Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Lana Payne discusses the need for outrage about the lack of enforcement even of corporate tax obligations which have been slashed for decades. And Hassan Yussuff writes about the obvious merits of a universal pharmacare system, along with the wealthy few determined to stop anything of the sort since it might cut into their windfall profits:

(Y)ou can bet there are plenty of wealthy corporate shareholders who are very satisfied with the status quo and who will always put those inflated profits ahead of people’s health care needs.

In fact, a report by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions earlier this year uncovered a 600% increase in lobbying by at least one major industry group between 2017 to 2018.

“The pharmaceutical industry sees the implementation of pharmacare as worthy of the deployment of unprecedented lobbying resources,” concludes the report.

Our governments, though, serve the public good, not private interests. That’s why the independent advisory council has provided the clearest blueprint yet for this major investment in the people of Canada.

Will our elected officials support this national vision? Or will they toe the industry line and support half-measures that will continue to line industry pockets while putting people’s health at risk?

- J. David Hughes and Laura Cameron each discuss how an ongoing climate crisis demands that we transition to clean energy rather than subsidizing and forcing the further extraction of fossil fuels. Holly Lake exposes the shoddy and biased "research" used to secure the approval of dangerous industrial projects. And Tristan Hughes calls out Justin Trudeau's attempt to triangulate in the face of a threat to our living environment as a particularly dangerous form of denialism.

- Rhiannon Moore points out that climate change and plastic pollution are both symptoms of the same problem of consumerism. And Sandra Laville discusses the costs to people and to the planet of a culture of cheap and disposable clothing.

- Finally, Scott Smith writes that the right to repair should be extended to include farm machinery to ensure farmers aren't at the mercy of large equipment monopolists.

Musical interlude

Phantogram - Fall In Love

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Lawrence Mishel points out that Donald Trump's giveaways to the rich actually resulted in a sharp decline in bonuses paid to workers.

- Robert Plummer reports on the precarity facing lower-income workers in the UK. And John Clapp writes from experience about the catch-22s standing between people and desperately-needed housing in Toronto.

- Gerald Kutney comments on the utter lack of content in the Cons' saw excuse for a climate change plan. Jasper Jolly discusses the role a shift toward electric airplanes will need to play as part of a transition to a sustainable economy. And Nicole Mortarillo writes about Canada's certain role as a haven for refugees driven from newly-uninhabitable areas as our climate crisis worsens.

- Jim Stanford points out a new report from the Conference Board of Canada showing how investment in education pays off many times over - even as right-wing governments across the country slash from students to give to the rich.

- Finally, Cam Holmstrom duly criticizes the Cons' unelected Senators who took it upon themselves to block legislation to implement UNDRIP. And Graham Thomson discusses what Jason Kenney's decision to hand earplugs to his trained seals to avoid even hearing the opposition in Alberta's legislature says about his attitude toward democracy.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood offers an electoral primer for voters who want to avert a climate breakdown in this fall's federal election. And Paul Wells takes a look at the Cons' undercooked nothingburger of a climate plan, while Hilary Beaumont notes that it's actually designed to coordinate with fossil fuel barons' plans to increase emissions.

- While Jason Kenney explicitly launches a war against anybody who questions the most extreme elements of the oil sector, Mark Schapiro points out that environmental reporting has long been an area in which anybody pursuing the truth has been at risk of being silenced by force. And Marion Guégan and Cécile Schilis-Gallego highlight the specific threats against reporters who dared to expose human rights abuses and corruption in Tanzania.

- Meanwhile, Duncan Cameron examines the NDP's election platform - including its broad view as to how the federal government can improve the well-being of Canadians. And as a reminder of what happens when governments operate under the opposite set of assumptions, CUPE examines the social costs of pseudo-"balanced" budgets which slash needed public services in order to fund tax cuts for the rich.

- Finally, Ed Finn points out the contrived complaints about the cost of pharmacare when governments regularly hand over billions of dollars to the corporate sector.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellanous material for your mid-week reading.

- David Dayen interviews Elizabeth Warren about the role of government in ensuring that the needs of people take precedence over the power of corporations. And Press Progress duly challenges the claim that corporate directors are overworked in putting in five to seven hours a week to carry out their duties, while Marco Chown Oved and Robert Cribb report on the tens of billions of dollars in taxes left unpaid by Canada's largest businesses.

- Michael Kwet examines how retailers track customers' movement without permission or accountability, while David Beer discusses the importance of regulating who's able to analyze personal information online.

- PressProgress examines a few of the realities Brian Pallister is hoping to sweep under the rug with a snap election call - including his slashing of rental assistance programs. Arthur White-Crummey reports on the Saskatchewan Party's elimination of support for utility costs in favour of blather about self-sufficiency. Jinny Sims calls out the B.C. Libs' billion dollars in land sales which papered over the cost of tax cuts at the expense of sorely-needed common property. And the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report (PDF) on the Trudeau Libs' housing policy finds that it's served only to shuffle around even lower amounts of money than were available under the unabashedly-austerian Harper Cons.

- Julia Knope reports on a Toronto rally seeking full labour rights and fair immigration opportunities for migrant workers. And David Climenhaga discusses how Alberta's Kenney Conservatives are seeking to set workers up for further exploitation while avoiding answering for their plans until after the federal election.

