Tag: social democracy

The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Ten

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 a few truths that give credence to a number of distortions and silences in his recent post on his blog (see https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/25539351/posts/5759). Distortions and Silences … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Ten →

Will the Social-Democratic Left Criticize Their Elected Social-Democratic Idols: The Case of the Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow

John Clarke, former major organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), recently posted the following on Facebook: This is so sickening and shameful. Decades of oppression are ignored, the right to resist is dismissed and the mass murder Palestinians now face is rendered invisible. I've tried to be diplomatic and speak in terms that … Continue reading Will the Social-Democratic Left Criticize Their Elected Social-Democratic Idols: The Case of the Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow →

Radical Leftists Should Not Underestimate the Ideological Grip of the Reformist Point of View

John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), posted on Facebook about a week ago the following: John Clarke I've been asked to write a review of Éric Toussaint's latest work on the World Bank. It exposes very well the role of this vile institution. People can do dreadful things in … Continue reading Radical Leftists Should Not Underestimate the Ideological Grip of the Reformist Point of View →

The Need for an Independent Socialist Working-Class Movement Rather Than the Lesser-Evil Option is the Way Forward

John Clarke, former major organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, recently posted the following on Facebook: John Clarke I'm working on an article on the Trump indictment and it seems to me that the whole issue is tailor made when it comes to revealing the inadequacies of liberal perspectives. First of all, the refrain … Continue reading The Need for an Independent Socialist Working-Class Movement Rather Than the Lesser-Evil Option is the Way Forward →

Does Being a Militant Union Leader Justify the Silence of the So-called Radical Left?

On a Marxist listserve, a writer posted with the subject reading "Workers know what it means to be in the working class." These are his short statements: This is Mick Lynch of the Railway Unionists (The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers - RTU) of the UK - who were in bitter strike … Continue reading Does Being a Militant Union Leader Justify the Silence of the So-called Radical Left? →

Review of Thier’s Book “A People’s Guide to Capitalism,” Part Two

I recently participated in a group called No One Is Illegal here in Toronto. The group decided to provide a zoom reading meeting every week to discuss the book A People's Guide to Capitalism, by Hadas Thier, with many participants not belonging to the group but interested in understanding more about capitalism. We read the … Continue reading Review of Thier’s Book “A People’s Guide to Capitalism,” Part Two →

The Ontario Federation of Labour’s Workers-First Agenda: A Critique: Part Two

Introduction The first part of this series focused on a critique of the phrase "good jobs and decent work" expressed in the Ontario Federation of Labour's campaign titled "Building the Fight for a Workers-First Agenda" (https://ofl.ca/event/activist-assembly-2022/). This post will focus on a critique of the phrases "high quality affordable housing" and "health care." I draw … Continue reading The Ontario Federation of Labour’s Workers-First Agenda: A Critique: Part Two →

The Radical Left Underestimate the Ideological Power of Employers and Overestimate Their Own Ideological Struggle

Leftists frequently refer to themselves and others as the left. This is vague to the point of being useless. Often, what is meant by being left is being paying lip-service to being anti-capitalist--without in reality doing anything to oppose the power of the class of employers as such, either ideologically or in practice. A good … Continue reading The Radical Left Underestimate the Ideological Power of Employers and Overestimate Their Own Ideological Struggle →

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 →