Economy | Pass it to the Left

Dec 10 2012

Activism, Commons, Communication, Community, Economy, Homelessness, Housing, Intersectionality, Knowledge, Local, Photography, Politics, Poverty, Social Change

The Gentrification Conundrum

by Sarah Allan with photographs by Tegan MacDonald

Gentrification is a huge source of conflict and debate, particularly in Vancouver B.C., where the city changes faster than anyone can keep up with. As a phenomenon, gentrification is not necessarily a negative or a positive thing for a city. Gentrification was defined in the 1960′s by sociologist Ruth Glass as involving the change of a working-class or vacant area of a city to a middle class residential and/or commercial use area. Despite this seemingly neutral definition, there are definitely winners and losers when gentrification occurs in a city; there are things that are lost forever, and things that are gained. Lately, I have been asking myself, and others, a few questions as we all struggle to find our place in this rapidly changing urban environment: Is it wrong to benefit from gentrification? Is there a way for gentrification to occur, without sacrificing the communities that already exist?

Photo by Tegan MacDonald

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Commons, Communication, Community, Economy, Homelessness, Housing, Intersectionality, Knowledge, Local, Photography, Politics, Poverty, Sarah Allan, Social Change, Tegan MacDonald

Oct 02 2012

Activism, Civil LIberties, Community, Crime, Democracy, Economy, Environment, Human Rights, Local, Media, Occupation, Parliament, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change

Protesting Stephen Harpers’ Vancouver Visit

By Marius Stoner

It was shortly after twelve and a brisk summer’s day when I arrived at the Pan Pacific Hotel where Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was scheduled to speak in a couple of hours. Already there were about a dozen people with signs and placards among the small crowd of mostly tourists that filled the circular, tree shaded benches along the road and a few people sat down in the area just in front of the doors to the Vancouver Convention Centre, the complex that housed the Pan Pacific.

Some video cameras on tripods were also apparent as other news organizations prepared to cover the event. At either side of the main doors were a pair of uniformed Vancouver Police officers in relflective vests. One of these pairs began to openly and actively photograph and videotape people as the crowd began to grow.

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Civil Liberties, Community, Crime, Democracy, Economy, Environment, Human Rights, Local, Media, Occupation, Parliament, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change

Jul 23 2012

Activism, Civil LIberties, Communication, Community, Culture, Democracy, Economy, Education, Equality, Human Rights, International, Local, Politics, Progress, Social Change

Open Letter from Chomsky, Shiva, Pilger, Santos, and 40 more..

Monday, July 23, 2012

The following self explanatory communication is being sent to many people and institutions.
Hello,

We the signers of the open letter from Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Boaventura de sousa Santos, John Pilger, and 40 other members of the interim decision body of the new International Organization for a Participatory Society, hope that you will republish our letter, and, even more, that you will publish commentary regarding the organization’s purpose, implications, prospects, etc.

Please reply to let us know your personal reaction, and whether you will be recirculating this, or perhaps taking some other related steps.

An Open Message to All Who Seek A New and Better World
We are members of what is called the the Interim Consultative Committee of the International Organization for a Participatory Society - or IOPS for short.

IOPS is actually an interim entity, pending a future founding convention. IOPS was convened just a few months ago and already has over 2,100 members from 85 countries and a ten language site, despite that it is barely known publicly. IOPS is currently building local chapters, which will unite to form national branches that in turn will compose an international organization.

We send this open letter to invite you to please visit the IOPS Site to examine its initial features – including especially and most importantly its Mission and Visionary and Programmatic Commitments.

The IOPS commitments emerged from a long process of discussion and debate. We believe they correspond closely to the most prevalent, advanced, and widely accessible political beliefs on which to build an organization for winning a better world.

We also hope and even believe that if you read and consider the IOPS commitments, you will likely find that they are congenial to your interests and desires and that they provide reason for great hope that IOPS can become a very important organization in the coming years.