- Finally, Alex Ballingall reports that the United National Human Rights Office has joined the voices demanding more serious evaluation of the genocide against Indigenous people identified in the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Tuesday Evening Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Farhana Yamin discusses the need to answer the imminent threat of climate breakdown with direct action to force politicians to develop an adequate response (which, to be clear, does not include new pipelines or other subsidies for fossil fuels). Peter Armstrong reports on how a deteriorating climate is making homes uninsurable. And the Sprawl writes that Alberta can't afford continued climate denial.

- Meanwhile, Marc Lee points out the absurdity of pretending that the increased extraction and burning of natural gas will do anything but exacerbate our climate crisis. And Simon Lewis and Charlotte Wheeler note that monocultural plantations are no substitute for natural forest ecosystems in mitigating carbon pollution.

- The Guardian reports on the worldwide consequences of the U.S.' generation and disposal of plastic waste.

- Dave Meslin writes about the undue corporate influence on Canadian politics. And Amanda Follett Hosgood questions why the same RCMP which pays short shrift to disappeared Indigenous women can find the capacity to serve as a private army for pipeline construction.

- Finally, Michael Salmato discusses how corporations and wealthy individuals pocketed the Trump tax giveaway while ensuring no benefits would trickle down to U.S. workers.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Packaged cats.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ed Miliband writes that there's no contradiction between a climate change plan and an effective economic strategy - and to the contrary, they can and should be entirely aligned. And the Guardian's editorial board recognizes the need to get to net zero emissions sooner rather than later - even if the UK Cons are still working on the latter timeline.

- Meanwhile, Matthew Todd argues that the Extinction Rebellion has helped to turn the tide of public opinion toward greater acknowledgment of the need for urgent climate action. And John Geddes notes that severe weather events have also played a part in forcing people to consider the climate crisis - including in deciding who to support politically. 

- Camille Bains reports on new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information showing that alcohol remains the substance most responsible for hospitalizations and deaths in Canada. And the Stoney Creek News points out the absurdity of actively promoting the increased sale and distribution of alcohol under those circumstances - though it's well worth noting that Doug Ford has company in recklessly encouraging the increased use of alcohol and its resulting harms. 

- Finally, Mel Watkins discusses how the Waffle movement offers a blueprint - if a dated one - for what progressive nationalism might look like in Canada.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Michal Rozworski examines the factors which have contributed to Canada's ongoing housing crisis, including public austerity, consumer debt and undue speculation. Dan Fumano points out how homelessness is growing in Vancouver despite a few preliminary steps being taken to provide long-absent housing, while Jennifer Ackerman notes that the same goes for Regina where increased vacancy rates haven't helped matters for people who can't afford the units left empty by the market. And Fatima Syed notes that multigenerational homes may play a role in ensuring that more people have access to the housing they need.

- Morris Pearl wonders why anybody still attempts to claim that trickle-down economics produce anything but an increased concentration of wealth at the top in the face of decades of evidence to the contrary. And Andrew MacLeod reports that George Abbott, a prominent B.C. Liberal cabinet minister, is finally recognizing the folly of declaring that tax giveaways for the rich somehow pay for themselves (if only long after holding the power to do something with that knowledge).

- Meanwhile, Margaride Jorge theorizes that it should be possible to ensure that U.S. politicians begin to act on the public's desire for more taxes on the rich and a more egalitarian economic system. 

- Pam Palmater offers a needed reminder that Indigenous rights aren't contingent on public opinion. Daphne Bramham writes that one of the key takeaways from the report of the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women should be increased recognition of the ongoing reality of human trafficking in Canada. And Kyle Edwards points out that another area demanding followup is the link between resource extraction and the exploitation of Indigenous women.

- Finally, Chris writes about the importance of acting against homophobia in all of its forms, not only the most extreme examples such as the violent attack against her on a UK bus.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board points out the gross dishonesty of Jason Kenney, Scott Moe and other spokesflacks for the oil sector who are looking to turn the slightest hint of consideration of the environment and Indigenous rights into grounds for a civil war. And Melanee Thomas discusses the dangers of deliberately inflaming anger over fabricated slights as a political strategy. 

- Meanwhile, Sharon Riley and Sarah Cox expose the massive amount of lobbying the oil industry poured into the unelected Senate to undermine any consideration of the public interest. And Riley also points out how the biggest oil companies and their executives are conspicuously avoiding the slump being used an excuse for attacks on public services and workers.

- Dominic Dudley reports on the continuing trend of fossil fuels becoming unaffordable compared to renewable alternatives. And in contrast, Brendan Haley writes about the opportunity for Canada to lead in the industries of the future by investing in green technology rather than a dying fossil fuel sector.

- Andrew Coyne notes that the Libs' recently-announced refusal to follow through on a necessary next phase of a carbon price can only be taken to signal that they're abandoning even Stephen Harper's emission reduction targets.

- Finally, Thomas Walkom writes that pharmacare makes sense now just as it did five-plus decades ago when it was included as part of Tommy Douglas' plan for medicare - meaning that it's long past time to implement a universal pharmacare system.

Friday Evening Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Luke Savage writes that the most compelling case for socialist policies is the importance of expanding on the unduly narrow definition of freedom offered by the right:

Socialists, on the other hand, have long understood that class stratification, poverty, and economic deprivation are in fact both created and necessitated by capitalism: imposed on the majority by the imperative to generate profits, cut labor costs, and commodify every aspect of life.

