Economics for Social Democrats–But Not for the Working Class, Part Six: Collective Bargaining

In the following, I provide a series of examples taken from the Internet that illustrate that Mr. Stanford, a former economist for the Canadian Auto Workers union (now Unifor) and author of the book Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism, expresses a social-democratic or social-reformist position. It is meant to … Continue reading Economics for Social Democrats–But Not for the Working Class, Part Six: Collective Bargaining →

Socialism, Part Ten: What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers: Child Support Laws, State Oppression and the Left

Introduction Mr. Gindin, a self-proclaimed socialist in Toronto, claims that the state in a socialist society will expand its services rather than wither away--in opposition to Marx's and Engels' views on socialism (from Socialism for Realists): The expectations of full or near-full abundance, added to perfect or near-perfect social consciousness, have a further consequence: they … Continue reading Socialism, Part Ten: What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers: Child Support Laws, State Oppression and the Left →

List of Major Employers in the Quebec City Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)

Introduction When belonging to a leftist organization called the Toronto Labour Committee (Ontario, Canada), I worked on, in a minor position, on some statistics related to financial campaign contributions for the Toronto elections. Not being satisfied with this, I proposed that we start trying to develop a class analysis of Toronto. I indicated, though, that … Continue reading List of Major Employers in the Quebec City Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) →

Once Again on Basic Income

John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), recently posted the following on Facebook: John Clarke 53m · I confess that, though I have done a lot of work on trying to draw out the harmful role of basic income, I hadn't properly considered how this applies to the Global South. This … Continue reading Once Again on Basic Income →

Basic Income, Decent Wages and John Clarke’s Radicalism: A Tale of Social-Democratic or Social-Reformist Deja Vu

I have criticized Mr. Clarke's views of basic income on a number of occasions, the most recent one being An Inadequate Critique of a Radical Basic Income: The Case of the Toronto Radical John Clarke, Part Three: Basic Income), so i will simply quote a couple of his relatively recent posts on Facebook. The first post … Continue reading Basic Income, Decent Wages and John Clarke’s Radicalism: A Tale of Social-Democratic or Social-Reformist Deja Vu →

Law (the Legal System) and the Coercive Power of Employers as a Class

Introduction It is interesting how little discussion arises over the nature of the legal system and how it contributes to the exploitation, oppression and economic coercion of billions of workers throughout the world. Unions rarely if ever discuss such issues--it is considered to be utopian at best--whereas unions dealing with the "real" problems that workers … Continue reading Law (the Legal System) and the Coercive Power of Employers as a Class →

Critique of the Limited Aim (Solution)–Decent Wages–of a Radical Social Democrat: The Case of the Toronto Radical, John Clarke: Part One

Introduction There are some people among the social-democratic left whom I can respect more than others. John Clarke, former leader of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), is one of them. Here is what one reads on Wikipedia about him: John Clarke is an anti-poverty activist who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As of 2019, he was teaching at York … Continue reading Critique of the Limited Aim (Solution)–Decent Wages–of a Radical Social Democrat: The Case of the Toronto Radical, John Clarke: Part One →

A Short List of the Largest Swedish Employers by the Number of Employees, Profits and the Profits per Worker

The following provides a few statistics about the number of employees, the profit produced by the Swedish workers and the profit produced per worker of the largest employers in Sweden--often one of the idealized countries of the social-democratic left, where free public services are more extensive than in many other developed capitalist countries. It can … Continue reading A Short List of the Largest Swedish Employers by the Number of Employees, Profits and the Profits per Worker →