Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Umair Haque discusses the U.S.' extreme aversion to public goods (based primarily on a desire to exclude large numbers of people from normalized society) - and the role that ideology has played in its failure as a state. 

- Erika Beauchesne reminds us that progressive taxes on the rich can serve as both a source of revenue, and a means of rebalancing a warped distribution of wealth and power. And Christo Aivalis calls out the Libs, Cons and Bloc for voting down the NDP's motion for a publicly-supported wealth tax.

- Evelyn Forget writes that the success of the CERB and other temporary coronavirus relief programs demonstrates the power of a basic income which ensures that nobody is at risk of going without the necessities of life. And David Gray and Philip Leonard offer a reminder of the failings of an employment insurance system designed to restrict access rather than ensure support.

- Meanwhile, Cam Scott and Rob Crooks discuss the need for a housing strategy based on the public interest rather than profit-seeking.

- Jenna Moon reports on the continued profiteering by supermarkets which are raising prices while taking any additional benefits away from employees. Clark Kaufmann reports on allegations that Tyson Foods' callousness in response to COVID-19 included having managers take bets on how many employees would get sick with a deadly disease on their watch. And George Monbiot warns that the UK is at risk of an imminent food shortage due to the Con government's belief that it has no responsibility to ensure it's available.

- Finally, Martha Neovard writes about the utter lack of public health logic behind the Saskatchewan Party's decision to keep families apart unless they're willing to risk going out to a for-profit space. And Nicole Di Danato reports that Saskatchewan's doctors instead recommend restricting bars, nightclubs and bingo halls as creating risks which far exceed any benefit to their remaining open.