If we had to summarize the IOPS commitments, we would note that they emphasize:

that IOPS focuses on cultural, kinship, political, economic, international, and ecological aims without a priori prioritizing any of these over the rest;
that IOPS advocates and elaborates key aspects of vision for a sustainable and peaceful world without sexism, heterosexism, racism, classism, and authoritarianism and with equity, justice, solidarity, diversity, and, in particular, self-management for all people
and that IOPS structurally and programmatically emphasizes planting the seeds of the future in the present, winning immediate gains on behalf of suffering constituencies in ways contributing to winning its long term aims as well, developing a caring and nurturing organization and movement, and welcoming and even fostering constructive dissent and diversity within that organization and movement and based on its commitments.

We think hundreds of thousands of people, in fact, millions of people, will, on reading the commitments, overwhelmingly agree with them. We hope that if you look at the commitments and feel that way, you will join and advocate that others join as well. If you instead have problems with the IOPS commitments, we hope you will make your concerns known so a productive discussion can ensue.

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Civil Liberties, Communication, Community, Culture, Democracy, Economy, Education, Equality, Human Rights, International, Local, Politics, Progress, Social Change

May 16 2012

Activism, Civil LIberties, Communication, Community, Culture, Economy, Environment, Equality, Human Rights, International, Non-Profit, Politics, Progress, Social Change

Paul Hawken on Ideology, Abolitionists, and a New Movement for our Future

by Tracy Giesz-Ramsay

Given the opportunity to hear environmentalist and author Paul Hawken speak, one would be hard pressed to leave without feeling equally hopeful and inspired about the future of humanity. Hawken is the author of “Blessed Unrest, How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming” and although a gentle speaker, his words vivaciously seize your attention and don’t let it go as he takes you on a phonetic tour through the histories of true grassroots movements, starting from the abolitionists in the 1700’s leading up to today’s smaller-scale, non-governmental organizations that are working for environmental and social justice. Hawken is the founder of wiserearth.org, a database of these NGOs that aims to present a platform of necessary issues that they collectively agree must be addressed in order to sustain and save our planet.

For Hawken, this historical journey and subsequent documentation began on his first book tour when people from non-profits kept handing him their organization’s business cards. Never getting rid of them, he found himself one day with literally thousands from all types of environmental and social justice organizations around the world. This led him to the realization that the social justice and human rights movements were really just different expressions of one movement that included the environmental movement.

He found there are currently around 2 million organizations with 100-200 million people working every single day towards preserving, and restoring some semblance of grace and justice to this world with what they do in their daily activity, affecting billions of people. As he states, it’s a massive network composed of: students, peasant workers, tribal villagers, doctors, engineers, mediators, peace makers, mothers, activists, immigrants, children, refugees, tree planters, poets, farmers, biologists, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists. It includes every culture, every tribe, and every language in the world today. And the notable thing is that this movement has no leader. We’re so accustomed to a movement or a revolution having a singular, often charismatic leader, and while there are certainly spokespeople all over the world, there is no defined leader.

What also distinguishes this movement from anything else that we’ve ever seen, is that it is not ideological. It is a movement of ideas and solutions; a movement of both trying to stop the harm and resist what’s going on by providing new ways of imagining this relationship between the two most complex systems there are, which are human culture and the earth’s living ecosystems.

Hawkens states that if you look back at the 19th century, you’ll see the birth of ideologies and isms. And then taking a look at the 20th century, you’ll see total war of these ideologies; one hundred and twenty million people died while the advocates of each ideology battled one another trying to figure out who was right.

