The Lambda Fifth Columns: Part 3 (of 4), Fall 1972
This is the third part of a new series of Fifth Columns featuring my columns from 1971 to 1973 in the Laurentian University student newspaper Lambda, that inspired me to…
capitalism
The Lambda Fifth Columns: Part 2 (of 4), Winter 1972
This is the second part of a new series of Fifth Columns featuring my columns from 1971 to 1973 in the Laurentian University student newspaper Lambda, that inspired me to…
How Neoliberalism Leads to Libertarianism to Mad Max
Despite its misleading name, neoliberalism is not a liberal, progressive, woke, or left-wing ideology. It is a deeply far-right economic policy that aims to benefit the rich, the businesses, and…
On Reforming Capitalism
These are the conventional definitions of capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Moira Doneghan writes that the Jeffrey Epstein e-mails released over the past week provide a window into the anti-morality of the wealthy and…
Cryptocurrency and War – Cousins in Absurdity – Challenged by AI
Cryptocurrency – a way to supposedly create wealth by wasting massive amounts of water and energy to do meaningless computer calculations that solve no actual real life problems or serve…
The Non-Profit Small Business Model
The non-profit small business model provides interest free start-up loans to individuals or groups who apply to start a non-profit business. The application must include a business plan with a…
The Non-Profit Small Business Model
The non-profit small business model provides interest free start-up loans to individuals or groups who apply to start a non-profit business. The application must include a business plan with a…
Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- Jason Hickel discusses how capitalism is fundamentally in conflict with the idea of democracy - and how increasing democratic control over the economy…
Monbiot on Capitalism vs Commerce
George Monbiot wrote today, "One of capitalism's greatest successes is to shut down our imaginations. With the help of its favoured tools - neoliberalism and fascism - it persuades us…
Never Again?
All this tariff talk is provoking a recession, which seems to be a feature, not a bug. As the economy falls, companies go bankrupt and are cheap to take over…
The Rise and Fall of Self-Checkout
I refuse on moral, ethical, and simply human grounds, to use a self-checkout at any local store where they are installed. My initial reaction to them was outrage: this is…
Capitalism’s Effect on Bird Flu
If you think Covid is bad (or even if you don't), if H5N1 starts passing from human to human, it could be worse. It's not just about the virus's effect…
On Burnout: "Can" is the New "Should"
I started reading about burnout when I walked away from teaching earlier than expected. Suddenly, I couldn't bring myself to open that door after over thirty years of bounding to…
Conspirituality
George Monbiot has a compelling theory to explain what makes people believe conspiracies. “Those who believe unevidenced stories about hidden cabals and secret machinations tend to display no interest in…
Doug Ford: Should we be thankful for small mercies ?
So is there anything good to say about Doug Ford. Well he is not Pierre Poilievre or Danielle Smith. At least Ford does not seek votes by appealing to people’s…
Doug Ford: Should we be thankful for small mercies ?
So is there anything good to say about Doug Ford. Well he is not Pierre Poilievre or Danielle Smith. At least Ford does not seek votes by appealing to people’s…
Housing As A Right
Should housing be a right. That is the question. But the real question is what would that mean and how do we make it more than a token right but…
Housing As A Right
Should housing be a right. That is the question. But the real question is what would that mean and how do we make it more than a token right but…
Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Anthony Newall et al. study the effects of the influenza vaccine – finding that each percentage point in vaccine uptake saves over a…