Real freedom therefore requires a whole lot more than the basic civil and political rights enshrined in a liberal constitutional order. It is simply not enough to be free from arbitrary coercion by other people or the state — true freedom also means independence from the dictates of the market: its bosses, its tycoons, its profiteers, its expropriation of the wealth workers collectively create.
...
Despite what generations of conservative economists and politicians have insisted, equality and freedom are in fact mutually interdependent — the former being an essential precursor to the latter and its natural and indispensable ally.

By advancing economic rights as the basis for freedom, Sanders is in essence turning the Right’s definition on its head. While there remains much more to be done, his campaign is laying the groundwork for a sweeping redefinition of the political and economic orthodoxies that have long dominated American society — and offering millions a richer and more textured definition of freedom than most have ever known.

- And Brandie Weikle reports on the stress faced by a crushing majority of Canadians due to worries about pay and money problems.

- Andrew MacLeod lists five things to know about a national pharmacare plan. But the most important point comes from David Macdonald and Toby Sanger: we can easily afford to fund it (and benefit from massive long-term benefits) through readily-available revenue sources.

- Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy offers a reminder that taxes targeted at the wealthiest few so their job both in raising revenue and smoothing out unacceptable inequality. And Brian Faler notes that conversely, tax cuts for the wealthy deliver none of the broad economic benefits that are usually promised as a pretext to cater to the rich.

- Finally, Sarmishta Subramanian points out how the underfunding of education exacerbates inequality. And David Baxter reports on how Saskatchewan's school divisions have reached their breaking point after years of cuts and arbitrary decrees by the Sask Party.

[Edit: fixed typo.]

Musical interlude

Craig Connelly feat. Roxanne Emery - This Life

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- PressProgress offers its annual reminder not to be taken in by the Fraser Institute's anti-tax spin. And Robert Frank reports that support for a more fair tax system in the U.S. extends even to millionaires, a majority of whom approve of a wealth tax for fortunes above $50 million.

- Fiona Harvey writes about the continued growth in greenhouse gas concentrations to level never seen in human history. And Helen Briggs points out how all kinds of species ultimately suffer from a growing wave of plant extinctions, while Al Jazeera reports on the threat posed by warming oceans.

- Meanwhile, Gordon Laxer implores the Trudeau Libs not to waste any more public money on the Trans Mountain pipeline or other fossil fuel infrastructure. John Paul Tasker reports on the Parliamentary Budget Officer's conclusion that a federal carbon price needs to be doubled in order to meet even Stephen Harper's emission reduction targets. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood warns about Canada's backsliding on what were already pale excuses for action to avert a climate breakdown.

- Tabatha Southey discusses how the Scheer Cons are needlessly providing platforms for hate speech even while claiming to want nothing to do with it. And Doug Cuthand comments on the importance of recognizing genocide for what it is - and working on ensuring that we end it rather than perpetuating it. 

- Finally, Andray Domise offers a painfully apt summary of politics as practiced by the Libs:

Canada’s centrist Liberal party—for the millions of dollars it collects in donations, and the ability it has as a governing party to reshape our most pressing national issues such as housing policy, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, immigration and refugee policy, electoral reform and, of course, the environment—seems to find it completely out of its power to follow through on the political interests of the voters who elected it to begin with. For this party, politics is the aesthetics of hope, the promise of technocracy to solve our problems and the utter incapability of mustering the power to deliver on either within our lifetimes.

Politics, in other words, has long ceased to be the art of the possible for the Liberal Party. It is the art of procrastination, the art of kicking the can down the road, pledging that things will get better once we find an end to our endless crises, and simply trust that, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, we’re all in this together. Which raises the question: if the Liberal party were truly a corporate consulting firm operating under the auspices of party politics, how would its track record be any different?

New column day

Here, on how the developing issue of plastic pollution has brought out the worst in both PR-focused Liberals and regressive Conservatives alike.

For further reading...
- The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has discussed the growth of giant oceanic garbage patches. And Alyin Woodward reports on new research showing how microplastics are accumulating in even larger masses in deep ocean environments.
- Elizabeth Royte discussed the previous uncertainty as to how microplastics might affect humans, while Michelle Ghoussoub reports on new research from the University of Victoria showing how many microplastics we consume.
- The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment has dealt with the plan to get to zero plastic waste here. 
- Charlie Smith previously reported on NDP MP Gord Johns' motion on ending marine plastic pollution, then offered that needed context for the Libs' announcement.
- CBC News reported on the Libs' recent announcement as well as Andrew Scheer's response.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Nick Hanauer discusses the futility of "educationism" which treats schools as the only factor in social outcomes without recognizing the importance of inequality and precarity in restricting opportunities for far too many children. And PressProgress points out that Brian Pallister's Manitoba PCs - in keeping with right-wing dogma - are determined to make matters worse for people already getting by with low incomes.

- Michael Spratt writes that Doug Ford's cuts to Legal Aid will end up costing more than they save (in addition to undermining outcomes in Ontario's justice system). Cory Coleman reports on the long-term damage being done by the Saskatchewan Party's failure to maintain the province's health facilities.

- David Climenhaga highlights how Canada's right has decided to pattern itself after Donald Trump in full, including by exhibiting an utter aversion to facts and proclivity for gaslighting. And PressProgress calls out Brad Wall (among other prominent Cons) for eagerly pushing climate denialism.

- Robert Reich argues that Elizabeth Warren's plan to revive the concept of industrial policy in the public interest offers a needed alternative to the corporatist view that the economy exists solely to serve the already-rich:

Smartness and openness go together. An open, explicit industrial policy becomes a national competitive strategy. A hidden industrial policy becomes a haven for political payoffs – a form of corporate welfare.