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Civil Liberties, Communication, Community, Culture, Economy, Environment, Equality, Human Rights, International, Non-Profit, Politics, Progress, Social Change, Tracy Giesz-Ramsay

Apr 24 2012

Activism, Charity, Colonialism, Consumption, Economy, Environment, International, Knowledge, Non-Profit, Politics, Poverty, Sustainable Fashion

What is a ‘socially conscious’ product nowadays?

by Kate Patterson

It’s not very hard to look around any public place these days and point out several people wearing TOMS shoes. I am no stranger to the brand either, having owned several pairs for the last three or so years. But I recently reflected on just how big the TOMS phenomenon has become when it also dawned on me how annoyed I am that every day I get spam emails from them after purchasing a pair of their shoes online about three years ago. I eventually came to the realization that the TOMS brand might not be the miracle company that so many people are claiming it to be.

By now, most people have heard about TOMS and will have a general understanding of their business model. For every pair of shoes purchased in Canada, the US and other developed countries where they are sold, a pair of shoes is given to someone in a developing country that doesn’t have shoes. Blake Mycoskie founded the company in 2006 after he traveled to Argentina and allegedly saw severe economic disparities that he wanted to do something about. Seems like a pretty good idea right? I thought so too, at first. Not only do they make one feel good about the fifty or so dollars being spent on a pair, they are very comfortable, and recently have also become very fashionable.

The problem is that sometimes we in the developed world have a ‘whites in shining armor’ kind of attitude towards the developing world. It makes us feel better to make such a purchase, while at the same time allowing us to continue on with our consumption of consumer products. What is sometimes forgotten is that developing countries do have thriving local manufacturing and market economies that may actually be undermined by a flood of foreign aid. And in fact, TOMS creates the illusion that there are no shoes to be purchased in some of these countries when there often are shoes available through some very productive local markets. By intruding upon people in an attempt to save them from poverty, the incentive to produce is destroyed and local merchants are put out of business. When they go out of business, they can’t afford to buy shoes or other goods for their families, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty.

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Charity, Colonialism, Consumption, Economy, Environment, International, Kate Patterson, Knowledge, Non-Profit, Politics, Poverty, Sustainable Fashion

Mar 08 2012

Activism, Children, Consumption, Democracy, Economy, Human Rights, International, Knowledge, Legal, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change, War, Youth

Problem Reaction Solution – Kony 2012

by Dominique Silvan

I’m not usually a viral aficionado, but this particular 30-minute video was plastered all over Facebook and I couldn’t resist. I was wondering what the content of this fast-spreading buzz piece could be, and why so many of my friends were beginning controversial discussions about it.

[Author’s Note: I knew I would probably want to write a little bit about my insights after watching Kony 2012, but I had no idea I would be SO motivated. Please bear with the length of this article: I feel that without proper explanation, there would be leaps of logic and omissions of integral facts.]

Right away my heart was torn, witnessing the horrific reality of the situation that has transpired in central Africa, and indeed everywhere else it happens. I was moved to tears, grieving for the pain and fear these abducted children soldiers and sex slaves experience. Like everyone, I wondered how this had been allowed to happen and continue. Surely at this point in our history, despots who wage multi-decade wars of terror on civilian populations would be an international priority for removal.

About halfway through, I became aware of my emotions and how strongly this film was encouraging me to “fight against war” and resent this criminal, Joseph Kony. I took note of the format in which the film was presented to me, and the people and organizations involved. I noticed that the viewer were shown the problem – a very pressing and legitimate concern for all humans who know with every cell of their body that we are peaceful and loving beings by nature. I perceived my reaction with as much mindfulness as possible, noting a strong desire to express outrage, sorrow, and anger, and demand justice. Promptly, the filmmaker offered up a solution: force the issue into critical international attention so we can all demand that world policy makers commit to military action in Africa.

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Children, Consumption, Democracy, Dominique Silvan, Economy, Human Rights, International, Knowledge, Legal, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change, War, Youth

Mar 06 2012

Economy, International, Progress, Social Change

Year of the Water Dragon – A Review of Past and Present

by Dominique Silvan

We are now 2 months into 2012 AD, the year with the biggest hype in, well, 12 years. Y2K turned out to be either a sigh of relief or a groan of disappointment, depending on how one chose to see the situation. Our computers did not turn against us, our airplanes did not drop from the sky, and our infrastructure remained largely intact. Why was there so much anxiety, and why is it that we as a society and as a species seem addicted to doomsdays and fear?

