Shares of the Week: The Capitalism is a Trailer Park Edition

Happy 20th Birthday, Trailer Park Boys - Aaron Giovannone, Jacobin (July 25, 2021)
Trailer Park Boys is an effective commentary on class, community, and in a way, capitalism, disguised as a raunchy comedy that continues to endear many Canadians and people around the world - especially my girlfriend, who brought this story to my attention. The characters Corey and Trevor, for example, best represent the trope that working hard is all you need to rise to the top, when in reality, you are just continually being used by those firmly in place above you.

What Canada can learn from Sweden about creating middle-class retail jobs - Sean O'Brady, The Conversation (July 18, 2021)
There was a time when we used to treat workers with dignity and respect. And then the neoliberal race to the bottom in the pursuit of infinite profit growth came in and turned humans into disposable commodities. Workers deserve better and it’s not too late to reverse course, using proven methods to return power to workers. Or we could recognize the importance that supermarkets have to the public good and nationalize them.

Judge rules in favour of media in Fairy Creek court fight with RCMP - Cloe Logan, National Observer (July 20, 2021)
Once again the police are shown to be acting to suppress free speech by restricting press freedom in the interests of private industry, dispelling any doubt about who they work for. I think its time we force all police to not only wear body cameras but to have media crews documenting their every move, for transparency and in the interest of the public they are supposed to be working for. They have nothing to hide, right?

Europe Is Planning a Border Carbon Tax. Is Canada Next? - Michelle Gamage, The Tyee (July 23, 2021)
If we want to put Canadian companies first, prevent carbon offshoring, and maintain our economic ability to effectively fight climate change, we must implement a carbon tariff at the border.

‘It’s 2021, it’s not 1950:’ Women politicians in N.S. show support for Robyn Ingraham - Alicia Draus, Global News (July 23, 2021)
How woke and feminist of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, led by a man with multiple DUIs, to have such morally-pure expectations of how a woman should behave in her private life. Meanwhile, here in Saskatchewan, our premier killed someone with his truck, while multiple members on both sides of the aisle in the Saskatchewan government have DUI records. In the age of the internet and hyper-partisanship, cancel culture is going to cut out a good portion of good people while letting the same old white men run the show.

Revealed: leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon - Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Paul Lewis, David Pegg, Sam Cutler, Nina Lakhani, and Michael Safi, The Guardian (July 18, 2021)
This developing story about the global spy ring that has targeted presidents, politicians, human rights activists, journalists, and more, just goes to show how dangerous technology can easily fall into the hands of bad actors.

Can the Left do rhetoric better? - Sandy Hudson and Nora Loreto, Sandy and Nora (Podcast), July 20, 2021
I’ve come to enjoy this podcast from these two brilliant activists, musicians, and writers. In this edition they discuss how the left could do rhetoric better, in addition to some light evidence-destroying police in Ontario and the forced-resignation of a BCCLA employee who justifiably called for the burning down of our capitalist system.

Toronto 'Solves' Poverty Through Force - David Doel, The Rational National (YouTube) (July 21, 2021)
Dozens of police moved to forcibly evict 14-17 people experiencing homelessness from a Toronto park. This state-sanctioned violence on society’s most vulnerable people is happening in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Isn’t capitalism great? Read more: Toronto Cops Say They Did 'Tremendous Job' After Beating People, Destroying Homeless Camp