Bernie Sanders: socialism, anarchism, corporatism and democracy
I support Senator Bernie Sanders in his candidacy to become the next US president. I would very much like to see him win, and I think he very may well.…
jtoddring
Naomi Klein on Neoliberalism, the Shock Doctrine and Disaster Capitalism
Normally I post only essays that I have written on my blog, but this deserves to be an exception to the rule. This is a true Must-Watch. Naomi Klein clarifies…
Going Off-Grid
Off-grid, self-reliant living is a rapidly growing phenomenon and popular movement – so popular that there is now a cable TV show devoted to it, called something like, Off-Grid House…
Thoughts on the NDP
I’d like to have confidence in the NDP, but they have become a neoliberal party, in full submission to the corporate powers and the neoliberal corporate agenda, despite the fanfare…
A call to the drowning
I would love to celebrate the beauty of jazz, of blues, of classical music, and of this world, and life, and I do; but I must also relate to the…
Holidays and holy days – and the dross and drivel which confuses and clouds over them
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter…Yom Kippur, Hunakkah, Passover… Ramadan: these symbolic expressions of union, communion, gratitude, faith and love – what do they matter? Except that they do. As a naturally reclusive…
Agony Amidst the Ecstasy
I think of my greatest heroes, the people I admire and respect the most – Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Voltaire, Thoreau, Emerson, Walt Whitman, Blake,…
A sinking world, and sane responses to it
My country is sinking like a rock (for reasons of corporate oligarchy, neoliberalism, corporate rights agreements, and an addiction to oil revenues and the politics of a resource extraction-based economy,…
Conservatives in Canada swing further to the far right – the other two major parties are little better
The Conservative party of Canada is clearly playing into fear, xenophobia and racism as a way to win votes, as its “War on Terror” narrative, its racial baiting and its…
ISIS and Terrorism – A Reality Check
“The responsibility of intellectuals is to speak the truth and expose lies.” – Noam Chomsky “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell…
A few thoughts on empathy in human beings, and other living creatures
Empathy is natural in human beings, as Jeremy Rifkin has pointed out – and with strong backing by recent scientific findings. Some human beings have more and some less; and…
Bernie Sanders? This man deserves to win – and he just might.
Bernie Sanders? This man deserves to win – and he just might. He should also read my book, Enlightened Democracy: Visions For A New Millennium. We’re very much on the…
Bernie Sanders would win – if US elections weren’t controlled by big money….. But he just might win anyway, and he is well on his way
The Independent Senator from Vermont, and US Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, is riding a fast-growing wave of popular support across the United States. Sanders is getting ten times the turn-out…
Free Trade, CETA, TPP, and the US and Canadian Federal Elections: Some Critical Perspective
The following is critical to understand – for the people of Canada, the US, Europe and the world: “free trade” deals such those already signed (NAFTA), and those being pushed…
On Civil Obedience
“Laws control the lesser man… Right conduct controls the greater one.” – Mark Twain Never be obedient. Obedience is for dogs. No offence to dogs – I love dogs, and…
Climate Change Deniers
The scientific community is in near unanimous agreement on the issue of human-caused climate change: so much so, that there is not a single serious scientific journal which will now…
Danger and Delusion: From ISIS to Ebola
There are very real dangers in the world, but let’s not lose all perspective. Perspective is everything. Don’t believe the hype. It must be stated directly: the majority of people…
Moby Dick, The Manufactured Man, and the Fate of Humankind
“The permanent constitutional condition of the manufactured man … is sordidness.” So says Captain Ahab of Moby Dick. And Melville was right. This is what we are fighting. We are…
Scotland, Crimea and the Right To Self-Determination
Do the people of Scotland have the right to vote in a referendum to determine their own future? Of course they do. Just as the people of Greece had, and…