Wednesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your mid-week reading.

- Jeremy Corbyn writes about the denialism involved in refusing to deal with the climate crisis with language and action proportionate to its dangers. Zoe Schlanger discusses how the breakdown we're experiencing goes far beyond what was projected even by the models which have told us we should be doing far more. Bill McKibben points out the stark difference between Jimmy Carter's leadership and forward thinking as to the value of renewable energy, and the oil-fueled anti-science of Ronald Reagan which shut down any prospect of cleaner energy which wouldn't serve to enrich a small set of oil tycoons. David Roberts discusses the work of Greenlight America in seeking to organize people to support renewable projects. And Andrew Lam reports on new research showing a correlation between proximity to Alberta oil and gas infrastructure and respiratory and cardiovascular difficulties - while noting that the province has gone far out of its way to avoid accurately assessing the harms of fossil fuels.

- Peter Bloom examines the growing body of evidence showing that neoliberal "saviors" can't protect against the spread of authoritarianism - particularly as they seek to exacerbate the concentration of wealth and power. And Matthew Green and Joseph Gubbels discuss how Justin Trudeau's abandonment of electoral reform reflects his blinkered view of democracy as entitling people only to select which representatives of the elite will control them, while Christo Aivilis rightly argues that the NDP should be loudly committing to follow through where Trudeau broke his promise. 

- Nora Loreto writes about the concerted effort to infantilize younger adults in order to prevent the exercise of collective action. Miles Klee highlights how slurs which had long been treated as unacceptable are being revived as part of the alt-right's assault on human decency. And Rafael Behr writes that Kemi Badenoch is continuing the UK Cons' descent into conspiracy theory and fascist rhetoric.

- Finally, Katie Surma and Nicholas Kusnetz discuss Bolivia's long road to extricating itself from ISDS  corporate control agreements. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Alisha Haridasani Gupta discusses how the anti-mask movement has developed from a culture of toxic masculinity. And Umair Haque points out the economic and cultural factors that have resulted in the U.S. and the UK standing out among wealthy countries in their woeful response to the coronavirus pandemic.

- Meanwhile, Rosie Collington writes that COVID-19 has provided yet another example of the dangers of relying on the private sector to provide public goods and services, as the countries which have responded directly have fared far better. And Jade Guthrie questions why food banks which were set up as temporary relief decades ago are being leaned on more and more heavily to make up for the failure of governments to ensure a minimal standard of living for citizens.

- Gillian Slade reports on the fierce pushback against the Kenney UCP's plans to shift the costs of non-urgent medication to hospital patients. But David Climenhaga worries that the UCP's gross mismanagement of so many other issues (including COVID-19) is making it difficult for the erosion of universal health care to get the attention it deserves.

- Brian Callaci discusses how management-imposed technology has made life more difficult for workers both by replacing them directly, and by putting them under constant surveillance and stress.

- Finally, Bianca Mugyenyi writes that it's long past time for Canada to reconsider a foreign policy based on the interests of U.S. capital at the expense of human rights. And Rachel Aiello reports that the Trudeau Libs are once again putting off even the most basic of services for First Nations in Canada by delaying their promise to ensure safe water supplies.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Guy Dauncey makes the case that it's entirely possible - even if daunting - to meet the challenge posed by the climate crisis. But we need first to come to terms with the reality that emissions are still rising even as the need for drastic cuts becomes more painfully clear - and continued fossil fuel subsidies and oil industry jingoism aren't about to help matters.

- Grace Blakeley argues that UK Labour's election platform is both radical and credible.

- Rosa Marchitelli reports that one of the outcomes of an increased focus on speed in surgery has been more medical devices being left inside patients by rushed care providers.

- Finally, Stephen Kimber and John Kirk write about the Libs' selective indignation over human rights and democratic systems in Latin America (with a distinct bias in favour of right-wing dictators), while Judy Rebick laments Canada's lack of a meaninful response to the coup in Bolivia in particular. And Martin Lukacs discusses how the Libs have also chosen to whitewash the human rights abuses of Saudi Arabia in the name of profit.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Andrew MacLeod discusses how an anti-worker campaign at the Mountain Equipment Co-op demonstrates the need for employees to be able to bargain collectively without being subject to employer interference.

- Linda McQuaig writes about Doug Ford's plans to slash what's already Canada's lowest level of per-capita health care spending. And Katie Pedersen, Melissa Mancini and David Common report on the use of "trespass orders" by private care homes to prevent relatives from documenting or raising concerns about how seniors in care are being treated.

- Eric Reguly discusses how Denmark offers a role model in shifting from reliance on dirty energy to a sustainable economy. And Emma Jackson and Ian Hussey note that Alberta's phasing out of coal power also offers some valuable lessons.

- Finally, Alan MacLeod highlights the refusal of the corporate media to call out the fascist coup in Bolivia for what it is. And Doug Cuthand points out how the exile (and threat of politically-motivated prosecution) of Evo Morales fits into the wider repression of Indigenous peoples in South and Central America.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Dan Hancox discusses how both work demands and consumerist force are causing people to lose sleep. And Jodi Dean writes about the need for a sense of comradeship to counter the impossible expectation of self-reliance.