Which may be why big business in America killed off industrial policy in the 1980s. Such talk threatened to expose how much public money big business was raking in without doing anything in return.
...
Warren proposes enlarging federal research and development, and targeting it on leading technologies. These R&D investments would be “spread across every region of the country, not focused on only a few coastal cities”. The products that emerge would be built by American workers.

Her Green Manufacturing Plan proposes allocating $150bn annually for the next decade to renewable, green, American-made energy products, along with a dramatic expansion of worker training to ensure Americans have the skills for the anticipated new jobs.

It’s a national investment in our future. “Over the next decade, the expected market for clean energy technology in emerging economies alone is $23tn,” she explains.

It would also be good for the world. She calls for a Green Marshall plan, “dedicated to selling American-made clean, renewable, and emission-free energy technology abroad and a $100bn commitment to assisting countries to purchase and deploy this technology.”

As Trump erects tariff walls and rolls back federal efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Elizabeth Warren is promoting a positive economic nationalism designed both to advance America’s workers and respond to one of the most profound crises confronting the world.

- Finally, Jim Bronskill reports on a directive allowing Canada's military to collect and use information about Canadians with minimal controls or oversight.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cats at rest.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Heather Mallick discusses the pattern of right-wing governments obsessing over undoing the good done by their predecessors, rather than paying the slightest attention to the public interest. And Mariana Mazzucato and Josh Ryan-Collins examine (PDF) about the importance of having leaders who work on building public value, rather than reacting only to perceived market failures.

- Matthew Yglesias points out that a contrast in views over public policy which further enriches the wealthy represents one of the most promising wedge issues to split votes away from the U.S. Republicans (not to mention an issue worth pursuing in its own right). David Coletto observes that a similar trend applies in Canada. And Kate Aronoff writes that regardless of any philanthropic contributions, an economic system which generates isolated billionaires rather than widespread power and prosperity is absolutely ill-suited to address the threat of a climate breakdown.

- Joe Vipond and Kim Perrotta highlight how climate change denial is making Albertans sick. James Riley notes that Jason Kenney and Doug Ford are missing the point as to the value of energy efficiency. And Gordon Laxer discusses how the Libs' multi-billion-dollar pipeline purchase and trade sellouts fit into a general lack of serious action to transition toward clean energy.

- Finally, Paige Towers points out how to reduce harmful noise pollution at an individual level. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board suggests that Canadian cities take the lead in turning down the volume at a municipal level.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Phil Dzikiy discusses how GE is already losing massive amounts of money due to its incorrect assumption that fossil fuels would be profitable. And Brad Plumer points out that far more corporations are recognizing the need to plan for the fallout from a climate breakdown in the very near future.

- Vik Adhopia reports on the work of researchers to ensure that eye drop dosages reflect what will actually make the best possible use of medications, after pharmaceutical corporations have chosen to instead encourage spillage and waste. And Cherise Seucharan reports on the NDP's plan to treat access to contraceptives as a basic need rather than a profit centre. 

- Bob Bell points out how the right-wing push toward more alcohol sales and consumption produces ill effects for public health and government budgets alike.

- Finally, Andrew Rawnsley writes about the disconnect between the UK's archaic first-past-the-post electoral system and the will of the public. And the NDP has unveiled its plan for electoral reform - featuring a commitment to implement a system of proportional representation, while building in a referendum once the public is in a position to judge its options from experience rather than reactionary fearmongering.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Angela Rayner writes about the distinction between limited social mobility and genuine social justice, while highlighting UK Labour's commitment to the latter:

(T)he role of our education system is not just about helping a lucky, talented few rise to the top, but about ensuring that everyone can realise their potential. People sometimes point to me as someone who had a difficult start but got on in life as evidence that anyone can succeed on their own. But actually my life shows the exact opposite. Any success I have had is thanks to Labour governments that provided the council house, minimum wage, tax credits and Sure Start children’s centre that enabled me to achieve it. 

 That is social justice. Not one person doing better than the people they grew up with, but all of us working together to give everyone the chance to reach their full potential. The very opposite of what the Tories believe or do. 

Focusing solely on social mobility not only disregards overall levels of inequality and poverty, but it implies that only a few talented people deserve to escape what they were born into, thereby legitimising the inequality that holds millions back.
...
We won’t stand for a society in which only a lucky few succeed while inequality and poverty hold back millions. We will focus on social justice, not just social mobility, to build a society in which everyone can develop their talented and succeed regardless of their background.  

- Robert Kennedy writes about the latest climate breakdown scenarios from the Breakthrough National Center for Climate Restoration. And David Climenhaga points out that it's essential for health care workers (and others) to point out the effects of climate change in their areas of work and expertise, rather than accepting instructions to ignore the widespread effects of our climate crisis.

- Amanda Garris reports on the new revelations about the severe underestimation of methane gas emissions from the fertilizer industry. And Natan Obed discusses how Inuit people stand to face some of the most severe results of a climate breakdown, while Doyle Rice points out the number of heat-related deaths in the U.S. which will only be exacerbated by further climate deterioration.

