Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Sarah Kendzior writes about the replacement of shared culture with corporate-funded propaganda - and the need to maintain focus on the bigger-picture fight to maintain and build community rather than the firehose of trivia and scandal from the second Trump administration. Peter Turchin examines some of the forces pushing the U.S. toward collapse which help to explain its election results. Bob Berwyn reports on the UN's warning that disinformation is one of the major obstacles to climate action. And Harold Meyerson argues that the path forward for U.S. Democrats needs to involve resisting the corporate elite, rather than hoping to be seen as better serving its interests.

- Meanwhile, Stewart Prest discusses how Canadian political leaders need to earn the trust of young people in order to build a movement capable of countering the alt-right. Charlie Angus highlights the historical roots of neoliberalism and the collapse of the working class, while Luke Savage writes about the need for social democracy to roll back the spread of corporatism and commodification. And Paul Kahnert points out how the concentration of wealth and power - and concurrent decline of civil society - have laid the groundwork for political and social unrest. 

- Jim Stanford notes that the concept of a "vibecession" (to be dismissed as illusory) serves to undermine the work needed to strengthen our social base - while noting that we should also call out the right's determination to use public frustration as an opening to make matters far worse. And Muneeb Javaid discusses the real hardships facing many Canadians who rightly aren't prepared to accept the argument that they can't expect more from their political leaders. 

- David Zipper points out the need to treat traffic safety as primarily a matter of systemic choices and forces rather than isolated individual acts. Taylor Noakes contrasts Doug Ford's decision to punish everybody for his hatred of people on bikes against Montreal's success developing cycling infrastructure. And Muhammad Rizwan Azhar and Waqas Uzair write that demand for fossil fuels is bound to decline based on a shift toward bikes, mopeds and other more efficient forms of transportation. 

- Meanwhile, Kevin Crowley and William Mathis report that oil giants are already borrowing money to pay out shareholders rather than being able to do so based on value produced. But Agence France-Presse reports on the failure to reach an agreement on curbing plastic production can be traced primarily to petrostates insisting that their desire to pollute trumps human health and well-being. 

- Finally, Gary Fuller reports on new research showing the incidental health benefits of reducing carbon pollution. And Heather Stewart discusses how the climate crisis threatens the availability and affordability of basic food supplies.