If we take a look at how far we have come in the last 12 years, or even the last 100 years, there are several things to consider: how do we relate to each other, what are our planetary values, how has our global society grown, and are we finally prospering after struggling for so long? Continue reading →

Tagged Dominique Silvan, Economy, International, Progress, Social Change

Mar 05 2012

Commons, Community, Consumption, Culture, Economy, Knowledge, Local, Progress, Social Change

Are Humans Here to Give? Charles Eisenstein’s ‘Sacred Economics’

by Sarah Allan

Charles Eisenstein argues that human beings are here on Earth to give. He believes that the universe, and human life, run by the principles of the gift, reciprocity and community; and he endeavours to show us how the world economy could change to reflect these principles. Eisenstein, an authour and Yale graduate with a degree in the interesting combination of math and philosophy, gave a talk a while back entitled “Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition“, which incorporated ideas from his new book, ”The Ascent of Humanity“. His ideas where then incorporated into this film, available for free online (a gift!) directed by Ian MacKenzie:

Here’s what I understand Eisenstein’s theory of ‘Sacred Economics’ to look like….

Continue reading →

Tagged Commons, Community, Culture, Economy, Knowledge, Local, Progress, Sarah Allan, Social Change

Feb 29 2012

Community, Consumption, Crime, Economy, Environment, Health, International, Legal, Politics, Progress, Sustainability

Ecocide as an International Crime: Protecting Ecosystems by Law

by Tracy Giesz-Ramsay

What if, just as humans have a right to life, the earth – as a living, breathing entity – had a right to life as well? And what if just like genocide there was international law in place against the large-scale massacre of ecosystems? That is what UK lawyer and environmental activist Polly Higgins has been trying to bring to the table, dedicating her career to fighting for the addition of ‘ecocide’ to the four established Crimes Against Peace, punishable in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and recognized by the United Nations and the international community.

Although originally coined in the 1970s, the term ecocide was largely under the radar when, in Copenhagen, Higgins had been giving a talk on her proposal to the UN about a Universal Declaration of Earth Rights. She was questioned about creating a new language to deal with the massive, systematic destruction that humanity has committed against certain ecosystems. Right then and there, she said it was like a ‘light-bulb moment’ when she contemplated how this was “like genocide, except that it was to ecosystems” and should be considered an international crime with legislation in place prohibiting it.

Continue reading →

Tagged Community, Consumption, Crime, Economy, Environment, Health, International, Legal, Politics, Progress, Sustainability, Tracy Giesz-Ramsay

Feb 21 2012

Activism, Commons, Community, Culture, Economy, Equality, First Nations, Homelessness, Police and Security, Politics, Poverty, Social Change

Another Ninety-Five Theses on the Effect and Influence of the Woodward’s Redevelopment

by Melissa Fischer

Without your attention, dialogue surrounding the success and failure of the Woodward’s Redevelopment will continue to fade. Please speak of this issue with your colleagues and your peers, your family, your friends, and your neighbours, the guy standing next to you at the bus stop. Your words can rescue the project, help make it what Vancouver most needs it to be. Thus far, accountability has been evaded through endless complexities, but by whispering new life into what is quickly becoming a closed case, the potential for great change may not be lost.

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Commons, Community, Culture, Economy, Equality, First Nations, Homelessness, Melissa Fischer, Police and Security, Politics, Poverty, Social Change

Pass it to the Left

Tag Archives: Economy

What is a ‘socially conscious’ product nowadays?

Ecocide as an International Crime: Protecting Ecosystems by Law

Follow “Pass it to the Left”

Tag Archives: Economy

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Follow “Pass it to the Left”