: Dr. Maria Páez Victor at the 14th Forum, World Association of Political Economy. Photo: Paul S. Graham
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: A Case for Transitioning Toward Socialism – Chris Wright
I do like me some socialism, as I do believe it is the tonic that will address some of the societal problems we are currently experiencing. I think tackling the inherent problems socialism bring with it might be good for a change. It’s like changing the government every so often,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Liaquat Ahamed writes about the pattern of wealth concentrating in the absence of a countervailing force – and the need for a political response. Linda McQuaig discusses how the media largely ignores the eminently popular prospect of raising taxes on the people
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Humbly growing older on the Left
Photo courtesy 350.org (Twitter) I’ve recently returned to a something I wrote in my twenties. Back in 2005, I contributed a “Letter to older activists” to the book Letters From Young Activists. In that piece, I described a kind of “advice” that older leftists sometimes give to their younger colleagues
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Turning the page: CD goes digital
Illustration by Jason Reed With this issue of Canadian Dimension, we draw the curtain on 56 years in print. This decision – the result of perpetual penury due to debt, shrinking grants, a decrescent subscriber base, and the pressures of the contemporary media environment – would be more heart-rending than
Continue readingwmtc: island day trip with mom: sointula
This week’s day trip with my Mom was the town of Sointula. One of my libraries is located in Sointula, so I’ve been there a couple of times, but had never had an opportunity to explore the town or surrounding Malcolm Island. Sointula has a fascinating history: it was founded
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning LInks
This and that for your Sunday reading. – James Cairns discusses why socialism is seeing a resurgence in popularity, particularly among younger citizens who see little reason for hope in politics as usual: Occupy Wall Street popularized the language of the 99 per cent and the 1 per cent as
Continue readingwmtc: three thoughts arising from a focus on the housing crisis
Today I attended a working meeting that included almost all the service providers in the region. These service providers were brought together by the Mount Waddington Health Network to build a coalition that will deal with the housing crisis. I was there mainly to stay informed and to network, and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Luke Savage writes that the most compelling case for socialist policies is the importance of expanding on the unduly narrow definition of freedom offered by the right: Socialists, on the other hand, have long understood that class stratification, poverty, and economic deprivation are
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Plausible Socialism
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was a widespread sense that liberal capitalism had triumphed in the battle of ideas, and that socialism as a plausible alternative was pretty much dead. But the many crises of contemporary capitalism – obscene levels of economic inequality, looming ecological disaster, the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Between Dystopia and Democratic Socialism
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was a widespread sense that liberal capitalism had triumphed in the battle of ideas, and that socialism as a plausible alternative was pretty much dead. But the many crises of contemporary capitalism – obscene levels of economic inequality, looming ecological disaster, the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Sarah O’Connor examines how the future of work may echo past practices – including a misleading picture of wages for gig work which is assumed to be more stable than is actually the case. And Astra Taylor discusses how socialism is growing in
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Divided and Conquered – Social Movements in the US
Interesting question. The US is home to some of the largest social movements in the Western World, yet the US is also the farthest behind in terms of actual gains for the working class, women, and minorities. How does this work? Vincent Navarro describes the situation in the US and
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