The first Social Impact Bond (SIB) to be tested in New York City has failed to deliver on its promises. The program the Bond was invested in, saw millions of dollars spent counseling youth in prison with the goal of reducing their chances of re-offending.
The labour dispute at the Halifax Chronicle Herald has again raised important questions of maintaining inter-generational solidarity. There are no easy solutions to the problems of the Herald as they are the result of economic models of publishing that are no longer sustainable (if they ever were). Unfortunately, the owners and managers of the Herald seem to think that this crisis is a good opportunity to target workers instead of finding a progressive solution that can work for the industry in the long-term.
We have greatly enjoyed writing What's Left each week this year. We are grateful to you all for the words of encouragement and solidarity (and constructive criticism/corrections) received every week. This has helped to improve the newsletter and keeps us going.
It won't come as a surprise that capitalist think-tanks are putting forward a vision of work that should trouble anyone who works for a living. Groups such as the Policy Network and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) promote future dystopia for workers where the nature of our work is perpetually precarious, privatized, and fully market-driven. It is a vision where robots, computer programs, and artificial intelligence replace all of the world's jobs that defined and established today's affluent worker.
It won't come as a surprise that capitalist think-tanks are putting forward a vision of work that should trouble anyone who works for a living. Groups such as the Policy Network and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) promote future dystopia for workers where the nature of our work is perpetually precarious, privatized, and fully market-driven. It is a vision where robots, computer programs, and artificial intelligence replace all of the world's jobs that defined and established today's affluent worker.
Rarely do you come across fiction for young readers where the backdrop is a labour dispute, let alone one as harsh and violent as the 1931 dressmakers' strike in Toronto. In 44 hours or strike! (Second Story Press, 2015), Anne Dublin has us follow two young Jewish sisters whose struggle ends up taking place as much within themselves as it does in the cold streets of Hogtown.
Imagining a better world is an important exercise for the left. Envisioning what a better future on Earth could look like for all peoples is, in many ways, an essential step in developing a political and social program to get there.
As a writer and blogger for the Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates was alreadywell-known as a public voice in support of the Black Lives Mattermovement, having written on issues of race and social policy for many years.
While we do not do predictions here at Citizens' Press, it seems there are some themes that have come out of 2015. Reflecting on this over the break lead to some thoughts on how these themes may continue in 2016. To this end, here are some ideas of where the battle fronts could be in 2016 and where I will be focusing – at least until something unexpected comes along.
'Early in 2014, a truck understood to belong to the Turkish intelligence service (MIT) was stopped near the Syrian border. The gendarmerie and the intelligence officials in control of the convoy pulled guns on each other. … The truck was held for a while, but following the intervention of government officials a safe passage into Syria was granted. … It was clearly visible that the truck was loaded with arms.'