- Finally, Leyland Cecco reports on the latest from the UN special rapporteur on toxic chemicals who has pointed out how Canada has chosen to ignore Indigenous rights by subjecting First Nations to toxic pollutants. Chris Arsenault exposes Titan Minerals' environmental violations in Peru (which appear to have been ignored until they became useful for corporate machinations). And Elizabeth Weise reports on the damage to our oceans from plastic pollution which goes far beyond readily-observable garbage patches.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Lana Payne comments on the war being waged by Canada's right-wing governments against workers.

- Dion Rabouin writes about the product of decades of giveaways to the rich - as the obscenely wealthy literally can't find any use for massive amounts of money other than to hoard it, even while refusing to pass any of it along. And Elizabeth Capelle discusses both how housing has become financialized, and how to reorient our view of it to serve the interests of people beyond the 1%.

- Frederick Hewitt points out how some of the most several long-term dangers of a climate breakdown involve the types of food supply disruptions which proved the undoing of past civilizations. Christopher Flavelle notes that the increasing recognition of the dangers of climate change is leading to higher costs and lower use of insurance to guard against foreseeable risks. And while Susan Delacourt wonders whether the climate crisis will lead to full social mobilization, the most telling part of her column is the thoroughly uninspired (and uninspiring) response from the Lib government:

My colleague here in the Star’s Ottawa bureau, Alex Ballingall, asked Environment Minister Catherine McKenna this week about whether wartime examples could inspire more collective public action on climate change.

“Look, I mean, I am very supportive of more ambition on climate change. I hear good ideas every single day. I mean I think the idea that you need to link climate action with people and making sure that you are focused on how do you improve lives is critical,” McKenna told Ballingall. But the minister also said that any ambition has to be tempered with, yes, affordability. “People want action on climate change but they want life to be affordable and at the same time creating good jobs.”

So, not exactly Dunkirk or D-Day, at least not yet. Bill Nye may need a bigger blowtorch.

- Finally, Bruce Campbell comments on the need for a public inquiry into the Lac-Mégantic disaster and points out some of the questions which remain unanswered to this day. And Penelope Simons notes that the Libs' distaste for corporate accountability is endangering Canada's global reputation.

Musical interlude

Matthew Good - Decades

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Justin Fisher laments the fact that we're still talking about first steps toward combating a climate crisis after decades of understanding the problem. Jake Woodier points out that Brexit has been the UK's recent distraction from the most important issue facing humanity. And Joseph Stiglitz is the latest to compare a Green New Deal to avert climate breakdown with the scale and urgency of a wartime mobilization:

When the US was attacked during the second world war no one asked, “Can we afford to fight the war?” It was an existential matter. We could not afford not to fight it. The same goes for the climate crisis. Here, we are already experiencing the direct costs of ignoring the issue – in recent years the country has lost almost 2% of GDP in weather-related disasters, which include floods, hurricanes, and forest fires. The cost to our health from climate-related diseases is just being tabulated, but it, too, will run into the tens of billions of dollars – not to mention the as-yet-uncounted number of lives lost. We will pay for climate breakdown one way or another, so it makes sense to spend money now to reduce emissions rather than wait until later to pay a lot more for the consequences – not just from weather but also from rising sea levels. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The war on the climate emergency, if correctly waged, would actually be good for the economy – just as the second world war set the stage for America’s golden economic era , with the fastest rate of growth in its history amidst shared prosperity. The Green New Deal would stimulate demand, ensuring that all available resources were used; and the transition to the green economy would likely usher in a new boom. Trump’s focus on the industries of the past, like coal, is strangling the much more sensible move to wind and solar power. More jobs by far will be created in renewable energy than will be lost in coal.
...
The mobilization efforts of the second world war transformed our society. We went from an agricultural economy and a largely rural society to a manufacturing economy and a largely urban society. The temporary liberation of women as they entered the labor force so the country could meet its war needs had long-term effects. This is the advocates’ ambition, a not unrealistic one, for the Green New Deal.

There is absolutely no reason the innovative and green economy of the 21st century has to follow the economic and social models of the 20th-century manufacturing economy based on fossil fuels, just as there was no reason that that economy had to follow the economic and social models of the agrarian and rural economies of earlier centuries.

- But if we needed a reminder of the ease with which serious dangers to the public get ignored or forgotten, Benjamin Kentish notes that tens of thousands of Britons still live in buildings covered in the same material which caused the spread of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire.

- Rafferty Baker reports on research showing how harm reduction steps are reducing the still-alarming number of deaths caused by opioids. And Barbara Krantz points out that as serious as the opioid crisis is, far more people die due to alcohol - even as Canada's right makes it a core policy to try to push people to drink more.

- Trade Justice Network Canada discusses how the new NAFTA is anything but progressive - no matter what talking points the Trudeau Libs use in trying to push it through.

- And finally, Paul Romer suggests that a tax on targeted advertising could both raise revenue, and reduce the amount of user tracking that contributes to hidden dangers online.

Thursday Evening Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jonathan Aldred calls out the combination of handouts to the rich, cultivated attitudes of self-reliance and antisocial assumptions which have exacerbated inequality over the past few decades:

European countries have, on average, more redistributive tax systems and more welfare benefits for the poor than the US, and therefore less inequality, after taxes and benefits. Many people see this outcome as a reflection of the different values that shape US and European societies. But cause-and-effect may run the other way: you-deserve-what-you-get beliefs are strengthened by inequality.

