Shares of the Week: The I Can't Wait for Summer Edition
Sunny Skies Ahead
The price of solar electricity has dropped 89% in 10 years - As we continue to invest in the harnessing of the sun’s energy, the easier it will be for our society to move away from unsustainable, non-renewable, and polluting energy sources like coal which have enormous external costs that we all will be paying for generations to come.
Canada uniquely positioned to hit net-zero emissions in 2050 if it makes right moves now: report - Canada could be a leader in humanity's transition to a green economy but only if we can gather the courage to do so.
Bridging the Gap
Nearly half of adult Canadians struggle with literacy — and that's bad for the economy - This is absolutely shameful for any country but especially for one that has enough wealth to ensure everyone is educated to their fullest potential. If we want to maintain our standard of living and also ensure democracy doesn’t fall apart with the help of the anti-intellectual, conspiracy theorists on the far-right, we better ensure every Canadian not only has the opportunity to gain a quality education but that there is a path to a meaningful career using that education, whether it serves a community need or a market need.
Canadians’ wealth is tied to their parents’ more than ever, StatCan finds - When anyone suggests they are self-made and deserving of all the wealth they supposedly created, there is usually a crucial step they have forgotten and it is the privilege that led them to be in a position to extract and hoard that wealth in the first place. The reality is, no one is self-made and it takes a combination of luck, exploitation, and public infrastructure that far exceeds any personal ingenuity and grit to allow someone to become extremely wealthy. If climbing the proverbial social ladder continues to get difficult, we’re going to start seeing ladders turn into weapons, as we are seeing happen in the United States.
Pipe Dreams
Saskatchewan judge rules university must give professor oil and gas research info - What is the oil industry trying to hide and why are our public institutions trying to help them? From this story to Regina city councilor Dan LeBlanc getting cancelled for hurting the oil industry’s feelings to the government of Alberta spending millions of taxpayer dollars to fight against what it calls disinformation from environmentalists, this is not good for our future or for democracy in general.
Shell says its oil production has peaked and will fall every year - If Shell can admit this, then why can’t Jason Kenney, Scott Moe, or Erin O’Toole? Perhaps they can’t read the tea leaves with their heads so far up the asses of the oil and gas companies that fund their parties. I feel for the workers of these companies but continuing to lie to them about the industry’s future and how it relates to the human-made climate crisis is not helping any them. Shell has a duty to its shareholders much like our politicians have a duty to voters, though most of these politicians are confused with who they are supposed to represent.
Bonus: Why GM's switch to electric vehicles may be more important for the oilpatch than Keystone XL's cancellation - There is no turning back, now that the company that purposed killed the electric vehicle in the 90s is on board.
The fall of Jason Kenney - The man from Ontario came a long way to become the person who is driving Alberta into the ground today. Hopefully there’s something left in two years when Albertans get the opportunity to stop the bleeding.
Corporate Irresponsibility
Walmart selling beef from firm linked to Amazon deforestation - After working for a company that built control systems for beef producer JBS and actually being on site at one of their feedlots in Colorado, it would not surprise me in the least that they would stop at nothing in their pursuit of profits in the low-margin industry.
Big Telecom lobbies Ottawa twice a day - With how much lobbying telecoms are doing, is it any surprise that we have three giant companies controlling almost every aspect of modern communications and entertainment in Canada, resulting in bloated, expensive, uncompetitive, and subpar products and services when compared with every single other first world country? Canadians need to start demanding better and before our regulatory systems aren't fully captured by industry, because the future of our country depends on it.
DoorDash Spent $5.5 Million To Advertise Their $1 Million Charity Donation - Another day, another shitty corporation is treating both their workers and their customers like trash, while masquerading a marketing campaign as charity, and cheapening the image of a beloved childhood franchise at the same time.
Corporate charity can come at expense of workers’ wages - Since revenue growth is a corporation’s number one goal, it makes sense that giving to charity would come with a disadvantage to worker wages, which begs the question, why are we relying on corporations to do anything meaningful for our communities?
The Cult of Ignorance
Teaching Children To Fear Hell Is Psychological Abuse - Indoctrinating young children into any kind of irrational belief system is bad enough but teaching them that they are doomed to being tortured in fire for eternity if they are being "bad", as I was taught as a child, is absolutely psychological abuse. Religion aside, just don’t be an asshole to your kids. And if you are a parent who did this, please consider apologizing to your children for being an asshole. There’s nothing wrong with admitting you were wrong.
