Leer este post en español The following is a continuation of an earlier post (Socialism, Part One: What It May Look Like) about the nature of socialism--which is a solution to problems that capitalism, characterized by the domination of a class of employers, cannot solve. Socialism is not something that emerges from a utopian view … Continue reading Socialism, What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers, Part Two
Tag: capitalism
Basic Income: A Critique of the Social-Reformist Left’s Assumptions and Analysis: Part One
Introduction I am dividing the post into two parts, with the first part devoted to more concrete concerns, and the second part to more theoretical concerns. David Bush, in an April 26, 2017 article published on the Socialist Project website (Basic Income and the Left: The Political and Economic Problems), argues that the proposal for … Continue reading Basic Income: A Critique of the Social-Reformist Left’s Assumptions and Analysis: Part One
Workers and Community Members Need to Discuss Their Experiences and Lives Openly
John Dewey, one of the greatest philosophers of education of the twentieth century, argued that we need to take seriously our experiences in this world--because our experiences are really all that we have in this world. He did not mean by this that all experiences are on the same level of accuracy, but he did … Continue reading Workers and Community Members Need to Discuss Their Experiences and Lives Openly
Management Rights, Part Two: Public Sector Collective Agreement, Ontario
Workers in the public sector are used just as much as means for purposes over which they have little or no control (see The Money Circuit of Capital). The left often denies this implicitly by idealizing the public sector over the private sector. Workers in the public sector, however, are employees, and as employees they … Continue reading Management Rights, Part Two: Public Sector Collective Agreement, Ontario
Intelligent Activity According to John Dewey: Its Political Implications for the Left
John Dewey, one of the greatest philosophers of education of the twentieth century, has this to say about intelligent activity. From Democracy and Education. Pennsylvania State University, 2001, page 108: The net conclusion is that acting with an aim is all one with acting intelligently. To foresee a terminus of an act is to have a … Continue reading Intelligent Activity According to John Dewey: Its Political Implications for the Left
A Case of Silent Indoctrination, Part One: The Manitoba History Curricula and Its Lack of History of Employers and Employees
I submitted a longer essay to the popular Canadian educational journal Our Schools Our Selves for publication. It was never published. The idea for the following has a personal basis: when my daughter was studying grade 11 Canadian history in Manitoba (Manitoba is one of 10 provinces in Canada, with three additional territories), I decided to … Continue reading A Case of Silent Indoctrination, Part One: The Manitoba History Curricula and Its Lack of History of Employers and Employees
The Issue of Health and Safety in the Workplace Dominated by a Class of Employers
I submitted an article for the popular education journal Our Schools/Our Selves concerning the issue of safety (and the lack of critical thinking skills that is embodied in two Ontario curricula on Equity and Social Justice). In that article, I quote: More than 1000 employees die every year in Canada on the job, and about … Continue reading The Issue of Health and Safety in the Workplace Dominated by a Class of Employers
Ontario Looks Right–With Some Help From the “Left”
Most of the following was written over six years ago. It is still relevant. Herman Rosenfeld recently wrote an article on the election of the right-wing government of Doug Ford in Ontario, Canada (Ontario Looks Right). I would like to take issue with some of his analysis, specifically in relation to unions (and, to a … Continue reading Ontario Looks Right–With Some Help From the “Left”
A Kindred Soul: Exposing the Irrationality and Absurdity of an Economy Dominated by a Class of Employers
This was written years ago--and is still relevant. Marxists need to expose the limitations of the social-reformist or social-democratic left whenever they can. As the social-reformist left plan to engage in a rally tomorrow in order to defend the increase of the minimum wage to $14, to defend needed reform of employment standards and other … Continue reading A Kindred Soul: Exposing the Irrationality and Absurdity of an Economy Dominated by a Class of Employers
Ontario Election of Conservatives: Will the Social-Reformist Left Learn?
Leer este post en español The following was written over six years ago. The next election saw the "Progressive" Conservatives elected once again--and the following election again. The article still applies--to the social-reformist left. Now that the "Progessive" Conservatives have won a clear majority of seats in the provincial legislature, should not the social-reformist left … Continue reading Ontario Election of Conservatives: Will the Social-Reformist Left Learn?
The Abolitionary 