Psychologists have shown that people have motivated beliefs: beliefs that they have chosen to hold because those beliefs meet a psychological need. Now, being poor in the US is extremely tough, given the meagre welfare benefits and high levels of post-tax inequality. So Americans have a greater need than Europeans to believe that you deserve what you get and you get what you deserve. These beliefs play a powerful role in motivating yourself and your children to work as hard as possible to avoid poverty. And these beliefs can help alleviate the guilt involved in ignoring a homeless person begging on your street.

This is not just a US issue. Britain is an outlier within Europe, with relatively high inequality and low economic and social mobility. Its recent history fits the cause-and-effect relationship here. Following the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, inequality rose significantly. After inequality rose, British attitudes changed. More people became convinced that generous welfare benefits make poor people lazy and that high salaries are essential to motivate talented people. However, intergenerational mobility fell: your income in Britain today is closely correlated with your parents’ income.

If the American Dream and other narratives about everyone having a chance to be rich were true, we would expect the opposite relationship: high inequality (is fair because of) high intergenerational mobility. Instead, we see a very different narrative: people cope with high inequality by convincing themselves it is fair after all. We adopt narratives to justify inequality because society is highly unequal, not the other way round. So inequality may be self-perpetuating in a surprising way.

- David Climenhaga predicts that the UCP's review of health services - like so many before it - will cost more than it ever recoups in promised efficiencies. Brielle Morgan, Katie Hyslop, Cherise Seucharan and Tracy Sherlock highlight the absurdity of offering more money to foster families to house children after findings of poverty-based "neglect" than to the vulnerable families who only lack sufficient financial resources to be able to provide an adequate home. And Jesse Snyder reports on new research showing how blinkered fearmongering against carbon pricing stands to increase the cost of any climate progress.

- Brendan Kennedy discusses what the future will look like in New Brunswick as climate change continues to exacerbate the flooding which has become commonplace in recent years. And Charlie Smith looks at the effect of a movement away from air travel on cities such as Vancouver which currently rely on air traffic as a major part of their local economies.

- Finally, Simon Dyer offers six factors to look for in determining whether a climate policy is viable. And David Miller highlights how the NDP's climate plan measures up to the scope and urgency of our climate crisis.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Statuesque cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- In his Arnold Amber Memorial Lecture, Alex Himelfarb offers his take on the dangers of austerity and the loss of collective action:

1. Austerity is toxic.
2. It is built on a lie, and on a withered idea of freedom and a hollowed out notion of citizenship.
3. Austerity is self-perpetuating, trapping us, stunting our political imagination.
4. We nevertheless do have alternatives. There are always alternatives. Big change is hard, but given the risks, the stakes, the opportunities, big change is urgent, and bold is exactly what’s needed if we are to meet our challenges and break out of the austerity trap.
5. A new generation of leaders is giving us reason for hope, though clearly there’s no reason for complacency.
...
Right wing governments embrace deficits.  They need them to justify cuts to vital services, cuts that they couldn’t sell otherwise. They create them through their tax cuts, occasionally aided by accounting tricks. At the same time they describe these self-induced deficits as poisonous. There are, we are told,  both moral and economic imperatives for eliminating deficits and balancing budgets. Otherwise the sky will fall. Spoiler alert. It won’t. We are told that governments are like households and must live within their means, an analogy that would be more apt if households like governments could print money. Households can’t. Governments do.  Austerity isn’t simply the consequence of tax cuts, it may often be their purpose.

- Bernie Sanders discusses the need for political leaders to understand and meet the needs of the working class, rather than assuming that governance consists solely of catering to the wealthy. And Mathew Lawrence writes that Sanders' plans to empower workers could be just as effective outside the U.S. context, including in the UK.

- Meanwhile, the New York Times' editorial board calls out Donald Trump for going out of his way to further distort the balance of workplace power in favour of employers.

- Katie Hyslop reports on new polling showing that a large majority of British Columbia oppose tax breaks for elite private schools, particularly in the context of constant cries of poverty when it comes to the public school system.

- And finally, Crawford Kilian reviews Dave McGrane's new book on the evolution of the federal NDP.

Monday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- John Paul Tasker reports on the final report of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. And Kenyon Wallace highlights the need for meaningful federal action in response - though if the Libs are deviating at all from their usual all-talk-no-action stance, it's by trying to avoid even the plain wording of the report.  

- Emma McIntosh and Mike De Souza report on the reality that the reclamation of the environmental destruction wrought by Alberta's oil sector could take thousands of years. But Nafeez Ahmed warns that if we don't stop the damage to our planet from carbon pollution, human civilization as we know it may not last more than a few decades.

- Meanwhile, Geoff Dembicki points out how the Green New Deal concept which holds out the promise of just transition to clean and sustainable energy sources has built on the work behind the Leap Manifesto. And Elise Stolte theorizes that the regular spread of wildfires and blankets of smoke should jolt Alberta to recognize the need to join in the effort.

- Canadians for Tax Fairness highlights the unfairness of the Canada Revenue Agency striking secret deals with systematic tax evaders while directing its enforcement activities toward people who don't have money to stash offshore.

- Finally, Matthew Klein observes that the best way to reduce crime - and particularly recidivism - is to invest in legitimate social supports for people who would otherwise lack legal means to provide for themselves.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Stephen Maher writes that Michael Cooper's choice to give voice to the Christchurch shooter's manifesto represents a test of Andrew Scheer's willingness to take action to match his words. And Scheer's choice to quietly shuffle Cooper out of a single committee assignment - rather than actually showing him the door in response to premeditated hate speech - seems to offer a clear wrong answer. 