- Anand Giridharadas argues that the wealthy few are beginning to lose their grip over the U.S. And Grace Blakeley discusses the potential for transformative change arising out of UK Labour's plan for a just transition, while Owen Jones comments on the need to draw young voters out to the polls to cast ballots based on future hopes rather than past resentments. 

- David Climenhaga rightly criticizes the Kenney UCP for planning to steal teachers' retirement funds. Jason Markusoff calls out Kenney's strongman tactics while noting the dangerous signal it would send if Albertans allow him to get away with them. And Graham Thomson highlights the importance of the effective and independent electoral oversight which Kenney considers an intolerable danger to his plans to cling to power.

- Meanwhile, PressProgress points out the connections between the UCP and extreme separatist groups, while also exposing the attacks on homeless people from both right-wing politicians and business lobby groups in British Columbia.

- Finally, the Globe and Mail recognizes that the coup and purge in Bolivia couldn't be any less peaceful or democratic.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board writes that Canada needs to do its part to avert as much of the impending climate breakdown as can be avoided.

- Chris Kennedy rightly points out that Canada's responsibility includes the fossil fuels we're subsidizing for export - encouraging other countries to pollute our planet while shifting the damage off our own books. And Brennan Doherty offers a reminder that the tar sands' pollution levels are increasing.

- Meanwhile, Kate Aronoff comments on the connection between climate policy and resource extraction, while noting that there are severe limits on what can be accomplished merely by substituting the resources we churn through without changing the mindset of exploitation. And Derrick O'Keefe writes about the need to fight against Bolivia's racist coup.

- Finally, Andrew Woodcock reports on research showing that UK Labour's plan to nationalize water, energy and mail would pay for itself within a mere seven years.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Thomas Frank reviews Zephyr Teachout's Corruption in America, and finds there's even more reason to worry about gross wealth buying power than we could identify before:

We think of all the laws passed over the years to restrict money in politics — and of all the ways the money has flowed under and around those restrictions. And finally, it seems to me, we just gave up out of sheer exhaustion.

According to Teachout, however, it’s much worse than this. Our current Supreme Court, in Citizens United, “took that which had been named corrupt for over 200 years” — which is to say, gifts to politicians — “and renamed it legitimate.” Teachout does not exaggerate. Here is Justice Kennedy again, in the Citizens United decision: “The censorship we now confront is vast in its reach. The government has ‘muffle[d] the voices that best represent the most significant segments of the economy.’ ”

You read that right: The economy needs to be represented in democratic politics, or at least the economy’s “most significant segments,” whatever those are, and therefore corporate “speech,” meaning gifts, ought not to be censored. Corporations now possess the rights that the founders reserved for citizens, and as Teachout explains, what used to be called “corruption becomes democratic responsiveness.”

Let me pause here to take note of another recurring peculiarity in corruption literature: an eerie overlap between theory and practice. If you go back to that “censorship” quotation from Kennedy, you will notice he quotes someone else: his colleague Antonin Scalia, in an opinion from 2003. Google the quote and one place you’ll find it is in a book of Scalia’s opinions that was edited in 2004 by none other than the lobbyist Kevin Ring, an associate of Jack Abramoff who would later be convicted of corrupting public officials.

...

State governments subject to wealthy corporations? Check. Speculators in legislation, infesting the capital? They call it K Street. And that fancy Latin remark about Rome? They do say that of us today. Just turn on your TV sometime and let the cynicism flow.

And all of it has happened, Teachout admonishes, because the founders’ understanding of corruption has been methodically taken apart by a Supreme Court that cynically pretends to worship the founders’ every word. “We could lose our democracy in the process,” Teachout warns, a bit of hyperbole that maybe it’s time to start taking seriously.

- Matt O'Brien highlights Richard Reeves and Isabel Sawhill's research into the gross inequality of opportunity in the U.S. by comparing the income levels of college graduates from poor families to those of high-school dropouts from wealthy ones. And Patricia Kozicka reports that Edmonton schools are putting their thumbs on the scale against the poor even further - withholding such basic aspects of social participation as lunch breaks from students whose families can't afford extra fees.

- Meanwhile, Ellie Mae O'Hagan examines Bolivia's experience as an example of a more fair distribution of wealth leading to economic and social improvements:

According to a report by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, “Bolivia has grown much faster over the last eight years than in any period over the past three and a half decades.” The benefits of such growth have been felt by the Bolivian people: under Morales, poverty has declined by 25% and extreme poverty has declined by 43%; social spending has increased by more than 45%; the real minimum wage has increased by 87.7%; and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean has praised Bolivia for being “one of the few countries that has reduced inequality”. In this respect, the re-election of Morales is really very simple: people like to be economically secure – so if you reduce poverty, they’ll probably vote for you.

- Meanwhile, Tony Burman notes that ill-advised austerity is exacerbating the spread of ebola in all kinds of countries - including the ones who wrongly presumed they didn't need to prepare for it.

- Glen McGregor reports on how Canada's opposition parties are increasing their use of data analytics in the lead up to the 2015 election.

- But of course, changes in party voting will only translate into policy improvement if people are willing to demand that it be followed up with real change. On that front, Thomas Walkom challenges the opposition parties to make clear which of the Cons' destructive policies they'll reverse. And Jim Coyle's review of Michael Harris' Party of One reminds us why we need a new government to restore a commitment to democracy in the face of Stephen Harper's contempt for the idea.