Tag: Social-reformist left

The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing the Rule of Law in the Present: Part Two

Introduction This is a continuation of a critique of the views of Jeff Noonan, an academic leftist who teaches philosophy (including Marxist philosophy) at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.  In an earlier post (The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing the Rule of Law in the Present: Part Two →

The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing the Rule of Law in the Present: Part One

Introduction Jeff Noonan, supposedly a Marxist philosopher, in a recent post (https://www.jeffnoonan.org/?p=5864#comments) has the following to say on his blog: Practically speaking, there are no revolutionary movements of any consequence. So the question is: what does one do right now: abstractly condemn the rule of law as a bourgeois subterfuge? Or criticise the reality of … Continue reading The Poverty of Academic Leftism, Part Eleven: Superficial Rejection of Aiming for a Socialist Society in the Present by Idealizing the Rule of Law in the Present: Part One →

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 →

The Need for the Left to Become More Radical–To Correspond to the Increasing Anger of the Working Class

John Clarke, former major organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), recently posted on Facebook the following: John Clarke   “You’re seeing growing anger and radicalization on the left as well.” Futile liberal bleating notwithstanding, making sure the right has no monopoly on bold and radical action should be a major priority. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/25/us-political-crisis-radicalizing-republicans-democrats-alike?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR35owqn5_PuN_wVstO0DpOZjC3qON9PJGiZzpvvKGAXs9OPwPBWt5EZ8Pk The … Continue reading The Need for the Left to Become More Radical–To Correspond to the Increasing Anger of the Working Class →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Reform Versus Abolition of the Police, Part Seven: Giving to Abolitionists with One Hand While Taking Back with the Other and Giving to Social Democrats

In his article published in the social-democratic journal Canadian Dimension on May 28, 2020, "Can We Ever Truly Transform or Democratize the Police? Measures Are Needed to Restrain and Neutralize Police Brutality to Whatever Extent Possible," Harry Kopyto, ( https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/can-we-truly-transform-or-democratize-the-police) seems to agree much more with James Wilt in the debate between Mr. Wilt and … Continue reading Reform Versus Abolition of the Police, Part Seven: Giving to Abolitionists with One Hand While Taking Back with the Other and Giving to Social Democrats →

A Basic Income Versus the Expansion of Public Services? Part One: Critique of the Social-democratic Idea that the Expansion of Public Services is Socialist

Introduction Simran Dhunna and David Bush have written an article that criticizes moves towards a universal basic income (see https://springmag.ca/against-the-market-we-can-do-better-than-basic-income). The Aim or Goal of Their Intervention The first question to ask is: What is the aim or goal of their intervention? What are they seeking to achieve? They write: But those committed to principled … Continue reading A Basic Income Versus the Expansion of Public Services? Part One: Critique of the Social-democratic Idea that the Expansion of Public Services is Socialist →