July, 2009

I have been fascinated by government and politics since I was a very little girl. My parents often tell people that I had the ambition of being prime minister before most kids even knew that such a position existed! So I didn’t need a philosophy of politics or government to convince me that they were good things.

In the past two years since I came to CPJ, I’ve done a fair amount of reading that has demonstrated this is not a universal view among Christians. Most recently, I read Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, which I reviewed on this blog. In that blog post, I promised to do a follow-up post on the public justice view of government. I may have stretched the definition of “soon” just a little bit, but I am finally making good on my promise. Read more »

The week before last, I reviewed George Lakoff’s “Don’t Think of an Elephant! Know your values and frame the debate” but did not have enough time to explore in detail the moral frameworks that he explains in his book.

According to Lakoff, people have two basic frames of morality that they use to understand the world around them: the ‘strict father’ model and the ‘nurturant parent’ model. Read more »

Some feminists have an ambivalent relationship with Guaranteed Livable Income, but there is a group of Canadian feminists who have given a very unequivocal endorsement.

In 2004, 15 feminists from across the country gathered in Pictou, Nova Scotia for a two day dialogue on feminist economics. The gathering was convened by the journal Canadian Woman Studies, for a special issue they were preparing on the economy. Read more »

Last week, the Bank of Canada announced that the Canadian economy had begun to forecast positive growth – however slight – indicating the end of the recession.

This announcement surprised me, to say the least. Unemployment in Canada is still rising, record numbers of people are now on EI, and thousands more who cannot access it are struggling to make ends meet. Read more »

When we talk about extending EI to the self-employed: we’re not talking exclusively about people who have the freedom to make their own economic choices. We’re also talking about a very vulnerable population of Canadians. Read more »

I have been thinking lately as to how care for the environment can be lived out in our consumer-driven society, and what our society might look like if we did.

I find that for many people, knowledge about climate change – that driving cars and over-consuming is causing harm to the environment – is often not enough to change their lifestyle in order to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. What will then? Read more »

Recently, a friend and I had a conversation about work. He was lamenting an experience of work that is common among many people our age.

“It’s not fun, it’s not meaningful. You have to learn to survive it. You detach yourself, don’t take anything too personally. You don’t let it become your life. You make your life outside of work.” Read more »

Yesterday, I reviewed “Don’t think of an Elephant,” by George Lakoff. Lakoff argues that U.S. conservatives have had such success in the past in gaining public support for their agenda because they have used language and framing to appeal to peoples’ emotions.

I found that this understanding of voters as being driven by their emotions and not simply rational thought to be a compelling argument, and one worthy of exploring further. Read more »

Once in awhile, a book comes along that significantly changes your perspective on a subject.

I recently finished reading “Don’t think of an Elephant! Know your values and frame the debate” by American linguistics professor George Lakoff, and this little gem of a book has made me understand how politics and policies are communicated in a whole new way. Read more »

At the G8 meeting in Italy, it was agreed that the 32 most industrialized countries in the world will slash their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by the year 2050.

This announcement provoked a couple of thoughts for me.

If Canada succeeded in cutting its greenhouse gases by four-fifths in the next forty years, what would our society look like?

  Read more »

It’s summer. For a lot of people, summer is about relaxation; it is about new adventures and it is about fun.

Earlier this week, my five-year-old described his first day at day camp as “one of the best days in my world.” On day two, he played so hard he was asleep by 6:30. This morning, he wasn’t quite sure what the day would bring, but he had no doubt it would be fun.

I am excited that this summer, I too will have the opportunity for a new camp experience. Read more »

In May, supporters of Guaranteed Livable Income, or basic income, crowned 500 people kings and queens in Switzerland.

What do royalty have to do with basic income? Read more »

While Alaska is the only place in the world with an ongoing basic income program, they are not the only jurisdiction to have shown interest. Brazil actually has a law mandating the progressive institution of a basic income program.

The law was introduced by Senator Eduardo Suplicy of the Brazilian Workers’ Party in 2001. He had previously introduced a bill to create a Negative Income Tax model of a guaranteed livable income, but that bill failed to pass. This second bill called for a universal basic income program to be progressively instituted, beginning with those most in need. Read more »

There are those who believe that Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) is a nice idea, but an impossible dream. They don’t know Alaska.

Alaska has had a basic income program for years. Departing Governor and conservative icon Sarah Palin is a supporter of the program. Read more »

A couple of months ago, my brother-in-law introduced me to a new book, The Political Brain, by Drew Westen. He was enthusiastic about it, saying it would have to revolutionize the way progressives campaign. The human brain is wired in such a way that without appealing to emotion, progressives will always be fighting elections from behind. Read more »

“Before you even start, I want to ask you what your definition of poverty is. When people talk about poverty, I find they mean all kinds of different things. I want to know what you mean by poverty.”

A colleague and I were visiting a Member of Parliament to discuss the need for a poverty elimination strategy in Canada, and this is how he started the conversation. The MP was absolutely right that people mean different things when they talk about poverty – Canada has no official definition of poverty. There are a number of definitions and measures that are commonly but unofficially used for social policy discussions, but no formal agreement as to what we are seeking to eliminate in Canada. Read more »

Three weeks ago, Karri and I attended the Kairos Gathering in Waterloo (as avid readers of Ola! will remember). The Gathering focused on the theme of apocalypse, a rather apt premise for these times of economic and environmental crises. It was a good opportunity for learning, networking and worship. I’m a little late getting to this, but here are a couple of my thoughts from the week: Read more »

Today, the leaders of world’s eight most powerful industrialized countries meet in L'Aquila, Italy, to discuss a range of pressing global issues.While the focus of the meetings will likely be dominated by concerns about the current recession, it is crucial that this does not detract attention from the need to take decisive and sustained action on global poverty and climate change. Read more »

This week’s web feature looks at the question of whether or not policy-makers can determine the ability of people with disabilities to engage in paid employment. Under our current conditional system of income support, obtaining the approval of bureaucrats is necessary to receive disability income support.

I focused mostly on the nature of disabilities themselves, but Michael asked a very good question about process. I’ll repost my answer here, but I also want to touch on another related issue, that of obtaining a diagnosis. Read more »

CBC News has a great article on paying taxes, by Robert Smol. Smol points out that in business, everyone knows that the best-quality goods and services come at a cost, yet this rule doesn’t get applied to government services. Read more »

I’ve spent the last few days doing research on affordable housing, and a couple of recent initiatives have caught my eye that I wanted to share. Read more »