Am I optimistic and, if so, how is that even possible (Part 2)
Part 2: The decline of the collective Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman argued that across the global west we’ve organized ourselves such that our collective action problems — what we can only…
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AM I OPTIMISTIC AND, IF SO, HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? (PART 1)
I just had a piece published by Alberta Views here on hope and optimism and their opposites. As happens with magazine pieces, much changed between writing and publication: the frightening…
Let’s not do that again
Let’s not do this again. Let’s not have another election in which many Canadians, I have no doubt, voted not for the party that best captured their aspirations for Canada…
Denialism
I have been thinking lately about the great seductive appeal of denialism, of pretending bad news away in this era of polycrisis. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by our multiple…
A More Resilient Canada
We are in the midst of an election that looks nothing like what the pundits were predicting just a few months ago. Donald Trump and his team of billionaires, riding…
This Flag Day is Certainly Different
This flag day is certainly different. The threats of economic coercion from Trump and his gang of oligarchs are meant to intimidate and divide Canadians and subjugate Canada to the…
Pledge for Canada
Previous generations fought to protect our democracy and sacrificed to build the Canada we inherited. This is our time. In the face of threats of economic coercion from our neighbour…
Talking about neoliberalism in our age of crisis with Clement Nocos of the Broadbent Institute
the podcast https://perspectivesjournal.ca/neoliberalism-undead-with-alex-himelfarb/
So, what now?
The Low Road a poem by Marge Piercy What can they do to you? Whatever they want… They can set you up, bust you, they can break your fingers, burn…
It is crucial that Harris win but defeating Trump is not enough
It is crucial that Harris defeat Trump in today’s election. A Trump victory would be a disaster, a Harris victory a reprieve. Will Harris be able to build on and…
Me on Breaking Free of Neoliberalism on the Wonk Podcast with Eddie Greenspan
Have a listen : https://ppforum.ca/policy-speaking/alex-himelfarb-on-whats-behind-the-age-of-crisis/
It Can’t Happen Here
About 90 years ago Sinclair Lewis wrote his novel, It Can’t Happen Here. It’s uncanny. In the novel “Buzz” Windrip, a senator, a showman, a demagogue, a conman wins the…
beware the common sense con
When politicians offer up “common sense” solutions beware. Politicians will often tell us that what they stand for is precisely what regular folk, “ordinary hard-working taxpayers” want and believe. As…
Progressives have to get spiritual
While not exactly Trump Derangement Syndrome, I have become increasingly obsessed with the mind boggling support that Trump’s Republicans still seem to have, the success of right wing parties everywhere,…
The 3.5% Rule
One of the persistent reactions to Breaking Free of Neoliberalism has been doubt that big change – the kind of change the book clearly hopes for – is possible, in…
Sacrificial Citizenship
A thug accosts Jack Benny. Thug: Now, come on—your money or your life. Thug: Look, bud. I said, “Your money or your life.” Jack Benny: I’m thinking it over! —The…
The Good Life: we have the vision – what’s lacking is the will
When the 2007-2008 financial crisis hit, a loud chorus of pundits and politicians, for what turned out to be the briefest moment, came to see that we had got it…
Neoliberalism made Trump possible
Excerpt from Breaking Free of Neoliberalism: Canada’s Challenge A good deal of punditry has gone around in circles on the question of how someone like Donald Trump could become president…
The Power of Mr. X: Breaking Free of Neoliberalism
Against my better judgment, I was browsing twitter which I have been reluctant to do ever since it became Nazi-infested x. In any case, I came across an exchange between…
Am I optimistic and if so how is that even possible?
At the end of a recent interview I was asked how is it possible, given all the crises I talk about and all the social discord, that I still claim…