In another post, I presented the twenty largest employers in Toronto according to level of employment (see A Short List of the Largest Employers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada). One of those employers is Magna International Inc., a multinational corporation whose workers produce automobile supplies for inputs into car manufacturing. This is a first attempt at … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Magna International Inc., One of the Largest Private Employers in Toronto, Part One
Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Three: The Academic Versus the Practical
This is a continuation of earlier posts. When I was a French teacher at Ashern Central School, in Ashern, Manitoba, Canada, I started to copy critiques, mainly (although not entirely) of the current school system. At first, I merely printed off the articles, but then I started to provide a summary of the article along … Continue reading Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Three: The Academic Versus the Practical
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eight: Class Harmony
This is an elaboration of a critique of an academic leftist (aka academic historical materialist), the philosopher Jeff Noonan. Professor Noonan's neglect of the relatively privileged status of university professors in relation to other workers leads him to assert the following (from Thinkings 4: Collected Interventions, Readings, Evocations, 2014-2015, page 13): Whether or not it was … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eight: Class Harmony
Basic Income, Public Ownership and the Radical Left in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Critique
In a couple of posts, I criticized John Clarke's opposition to a particular form of basic income. Mr. Clarke is a former leader of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Clarke continues to oppose any alternative universal basic income scheme (see 'Pandemic Basic Income' Gets It Wrong). He has ignored … Continue reading Basic Income, Public Ownership and the Radical Left in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Critique
Socialism, What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers, Part Eight
Leer este post en español This is a continuation of earlier posts on the subject of the nature of socialism--a society that aims at the abolition of the power of employers as a class and the initial appropriation of the necessary requirements for us to control our lives as a collectivity and as individuals. In … Continue reading Socialism, What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers, Part Eight
The Contradictions of Social Democracy: Mr. Gindin’s Musings on the Closure of GM’s Oshawa Plant
The following is a critique of an article written by Sam Gindin before the coronavirus pandemic emerged. It is relevant to the current situation because of the current call for public ownership as a solution to the problems that we face. Mr. Gindin published an article on February 3, 2020, titled Realizing 'Just Transitions': The … Continue reading The Contradictions of Social Democracy: Mr. Gindin’s Musings on the Closure of GM’s Oshawa Plant
The Call for the Conversion of the GM Oshawa Plant to a Facility for the Production of Medical Equipment in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic
On April 19, 2020, on the Socialist Project website--Retool Oshawa GM Complex to Combat Covid19--there is a press conference by five individuals--Tony Leah (facilitator), Michael Hurley, Rebecca Keetch, Patty Coates and James Hutt--calling on the Canadian government (and the Ontario provincial government) to take over the GM Oshawa plant, which closed on December 19, 2019, … Continue reading The Call for the Conversion of the GM Oshawa Plant to a Facility for the Production of Medical Equipment in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Seven: The Idealization of the Nation State or the National Government and Nationalization in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Part Two
In a previous post, I pointed out how Professor Noonan idealized the nation state. This post will expand on this view by showing that Professor Noonan's proposal to nationalize the economy by means of the modern state does the same thing--idealizes the modern state. Professor Noonan makes the following claim: The alternative is to use … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Seven: The Idealization of the Nation State or the National Government and Nationalization in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Part Two
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Six: The Idealization of the Nation State or the National Government in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Part One
Professor Noonan, a self-declared historical materialist and teacher of Marxism, continues to argue a political position that ignores the reality of capitalist society. In his post Back to the Magic Mountain, he argues the following: No one should fetishize the nation state, but it remains the dominant form of political society and, when it chooses … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Six: The Idealization of the Nation State or the National Government in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Part One
Class Harmonies in Health Care? The Social-Democratic Way
Researchers in health care, like researchers in education, seem to assume that the current social structures are sacred. They simply research what is there, and assume that any problems must be resolved in terms established by that social structure. There are, of course, possible differences in the way problems are defined or solutions proposed, but … Continue reading Class Harmonies in Health Care? The Social-Democratic Way
The Abolitionary 