The Prison Industry: Big Business using Inmate Labour

In America’s rush to gut out their government and privatize everything, some extremely troubling conflicts of interest are arising. The privatization of homeland security and the privatization of the prison system are two very good examples, where corporate management means that it is actually profitable to inflict suffering. Private companies running homeland security profit most […]

Free Water, not Free Market (Americans Use 1,500 Bottles Per Second)

The ‘free market’ doesn’t guarantee access to water (or to anything, for that matter).  Arguments that the private sector can better manage and distribute resources become very controversial when we’re talking about something that is so fundamentally vital to human life.  A lack of government protection opens the door for private companies, like Nestle, to […]

Hurricane Sandy and the Importance of ‘Blue Gold’

Hurricane Sandy killed over 100 people in the U.S.; over 40 in New York.  It devastated neighbourhoods in New York and New Jersey, shutting down the entire subway system for days.  At its peak, 8.5 million people were without power.  New York isn’t popularly considered a vulnerable target for tropical storms, but the increasing disruption […]

Down with the Ruling Class: The Quebec Student Strike

The Quebec Student Strikes were dismissed by the majority of Canadians as petty strife over tuition fees.  Outside of Quebec, not many people received or appreciated the messages that the students were sending with their impressive, massive and sustained collective action.  Considering the profundity and importance of their message, the popular dismissal of the strike […]