In January Oxfam released a report which stated that “just 8 men own the same wealth as half the world”. This was seized on by the left to make points about income inequality, poverty and the excesses of modern capitalism. However, the 50 percent of the world’s poorest mentioned in the report do not live…
Universal Basic Income isn’t just a solution for the future, it’s a solution for now
Much has been written in the last few years about Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a solution to the coming wave of job automation. It has come to be seen by many as the only way to provide economic security in an age when job displacement is high and frequent. However, there is no good…
Basic Income Plus: A 21st century social safety net for everyone
Recently, the idea of a universal ‘basic income‘ has been popping up again. According to the Globe and Mail, Canada’s government is considering it as a way to fight poverty. In the United States, Silicon Valley types are embracing the idea and it seems to be growing in popularity, worldwide, among socialists and libertarians alike.…
Am I still a “progressive”? It depends on who you ask
I have always considered myself to be “progressive” but, over the last few years, I’ve become uncomfortable with the term. I am certainly in favour of progress but many “progressives” seem to have fashioned it into a hard and fast dogma from which there is no room for variation. Because human knowledge and circumstances are…
Time to Renegotiate the Social Contract
Conservatives have cobbled together a strange world view. They do not, largely, believe in biological evolution but they do believe in ‘social Darwinism’ (which Darwin himself did not). At a very basic level, the problem with ‘survival of the fittest’, as an ideology, is that it directly contradicts the basic principles that modern, western democracy…
Kids From the Slums of Cambodia Perform Gangnam Style [Video]
Taramana is an NGO that works with impoverished children in Cambodia. “Even if it is very important to respond to the despair of children and their families by providing them with immediate care and food, it is equally important for us to anchor our activities in the long-term as well. Educating children, teaching health education, helping…
Chances Are All of Your Problems are #FirstWorldProblems
The #FirstWorldProblems meme has always annoyed me, and it has hung around far longer than it should have. It is not that things like this aren’t first world problems, they definitely are: “I have to get dressed so that I don’t look too lazy when I go out to pay the gardener.” “I cant find the…
Chances Are All of Your Problems are #FirstWorldProblems
The #FirstWorldProblems meme has always annoyed me, and it has hung around far longer than it should have. It is not that things like this aren’t first world problems, they definitely are: “I have to get dressed so that I don’t look too lazy when I go out to pay the gardener.” “I cant find the…
Don’t Blink: Volcanos Reduce Global Warming, Pirate Bay Moves to N. Korea and Segregated Buses in Israel
Some things I read about today: Canada is in trouble with the United Nations over poverty again. Israel has introduced a segregated bus system after complaints from settlers. Election day in Kenya has been marred by violence. Two former finance bureaucrats have accused the Stephen Harper’s Tories of damaging the “integrity and credibility” of the…
Don’t Blink: Volcanos Reduce Global Warming, Pirate Bay Moves to N. Korea and Segregated Buses in Israel
Some things I read about today: Canada is in trouble with the United Nations over poverty again. Israel has introduced a segregated bus system after complaints from settlers. Election day in Kenya has been marred by violence. Two former finance bureaucrats have accused the Stephen Harper’s Tories of damaging the “integrity and credibility” of the…