Rob Ford’s Political Body
Toronto’s Rob Ford lives a political life. Both his bare existence and his public personae have taken on a politicization since he entered municipal governance. Plainly said, his weight and…
politics
Common Sense
When men yield up the exclusive privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon. Thomas Paine, 18th century political activist and political philosopher, wrote that line. It…
Chomsky’s Forward to Albert’s Realizing Hope: Life Beyond Capitalism
In full: (The book is here.) “Throughout much of the world there is growing resistance to the severe harm that has resulted from the neoliberal policies of the past generation.…
Green initiatives for next term
Collingwood should be in the forefront for green initiatives in Ontario, not lagging behind. There’s no reason we should not be leaders in exploring new ways to reduce greenhouse gases,…
Taoist Lessons for Politicians
Those who look down upon this world, will surely take hold and try to change things. So begins verse 29 of the 4th century BCE Chinese classic (Jonathan Star translation*),…
Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century
I feel like I don’t have to read this one with all the press it’s getting. Maybe next summer. This is the gist I’ve gotten so far: Michael Rozworski wrote…
On Ethos – a 2011 Documentary
“Our ethos is all that we currently hold to be true. It is what we act upon. It governs our manners, our business and our politics.” – Howard Zinn Directed…
Machiavelli and Xenophon
Another piece posted on The Municipal Machiavelli this week; this time a short comment about Machiavelli and Xenophon, the ancient Greek writer who Niccolo referred to in The Prince and…
Progressively Worse
Toronto seemed gripped in a mix of terror and disbelief yesterday. Rumours Wednesday night were a new poll would show Ford in the lead. Yesterday the poll while having Tory…
How to Run a Country
I’ve posted a review of Philip Freeman’s book, How to Run a Country on the Municipal Machiavelli site, here: ianchadwick.com/machiavelli/how-to-run-a-country/ Freeman’s work is a short (132 pages in a small…
Shockwaves #nlpoli
The day after the by-election in St. George’s-Stephenville East, federal New Democratic Party member of parliament Ryan Cleary showed an interest in provincial politics some might find curious. “The question…
To Inquire, or Not To Inquire, Don’t Ask The Question
The latest Coyne article seems to be self defeating in its thesis. “It’s not evident what contribution another public inquiry would make,” opines Coyne. For one thing, we could have…
Wasteful Destruction in Gaza
The destruction of this apartment tower is ridiculous. How is it in any way acceptable for a state to destroy an obvious civilian complex with weapons of war? We’re supposed…
the importance of “paid journalism” or my response to Sudbury wikileaks.
Something made me very angry today. I read an editorial in one of my local newspapers (The Northern Life). The editorial is defending one of the reporters against accusations made…
Top Ten Reasons Why Jim Prentice’s “Term Limited” Government is a Bad Idea
Politicians are not tins of spork. The good ones don’t go bad just because they’ve been sitting around for a while. Of all of the things that PC party leadership…
The Militarization of Police: But Why?
Since the beginning of the year, several stories in high-profile mainstream media publications have examined what some find to be the increasing militarization of police forces in North America. In…
Diamond’s Collapse
A while back, Mound suggested I read Collapse by Jared Diamond, and I finally got to it. It’s a fascinating read particularly for anyone interested in ancient civilizations. Diamond explores…
Shutting down the blog.
Turns out a job doesn’t leave much time for blogging. And a 65-75 hour a week job makes it even tougher to fit in the time to write. Also, I…
Ontario’s liquor sales conundrum
The C.D. Howe Institute released its report on beer and wine sales in Ontario, today, advocating for a more liberal approach and allowing beer and wine to be sold in…