COVID-19:The little virus that reawakened Anti-Asian Racism

On my way to work today, I was standing in a subway alcove, in a nearly deserted car. The scattered patrons were a motley crew of essential workers, some masked, some open faced. I don’t wear a mask while on transit (this was written before wearing masks was clearly good policy) – I am well, […]

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Synchronicity, Teaching and the struggle for an equitable education system

In 1983, The Police, recorded a song called “Synchronicity.”  Some of the lyrics: We know you, they know meExtrasensorySynchronicityA star fall, a phone call,It joins all,Synchronicity The word synchronicity generally has positive connotations and is briefly defined as a “meaningful coincidence.” Could it be a coincidence, meaningful or otherwise, that the Ontario Minister of Education […]

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Preventing A Northern Nightmare

Whether we like it or not, whether it’s safe or not, and whether we’re comfortable with it or not, Canada is beginning to reopen. After roughly two months of comprehensive social and economic shutdown, the provinces are loosening restrictions despite widely varying COVID-19 circumstances. Québec is reopening, including sending children back to school on May […]

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A Deadly Cocktail: COVID-19, Race, and Capitalism

Eljeer Hawkins is a member of Socialist Alternative in the US. In early March, the first known cases of COVID-19 began to emerge in the United States. It has taken the lives of over 75,000 people across the nation. The deadly combination of COVID-19 and the economic recession has led to a deep crisis for […]

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The Backlash Against Capitalism

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, […]

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Neoliberalism Causes “Social Murder” on a Global Scale

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 The figures for those infected and deceased are outdated as soon as they are reported.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 […]

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Capitalism: Eco-destruction and Plagues

Locusts and Fires   Raging fires in Australia and a plague of locusts in east Africa dominated global news at the start of 2020. These rapidly receded in consciousness as the COVID-19 pandemic erupted onto the world, already made dangerously vulnerable by capitalism. The climate devastation was mounting around the world. The world’s economy was […]

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Latin America: Plunged into COVID-19 Crisis

Alan Rivas is a member of Socialist Alternative in the US. From Lackluster to Calamitous “With bodies abandoned on sidewalks, slumped in wheelchairs, packed into cardboard coffins and stacked by the hundreds in morgues, it is clear that Ecuador has been devastated by the coronavirus.” New York Times 4/24/2020 The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic […]

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Nunavik: The time has come to take care of the people’s needs

Alexandra L is a member of Alternative Socialiste (ISA in Quebec). Nunavik, which comprises the northern third of Quebec, had 16 cases of COVID-19 by the end of April, of which 13 people have now recovered. Most of the cases, 14, were in the town of Puvirnituq. The northern communities have been concerned since the […]

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Passports to Repression

Canadian society is beginning to thaw from the COVID-19 induced deep freeze. Questions surrounding the reopening of businesses, schools, communities, and cities have shifted from when we will be able to do so, to how we are going to do it. Any conversation about completely “getting back to normal” depends on developing a vaccine – […]

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