If what is happening in the United States were taking place in another country, the American foreign policy and media establishment would now be denouncing the behaviour of President Donald Trump as that of a tyrant. As is well known, Mr. Trump did better than the polls had suggested he
Continue readingTag: vote suppression
Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – George Monbiot writes that the fossil fuel companies most responsible for endangering our living environment are also polluting our politics: …What counts, in seeking to prevent runaway global heating, is not the good things we start to do, but the bad things we
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – David Leonhardt points out how the upward redistribution of income has radically reshaped the U.S. for the worse. – Josh Bivens writes about the importance of accurately measuring – and ultimately enhancing – the labour share of income. And Noah Smith notes that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Thom Hartmann writes about the billionaire-funded push toward outright fascism in the U.S. as a response to the growth of the middle class in the 20th century: (U)nregulated markets—particularly markets not regulated by significant taxation on predatory incomes—invariably lead to the opposite of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Ann Pettifor discusses the need for a Green New Deal to build an economy that’s both socially and environmentally sustainable. And Sharon Riley writes about the economic and environmental implications of impending public hearings into what might be the largest tar-sands mine
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On turnout
Daniel Schwartz reports on the final vote count from last month’s federal election. And given the record vote total and unusually high turnout based on the percentage of eligible voters, it’s particularly worth noting what’s changed since previous, lower-turnout elections. Since 2011, the Conservatives eliminated the per-vote subsidy, which provided
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – The Equality Trust reminds us that economic inequality leads to harmful health consequences even for the lucky few at the top of the income scale. And Matt Bruenig observes that a basic income would provide workers with far more scope to avoid employer
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Roheena Saxena points out that personal privilege tends to correlate to selfishness in distributing scarce resources. And that in turn may explain in part why extreme top-end wealth isn’t even mentioned in a new inequality target under development by the UN. – Or,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Michael Hurley and Sam Gindin discuss the need for workers to organize to reverse the trend of precarious work, while the Star recognizes that the work is already well underway. PressProgress highlights the benefits of joining a union, while Tom Sandborn offers
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Andrew Jackson writes that the Cons have gone out of their way to destroy the federal government’s capacity to improve the lives of Canadians: When the Harper government took office, federal tax revenues (2006-07 fiscal year) were 13.5% of GDP, a bit shy
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Laurie Penny argues that Jeremy Corbyn’s remarkable run to lead the Labour Party represents an important challenge to the theory that left-wing parties should avoid talking about principles in the name of winning power – particularly since the result hasn’t been much
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Crawford Kilian reviews Tom Mulcair’s Strength of Conviction and describes what we can expect out of an NDP federal government as a result: He seems likely to be a very pro-family PM, if only because his own family clearly shaped him that way.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Shannon Gormley points out how the Cons’ actions to strip voting rights from Canadians abroad sticks out like a sore thumb compared to an international trend of recognizing that citizenship doesn’t end merely because a person crosses a border. And Peter Russell and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Murray Dobbin writes that Canadians should indeed see the federal election as a choice between security and risk – with the Cons’ failing economic policies representing a risk we can’t afford to keep taking: (N)ot only is Harper vulnerable on his own limited
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Daniel Marans reports on Bernie Sanders’ push for international action against austerity in Greece and elsewhere. And Binoy Kampmark documents the anti-democratic and antisocial ideology on the other side of the austerity debate. – Noah Smith writes that while there’s no discernible
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne discusses how we can bring about change in the new year by demanding that our political leaders recognize and use the power of collective action: Social justice requires a collective response and political action. It is at the root of wonderful
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Tony Burman comments on the increasing recognition of the dangers of inequality even among corporate and financial elites: (I)t is significant that the policy debate among many decision-makers seems to be changing. Rather than the nonsense about “the makers versus the takers,”
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Paul Krugman writes that the ultra-wealthy’s contempt for anybody short of their own class is becoming more and more explicit around the globe – even when it comes to basic rights like the ability to vote: It’s always good when leaders tell the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – John Abraham and Dana Nuccitelli discuss the worrisome spread of climate change denialism, particularly around the English-speaking developed world. But lest we accept the theory that declining public knowledge is independent of political choices, Margaret Munro reports that the Cons are suppressing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Glen McGregor reports on Michael Sona’s conviction as part of the Cons’ voter suppression in 2011. But both Michael den Tandt and Sujata Dey emphasize that Sona’s conviction was based on his being only one participant in the wider Robocon scheme – and
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