Julien Daigneault is a member of Alternative Socialiste (ISA in Quebec). Bill 61 project unmasks austerity to come The nationalist and conservative government of François Legault has failed its legislative tour de force aiming to “restart” the Québec economy. It was unable to get its Bill 61 approved; a bill that aimed to give it […]
Continue Reading
The internet has become essential for almost all Canadians due to COVID-19. Suddenly, millions of workers are told to work from home, via the internet. Education is forced online, with teachers discovering that many students don’t have access to computers, laptops or even the internet. People need to go online to contact banks, essential services, […]
Continue Reading
The metaphors of war have been in abundance since the onset of COVID-19. In Britain, the Queen, in a speech, evoked the WW2 song, “We’ll Meet Again.” The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, also invoked WW2 when he used Winston Churchill’s words to talk about Italy’s “darkest hour.” Donald Trump has described himself as a […]
Continue Reading
Tony Wilsdon is a member of Socialist Alternative in the US. The Spectre of Deflation The collapse in oil prices in the second quarter of 2020 will be a further accelerator of the deepening world economic depression. The New York Times writes: “Just a few months ago, the American oil industry was triumphant in its […]
Continue Reading
Sonja Grusch is a member of Sozialistische LinksPartei (ISA in Austria). Nearly 70 years after its birth the EU seems to be in its biggest crisis ever. Former President of the EU-Commission, Jacques Delors, spoke back in March about a “deadly danger for the European Union.” This is expressed in the battle over resources such […]
Continue Reading
George Martin Fell Brown and Tony Gong are members of Socialist Alternative in the US. Is the Problem Neoliberalism or Capitalism? The current economic crisis may have been triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, but its roots lie in a deeper crisis of capitalism going back to the financial crash of 2008–9. This ongoing crisis lays […]
Continue Reading
Before COVID-19 had become the all-consuming news story it is today, the elites of world capitalism, under the name of the World Economic Forum, were meeting in January in Davos, Switzerland. According to the WEF pronouncements, the key issues facing capitalism, in the year ahead, would be that: 1) The global economy is under pressure, […]
Continue Reading
Katya Raetz and Marty Harrison are frontline health workers and ISA members. The figures for those infected and deceased are outdated as soon as they are reported. More than 3.5 million have been infected so far and about 240,000 have died (4 May). These figures are not reliable because standards differ between countries and testing […]
Continue Reading
Per-Åke Westerlund is a member of Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (ISA in Sweden). The world economy is in shock and paralysis The world economy is being shaken as never before. 2.7 billion workers around the world — 81% of the labour force — are under lockdown or travel bans. Hundreds of millions risk acute starvation. And yet, […]
Continue Reading
The path to remote teaching starts with cautious curiosity, goes through enraging frustration and ends with a tired, tenacious and uninspired slog. The Cautious Curiosity COVID-19 has shutdown physical K-12 classrooms across Canada. In BC spring break ended on March 30, not with a return to school but with teachers logging onto their computers to […]
Continue Reading