In a much condemned political schtick by actor-director Clint Eastwood at the Republican National Convention in 2012, he talked to an empty chair. The chair was supposed to represent President Barack Obama. We always thought it helped get Obama elected to his second term. We were reminded of it recently
Continue readingTag: Socialism
wmtc: before the flood: good information but ultimately a weak message
Tonight we watched “Before the Flood“, Leonardo DiCaprio’s film about climate change, which I had heard such good things about. It’s well done, and is chock full of appropriately terrifying and depressing information. But in the end, the film delivers yet another “it’s up to each of us” message, focusing
Continue readingwmtc: fidel castro, 1926-2016
More than any ruler I can think of, Fidel Castro defies our insistence on seeing leaders as solely either good or evil. As this excellent assessment in Social Worker (UK) puts it, “History must judge him both as the freedom fighter whose defiance humiliated US imperialism and as the ruler
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Post Capitalism
Here is a link to my review of an extremely interesting new book by Guardian economics and political columnist Paul Mason. “Paul Mason is a leading British economic journalist, currently a columnist for The Guardian. He is also a long time left political activist. His new book, Postcapitalism: A Guide
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Is “Postcapitalism” On the Horizon?
Photo by Paul Sableman Paul Mason is a leading British economic journalist, currently a columnist for The Guardian. He is also a long time left political activist. His new book, Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. New York, 2015) is a challenging, sometimes obscure, sometimes brilliant,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Socialism for today’s NDP, and today’s Canada
Photo by Matt Jiggins
While not a topic without coverage, the question of socialism within the New Democratic Party — and Canada more generally — tends to come in waves. One recent example has come from Toro…
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Leaping nation building at a single bound.
In analyzing where Canada’s New Democrats are headed, we took another look at the LEAP Manifesto. Frankly LEAP stumbles on the first hurdle. It reads like the Regina Manifesto without the socialist ranting. It fails us. And where does this document get off treating Canada’s first peoples as some sort of pathetic wards of the […]
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada Since 1960 Toronto book launch
Image by Krishna Lalbiharie
Canadian Dimension Magazine was proud to launch our new book, Canada Since 1960: A People’s History at the Imperial Pub in Toronto on June 7th.
Moderated by Bryan Palmer. Prese…
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada Since 1960: A People’s History book launch
L-R, James Lorimer, Nahanni Fontaine, Cy Gonick, Arthur Schafer and Jim Silver • Photo by Krishna Lalbiharie
Winnipeg, June 10, 2016 — First published in 1963, Canadian Dimension is Canada’s oldest soc…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Eugene Debs – The American Politician We Don’t Hear Much About
From Wikipedia: “Eugene Victor “Gene” Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States.[1] Through his presidential candidacies, […]
Canadian Dimension: When We Were Young
Photo from Public Domain
JOHN CLARKE, organizer, member of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Neither of my parents had any major interest in politics, but they were both deeply affected by the hardships of …
Continue readingwmtc: james connolly, sid ryan, and marxism 2016
This is The Proclamation. The Proclamation was read by Padraig (Patrick) Pearse outside the General Post Office in Dublin on April 24, 1916. This marked the beginning of the Easter Rising. Rather less dramatically, a copy of the Proclamation has hung o…
Continue readingwmtc: rtod: we only want the earth
On the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, these Revolutionary Thoughts of the Day are brought to you by the great Irish socialist, James Connolly.The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go. (1910)This speech, from 1897, i…
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Left’s lost moment in time.
Why do so many political writers believe that groupthink is achieved by constantly rewriting history? Never a fan of Ed Broadbent or the Broadbent Institute, it was still dismaying the other day to read a puff-piece in the Toronto Star about the so-called institute. It was promoting itself for activities planned for the next year. […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Yes, you can bet the rent money on Leap.
One of our favourite bloggers insists that you should not bet the rent money on the Leap Manifesto. While agreeing that no gambler should ever bet the rent money, we will take that bet. Despite the naysayer being one of the best read and erudite of left of centre Canadian bloggers, he might lack our […]
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Marxist scholar Ellen Meiksins Wood had a towering intellect
Image from Public Domain
Barely five feet tall but considered an intellectual giant, Marxist scholar and political science professor Ellen Meiksins Wood was instrumental in making Toronto’s York University a c…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- The Guardian’s editorial board comments on the role public entrepreneurship should play in fostering economic development and avoiding bust cycles:The state’s only legitimate economic role is often seen as patc…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Andrew Jackson offers his prescription for Canada’s economy in the face of plunging oil prices and a sinking dollar. And Murray Dobbin argues that the Libs’ handling of trade agreements reflects a fundamental…
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Uses and Abuses of ‘Civil Society’
Photo by Rosa Luxemburg-Stiftung
In Memoriam
Ellen Meiksins Wood 1942-2016
The death of Ellen Meiksins Wood on January 14, 2016 represents an immense loss for socialists everywhere. As a frequent contributor …
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Of course ‘socialism’ was most-searched term of 2015: its ideas fit our times
Illustration by DonkeyHotey
There is a decisive mood of resistance in America – a backlash to the status quo. The Bernie Sanders campaign for president is capturing that mood, and it is no surprise that ‘soc…
Continue reading