- Keith Gerein laments Jason Kenney's insistence on betting Alberta's future on ideological tax cuts which have proven to be losing gambles everywhere else they've been tried. And Jesse Ferreras points out that Kenney's predictable response to wildfires exacerbated by our climate breakdown is to deny the science plainly connecting the two.

- Murray Mandryk notes that Yancoal's simultaneous palm-greasing at the municipal and provincial levels offers yet another example of the types of seedy pay-for-play politics which prevail in Saskatchewan in the absence of basic donation restrictions.

- Meanwhile, the CP reports that Manitoba has decided to fund coverage of Mifegymiso, leaving Scott Moe's government as the most regressive of conservative parties in the country in refusing to do the same.

- Finally, Alex MacPherson reports on the increasing recognition of how people are worse off for the Saskatchewan Party's destruction of STC - as well as the NDP's plans to restore and improve service.

On crisis acting

Shorter Brad Wall, Distinguished Statesman:

Never mind the facts about my trumped-up grievances, I demand that we break up the country in order to burn down the world!

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- The NDP has released its Power to Change climate plan, including steps to create green jobs and give effect to Indigenous rights while meeting emission reduction targets needed to contribute to the international fight against climate breakdown. And Christo Aivilis offers his first impressions, while Jolson Lim focuses on the plan for fare-free, zero-emission public transit which would combine substantial environmental benefits with improvements in affordability for the people who need it most. 

- Meanwhile, Sean Holman implores the media to start treating the climate crisis as an emergency. And David Roberts points out how California has managed to make substantially more progress on energy efficiency than the rest of the U.S., while also examining the lack of a reasonable basis to push natural gas expansion as a "bridge" to a clean energy economy. 

- Kim Samuel notes that a higher nominal GDP isn't actually leading to improved well-being for the people being told that everything's fine. Anne Gaviola highlights how an undue obsession with homeownership results in both poor policy choices, and financial stresses on younger workers feeling social pressure to pursue it. And Zi-Ann Lum reports that Canadian life expectancies are stagnating due to an opioid crisis created by predatory capitalists. 

- Brian Merchant argues that we shouldn't blame faceless technology for job losses when it's the choice of executives to push workers out the door. Terri Gerstein reports on Colorado's steps to crack down on wage theft rather than taking it as a given that unscrupulous employers will get away with denying pay to their workers. And PressProgress points out that Jason Kenney is doing the bidding of his corporate masters by slashing wages and overtime pay and placing obstacles in the way of unionization.

- Finally, Quentin Fottrell writes about the connection between social class, overconfidence and undue advantages in employment.

Musical interlude

Now, Now - Set It Free

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joseph Stiglitz points out the need to move beyond neoliberalism and offers a useful policy framework to do so - though framing an alternative as "progressive capitalism" cedes far more ground than necessary in continuing to prioritize capital over social well-being.

- The Economist examines how increasing numbers of Americans are acknowledging the climate crisis in the face of extreme weather events. But Heide Pearson reports that right-wing governments are still sticking with denial, as the UCP for one isn't particularly concerned with the people losing their homes and communities to climate disasters. Mitchell Anderson reminds us that Jason Kenney's top priority is only to accelerate the harm done by a substantially-unregulated fossil fuel sector. And George Monbiot highlights how the Trump administration's propaganda campaign is a planetary version of exactly the language used to persuade people to harm their own lungs by smoking.

- Harvey Cashore reports on another secret settlement in which wealthy KPMG clients avoid not only prosecution, but even public awareness of their deceptive tax evasion schemes. PressProgress points out the connections between the Aquilini family, the gross abuse of workers, and the funneling of money to the B.C. Liberals. And Robert Fife and Steven Chase expose an arrangement in which the federal government ensures that Irving Shipbuilding gets notified of any attempt by journalists to investigate its public contracts.

- Finally, Jean Swanson suggests that if Vancouver is willing to proclaim basic freedoms for animals, it should certainly be prepared to do the same (and couple it with action) to ensure a reasonable standard of living for all people.

New column day

Here, on how Justin Trudeau has gone from counterweight to lapdog in dealing with the Trump administration.

For further reading...
- Teresa Wright reported on the crackdown on refugees in the Libs' omnibus budget bill. And Karl Nerenberg called out Trudeau's pandering to anti-refugee prejudice.
- Kelly Crowe reports on Canada's role among the countries trying to suppress accurate information about pharmaceutical profits.
- Janice McGregor examines the fine print of the much-ballyhooed - but little-scrutinized - deal to temporarily remove tariffs on steel and aluminum.
- Peter Zimonjic and Katie Simpson report on the Libs' fast-tracking of Trump's version of a revised NAFTA.
- Finally, the Council of Canadians expresses its own concern about Trudeau's willingness to do Trump's bidding.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jeff Stein reports on Bernie Sanders' plans to transfer power from capital to people. And PressProgress highlights the Saskatchewan Party's continued reliance on corporate funding from outside the province.

- Ron Walter recognizes that Scott Moe's carbon tax posturing is purely a matter of politics rather than any rational policy. Luke O'Neil reports on the Trump administration's push to take carbon cultism to new depths. And Kim Phillips-Fein points out how discussion of the Green New Deal in the U.S. has been met with reactionary Republican rhetoric at its worst.

- Meanwhile, both S. Clay Steell and Emma Jackson and Paige Gorsak make the case for a Green New Deal as a necessary alternative to continued petro-politics in Alberta.

