Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Owen Jones writes that UK Labour's bold and progressive platform was crucial to its improved electoral results. Bhaksar Sunkara rightly sees Labour's campaign - in both its firm defence of the common good, and its determination to reach young and marginalized voters rather than assuming they won't turn out - as a blueprint to be copied elsewhere. And Charlie Smith suggests that the federal NDP in particular should look to follow in Labour's footsteps.

- Daniel Tencer reports on Evelyn Forget's estimate of the cost of a basic income at a reasonable $15 billion per year nationally. And Rosana Salvaterra writes about the health benefits of a stable and secure income for everybody. But Jared Knoll interviews Armine Yalnizyan about the opportunity costs of a basic income as opposed to other policy options aimed at equalizing access to actual goods and services, rather than income alone.

- Meanwhile, Donald Hirsch discusses the reemergence of living wage as a widely recognized policy goal. And Michael McKnight highlights the value of Vancouver's living wage as a step toward reducing poverty and inequality.

- Bernie Sanders offers a look (PDF) at how Donald Trump's privatized infrastructure plan figures to enrich Wall Street at the expense of the American public. And Pedro Nicolaci da Costa reports that many other U.S. Democrats are offering the same necessary critique - signalling that the Justin Trudeau Libs' copycat Canadian version is taking them far past the level of corporatism of a party which is itself subject to valid criticism as driven too much by appeasing the financial sector.

- Finally, Andrew Nikiforuk laments Trudeau's decision to facilitate years of avoidable methane pollution.