Archives
-
Are Climate and Disaster Victims Violent?
Klare’s Paean to the American Military Michael T. Klare’s new book, All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s Perspective on Climate Change, is an uncritical paean to the American military. He credits the Pentagon with taking climate science seriously. But he does not question, bring contradictory evidence, or analyze the military’s self-appointed role as global manager of … Keep reading »
Cold Turkey Kenney: Oil-Addiction, Withdrawal and Alternatives in Alberta
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s messages were often inconsistent, and would certainly fail fact-checking, but they were very persuasive. Until recently. Uncertainties create demand for reassurance, and the reasons for uncertainty are plenty. Financial markets and oil prices are on a roller coaster, putting jobs, pensions, mortgage and student-debt payments at risk. A flood roaring through … Keep reading »
Green New Deals: Climate Movements and Labour Unions
Author and labor organizer Jane McAlevey is interviewed by Alleen Brown, on why winning on climate in the 2020 election means changing how we talk about the clean economy. Keep reading »
Covid-19, the Climate Crisis and Lockdown
With the coronavirus, we are really trying to mitigate the revenge blow from nature. It’s a moment to be humble and realise our finitude in a wondrous and infinite natural order. Keep reading »
Viruses and Care
It is not surprising that the first recorded deaths from COVID-19 were in nursing homes. But the contributing factors cannot be attributed solely to age. Long-term residential care shares with other healthcare organizations the negative impacts of neoliberal policies, namely cutbacks in government funding and a failure to keep up with demand for public services, … Keep reading »
Global Health Crisis: They Are at War… Against Us!
Governments and bosses claim to be at war with coronavirus. In reality, it is a war against our social class that they are waging. A war against us for their profits! The global health crisis is largely a consequence of the capitalist system. Of course, we do not mean by this that the virus was created … Keep reading »
This is a Global Pandemic – Let’s Treat it as Such
In the face of the COVID-19 tsunami, our lives are changing in ways that were inconceivable just a few short weeks ago. Not since the 2008-09 economic collapse has the world collectively shared an experience of this kind: a single, rapidly-mutating, global crisis, structuring the rhythm of our daily lives within a complex calculus of … Keep reading »
IMF Refuses Aid to Venezuela in the Midst of the Coronavirus Crisis
On March 16, 2020, the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva wrote a blog post on the Fund’s website; it represents the kind of generosity necessary in the midst of a global pandemic. “The IMF stands ready to mobilize its $1-trillion lending capacity to help our membership,” she wrote. Countries with “urgent … Keep reading »
From Coronovirus to the Green New Deal
Navigating the Perilous Passage When we have dealt with the coronavirus crisis, we need to address the climate emergency. We have learned a lot from handling the pandemic that will help in tackling climate change. It is critical to tackle the crisis early, based on the best scientific evidence. Indecisive political leadership pushes the crisis quickly … Keep reading »
Weaponizing the Numbers
The Hidden Agenda Behind Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform Among progressives concerned about climate change, few issues provoke as much anger as the knowledge that governments continue to subsidize fossil fuels. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2017 these subsidies totaled $5.2-trillion annually. Don’t governments realize that fossil fuels are cooking the planet? The scientific community … Keep reading »
The Official Story of the Coronavirus Hides a Systemic Crisis
A View from Spain The new coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) has many faces. The health-related facet has been thoroughly examined for weeks or, better said, scrutinized by the media, especially in countries like Spain and Italy, among others. From the last week of January to the time of writing this text (March 9), the coronavirus is known to … Keep reading »
Waterfront Toronto: Google’s de facto Development Arm in Canada
Big tech’s smart city initiatives aim at taking over governance and decision-making functions in cities around the world. While peer-to-peer platform giants like Uber and AirBnB have long been disrupting labour and housing markets, a current attempt by Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet, and sibling to Google, to develop data-driven infrastructure in Toronto not … Keep reading »