Introduction One of the few things that I agree with the academic leftist Jeff Noonan, professor of philosophy at the University of Windsor, Ontario, is that leftists must start where workers are at: Political engagement begins from trying to understand where people are coming from. But where people are coming from can be interpreted in … Continue reading Should Not the Radical Left Take into Account the Attitude of Workers Towards Their Own Jobs? Part One, The Case of Magna International Workers
Tag: Exploitation
The Rhetoric of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council Concerning Exploitation and Oppression
The Socialist Project recently posted an article by Toronto & York Region Labour Council (T&YRLC) on their defense of the right to strike and the right to protest (civil liberties): Protecting the Right to Protest and Picket LABOUR • April 22, 2024 • Toronto and York Region Labour Council In Toronto and York Region, we are witnessing an … Continue reading The Rhetoric of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council Concerning Exploitation and Oppression
Equal Legal Rights Can Easily Involve Inequality
The following post by John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), was posted in mid-January 2024: January 16 at 7:21 AM · When rights and freedoms are reduced to abstractions and the context in which they are exercised is removed from consideration, completely absurd conclusions are always drawn. Two people may … Continue reading Equal Legal Rights Can Easily Involve Inequality
School Rhetoric: Ideological Use of the Concept of Social Justice, Part One
Social justice has now become a buzzword these days. There is social justice this and social justice that, here a social justice, there a social justice, everywhere a social justice. This buzzword forms the ideology of the social-democratic left, for example, as well as the conservative right. After all, who is against social justice? The … Continue reading School Rhetoric: Ideological Use of the Concept of Social Justice, Part One
Fair Contracts, Decent Work and Other Social-democratic or Social-reformist Clichés: The Case of the Amazon Labour Union
Introduction The relatively recent organizing of Amazon workers into the Amazon Labour Union (ALU) is presented by the social-democratic or reformist left as an astounding success. Certainly, the organization of Amazon workers into a formal union is noteworthy because of, on the one hand, the increasing importance of such "gig" workers in a society dominated … Continue reading Fair Contracts, Decent Work and Other Social-democratic or Social-reformist Clichés: The Case of the Amazon Labour Union
Once Again on the General Strike that Almost Was in Ontario, Canada, Part Two: Sam Gindin’s Analysis
Introduction For some of the context of the strike, see a couple of earlier posts (The Case of the Possible General Strike of Ontario Unionized Workers: Critique of Conservative Radicalism or Radical Conservatism and The CUPE Education Workers Strike: A Lesson on the Nature of the Public Sector). A few more leftists have made commentary on … Continue reading Once Again on the General Strike that Almost Was in Ontario, Canada, Part Two: Sam Gindin’s Analysis
Economics for Social Democrats–but Not for the Working Class, Part Two: Critique of the Social Democrat Jim Stanford’s Theory of Money, Part One
Introduction In an earlier post, I indicated that Jim Stanford's view concerning the creation of jobs reflects a social-democratic or social reformist position (see Economics for Social Democrats–but Not for the Working Class, Part One: Critique of Jim Stanford’s One-Sided View of Job Creation in a Capitalist Society). In this post and subsequent posts, I will … Continue reading Economics for Social Democrats–but Not for the Working Class, Part Two: Critique of the Social Democrat Jim Stanford’s Theory of Money, Part One
The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Nine: The Nature of Capitalism
Introduction It is interesting that social democrats express themselves in different ways. Thus, Professor Noonan, a professor at the University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada), who teaches Marxism, among other courses, presents what he considers one of the major issues at stake in the struggle of the left against the right in his "post (really a … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Nine: The Nature of Capitalism
A Private Employer’s “Humanism” in Sweden: The Dream of Social Democrats Everywhere
As I pointed out in my critique of Jane McAlevey's reference to Sweden's so-called 'leveling of the playing field for children's opportunity for success from birth onward," (see Review of Jane McAlevey’s “A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy”: Two Steps Backward and One Step Forward, Part Two), social democrats tend to … Continue reading A Private Employer’s “Humanism” in Sweden: The Dream of Social Democrats Everywhere
The Pearson Survey of the 50,000 Employees at the Toronto International Airport: A Document Expressing the Ideology of Employers
The following is based on the report Understanding the Pearson workforce: Canada’s first airport workforce survey: Summary report, October 2019. The survey consists of a sample of 3,582 employees at the Toronto Pearson airport from a variety of positions, with the statistical expectation that these employees would be representative of the 50,000 workers who work at … Continue reading The Pearson Survey of the 50,000 Employees at the Toronto International Airport: A Document Expressing the Ideology of Employers
The Abolitionary 