- Brendan Frank writes that any talk about "innovation" in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is utterly meaningless in the absence of meaningful targets to pursue. And Richard Perez and Karl Rabago suggest that the path toward a full transition to renewable energy involves overbuilding renewable generation rather than relying more than necessary on storage.

- Finally, Gloria Galloway reports on the obstruction by Conservative senators against the effective implementation of Indigenous rights in Canada - which of course says far more about the Cons' real attitude toward minority groups than Andrew Scheer's empty words.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Close cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Peter Eavis points out how U.S. CEOs are only seeing their exorbitant pay soar even further due to Donald Trump's tax giveaways. Kara Swisher interviews Anand Giridharadas about how "philanthropists" are bribing the public with small parts of the obscene concentrations money they've extracted from society at large.

- James Kurz highlights how the Trudeau Libs and a number of provincial governments are basing their climate policy on the perverse hope that Canada will fall far short of doing its share to avert the global climate crisis. Barry Saxifrage points out the distinction between the balance of Canada which is somewhere close to meeting its Copenhagen targets, and Alberta and Saskatchewan which are entirely undoing any progress - though it's worth noting that the federal government has chosen to emphasize continued oil development rather than administering a system capable of reaching our national targets. And the Associated Press reports on the deforestation of the Amazon which is only making matters worse.

- Meanwhile, Mia Rabson reports on the Greens' odd position that they're eager to see new fossil fuel infrastructure built as long as any development is done on a sufficiently nationalistic basis. Michael Laxer calls out the Cons for a literal scorched-earth policy on climate change. And Andrew Coyne offers a reminder that the only argument against carbon pricing is bare climate denial.

- Finally, Christo Aivalis offers an apparently-necessary reminder of the legitimacy of coalition governments:

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- CBC examines the obscene corporate subsidies doled out by Canadian governments - with Alberta ranking as the worst offender even as it also takes in less revenue than other provinces. And Jeff Gray reports on the growing gap between Doug Ford's budget promises and the revenue available to keep them - even as he hastily backtracks on a few of his most antisocial cuts.

- Meanwhile, Michael Ungar points out how resilience depends on social supports, rather than being a matter of individual choice or merit as it's so often portrayed.

- Murray Mandryk discusses the Saskatchewan Party's telling refusal to evaluate the effect of its much-criticized "lean" program imposed on the province's health care system - as well as the research confirm that it was an utter waste.

- Stuart Trew highlights how spin about "Good Regulatory Practices" in the new NAFTA serves only to limit the ability of governments to act in the interest of citizens and workers. 

- Finally, Andrew Coyne points out that the unelected Senate's interference in bills dealing with preventing oil spills and ensuring effective environmental assessments represents just another instance of obsolete political structures thwarting the will of Canadian voters.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Jo Davies points out the widespread recognition that Canadian corporations need to pay their fair share for a functional society. And Eric Levitz notes that Donald Trump and other right-wing pseudo-populists are ensuring the opposite, as the IRS has stopped any meaningful enforcement action against the wealthy since Trump and the Republicans have been in a position to direct its actions.

- Tom Parkin points out the profound impact activism can have in changing and saving lives. And Dave Meslin discusses the need to tear down our current political structures in order to build a sustainable society:

What if the greatest challenges of our time can’t be solved by our current political system at all? Indeed, what if the greatest challenges of our time are a direct result of our decaying political system? The symptoms are clear: Legislatures have descended into mob-driven battlegrounds. Centralized power within parties has transformed our elected representatives into trained seals who clap or jeer on cue, voting as they’re told. Growing cynicism and frustration among voters are leading to lower and lower levels of political participation. Corporate lobbyists continue to wield enormous influence. And we are constantly facing fishtail legislation: the absurd reality that each new government spends their first year in office undoing whatever the previous government had done.

None of this serves the public interest. In fact, all of it is holding us back from what we are capable of.

...

The first step is to overcome our fear of using words such as “rigged” or "broken” to describe our political state. There’s a concern that attacking our democratic institutions only serves to empower extremist ideologues. But the opposite is true. When we turn a blind eye to the need for radical change, it’s those very extremist leaders who happily take advantage of the vacuum and use it for their own purposes. We’ve seen the electoral results of this.

It’s time to change course. Pretending that that we can use our current political ecosystem to bring about meaningful change is not only negligent, it’s a guaranteed recipe for environmental suicide.

We need a political uprising of passionate activists and leaders, prepared to prescribe and implement surgical interventions that will change the tone, shape and nature of power. Ours is a battle for inclusive governance, for deliberative and thoughtful decision-making and for elections that offer real choice and representative results. It’s a fight to inject some humanity into our democracy, for a new culture of political engagement and for decentralized and participatory local government, throwing open the doors to a system that is currently designed as an insider’s game.

- Joel French writes about the need for Alberta to pay attention to both its own youth and the rest of the world, rather than wrongly assuming that it can rely indefinitely on expiring industries without a plan to transition to a modern economy. And Carol Kroeger comments on the shortsightedness of ruling out - and demonizing - any carbon pricing as one of the means of averting a total climate breakdown. 

- Finally, Shael Polakow-Suransky writes about the need to ensure early childhood education in order to ensure that every child has a fair chance in life. And Sandra Black, Paul Devereux, Petter Lundborg and Kaveh Majlesi highlight how wealth disparities are passed on between generations.