Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- James Laxer points out how overreach by the wealthy and powerful inevitably leads to backlash - and how we're just scratching the surface of what's to come:

(R)ight-wing revolts can get out of hand and can create difficulties, even grave difficulties, for the rich and the powerful and the states that do their bidding.

The most overwhelmingly important such case was the French Revolution. The Revolution was preceded by a revolt of the rich and the powerful, known as the Revolte Nobiliare. That revolt, which sought to protect the privileges of the nobility, gravely weakened the French state. It opened the way for a transformative social revolution, a revolution that swept away the actors and institutions that had launched the Revolte Nobiliare, overturning the monarchy and the entrenched rights of the nobility in the process. What is significant for today is that a political upheaval begun by the forces of social and political reaction can end up generating an upheaval that is utterly different from the one the reactionaries had in mind.
...
The harsh policies being pursued in North America, the U.K., and the Euro Zone countries are pressing the ill effects of austerity down on the large majority of the population, while the wealthiest and most economically powerful see their incomes soar and are assured that the state will bail them out when necessary. This is their state and they know it. The young in the advanced countries are having their futures stolen from them. Opportunities shrink and the price of post-secondary education soars ever higher. Upward mobility, always the safety valve in capitalist society, is being choked off.
...
Those at the helm on both sides of the Atlantic are playing dangerous games. It is far from certain that they will be able to control the forces they are unleashing. Some may believe that we live in the eternal present of neo-liberalism. History shows us that that is not a good bet.

- Meanwhile, Linda McQuaig highlights how Jack Layton's eulogy has come to be a rallying cry for Canadian progressives. And Michael Valpy notes that Layton's death has caused a broad swath of Canadians to recognize and affirm that they share his values:

It’s been suggested the deep emotional response was to the suddenness of his passing, or to the cruel irony of death striking him down while the applause still rang out for his grand electoral success. If that’s all that was involved, it would be a shallow saga, soon forgotten. Something struck a chord across the country – not all of it mind – but in the big cities where progressive voices have long felt comfortable. It struck, that chord, as a public manifestation of a collective worry about what Mr. Layton’s loss — Jack’s loss — meant for so many Canadians’ values, the not-quite-taken-shape articulation of people who feel threatened, who see themselves governed by politicians holding alien values, beliefs and behaviour.

It’s a chord of frustration about a country increasingly seen as the domain of conservative politics, conservative values and a dominant narrative that decries a mythic ‘downtown elite’ (and even the public cost of marking their death).

It’s a chord of protest against a domain that doesn’t want libraries, social housing or a long form census but only lower taxes and more fighter jets. A chord of resentment sounded by people who have felt themselves unable to self-identify as progressives in the way Jack Layton consistently did, with an unrepentant pride in his beliefs.

For people holding the same convictions, his death has made them want to shout out loud what they shared with him. We think it’s maybe as simple as that.

- And for all the talk surrounding his possible leadership bid, it's hard to disagree with Brian Topp as to the NDP's role:

"No one will replace Jack. But we can continue his work," said Topp.

"That will be about carrying forward his approach to politics. It will be about continuing to focus on getting things done that matter to people. It will be about compellingly representing the people of Quebec.

"And it will be about persuading Canadians in other provinces that the next federal government can be a new, better, progressive and truly national one."

- Finally, Malcolm rightly questions why Saskatchewan's policy is being set by Manitoban reactionaries. But it shouldn't be news that the Wall government long since gave up any pretense that its decisions would be based on grassroots concerns in Saskatchewan.