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
Tag: social democracy
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
Health Care: Socialist versus Capitalist Nationalization
Since the coronavirus and health care are undoubtedly on the minds of many people throughout the world, I thought it appropriate to do a bit of research on socialist health care versus present capitalist health-care systems. Health care even in a nationalized context can easily be an expression of oppression and exploitation. The idealization of … Continue reading Health Care: Socialist versus Capitalist Nationalization
Review of Jane McAlevey’s “A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy”: Two Steps Backward and One Step Forward, Part Two
This is the continuation of a post that reviews Jane McAlevey's latest book entitled A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy. In the last post, I showed that Ms. McAlevey exaggerates the extent to which strikes and collective bargaining can offset the power imbalance between the class of employers and the working … Continue reading Review of Jane McAlevey’s “A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy”: Two Steps Backward and One Step Forward, Part Two
Review of Jane McAlevey’s “A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy”: Two Steps Backward and One Step Forward, Part One
Jane McAlevey is everywhere these days. Recently appointed a senior fellow at Berkeley’s Labor Center, she is now also a regular columnist for both the Nation and Jacobin. Her webinar (“Organizing for Union Power”) has a global audience. She continues to be called on to address unions and run training sessions in the United States, Canada, the … Continue reading Review of Jane McAlevey’s “A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy”: Two Steps Backward and One Step Forward, Part One
The British Labour Party’s 2019 Manifesto: More Social Democracy and More Social Reformism, Part One
The following is the first of a two-part series of posts, providing a critical assessment of some of the views expressed in the 2019 British Labour Party's Manifesto, It's Time For Real Change. The British Labour Party seemed to be more concerned with jumping on the bandwagon of climate change than really addressing the core … Continue reading The British Labour Party’s 2019 Manifesto: More Social Democracy and More Social Reformism, Part One
Socialism, Police and the Government or State, Part One
Mr. Gindin, in his article We Need to Say What Socialism Will Look Like argues the following: The expectations of full or near-full abundance, added to perfect or near-perfect social consciousness, have a further consequence: they imply a dramatic waning, if not end, of substantive social conflicts and so do away with any need for an “external” … Continue reading Socialism, Police and the Government or State, Part One
Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part Three
The attitude of much of the left in Toronto (and I suspect elsewhere in Canada and the world) is that working for an employer is not all that bad. Why else would the left not object to references to "decent work," "fair contracts," "economic justice," and so forth by union reps, or the coupling of … Continue reading Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part Three
Social Democracy or Social Reformism and Trade Unionism: Their Social Limitations and Methodology, Part Two
In my last post, I referred to the self-righteous attitude of many of the social-democratic left, who consider anyone who tries to broaden the discussion to include wider considerations to be "delusional." Their methodology, I argued, can be considered mechanistic since they try to isolate incidents from the wider social context and treat them as … Continue reading Social Democracy or Social Reformism and Trade Unionism: Their Social Limitations and Methodology, Part Two
Employers as Dictators, Part One
I find it fascinating how the social-democratic or reformist left fall all over themselves, insisting that they are fighting for fairness and justice--and yet neglect the persistent injustice of having to work for an employer. (The same could be said of many who consider themselves radicals these days). Elizabeth Anderson, in her book Private Government: … Continue reading Employers as Dictators, Part One
The Abolitionary 