The Beaver and the Eagle: A 200-Year-Old Argument
The left case for an independent Canada.
38 Articles by: Leigh Phillips
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Leigh Phillips is a science writer and EU affairs journalist. He is the coauthor of The People's Republic of Walmart.
Social Democracy Without Workers on Canada’s West Coast
British Columbia’s social democrats, the New Democratic Party, have eked out a victory in the face of a right-wing populist surge that signals growing class dealignment. The party needs to win back its historic working-class base.
For and Against Climate Progress in the Atomic Garden
A new book opposing nuclear energy unintentionally highlights how 1970s opposition was a dead end for the Left. By examining contemporary arguments, it becomes clear that this historic stance has hindered climate progress and energy reliability.
Kohei Saito’s “Start From Scratch” Degrowth Communism
Kohei Saito’s degrowth rewrite of Marxist theory is not only incorrect — if taken seriously, it would lead to political disaster for both the socialist left and the environmental movement.
The West Is Sabotaging a Global Pandemic Treaty
International talks aimed at creating a treaty to prevent another COVID-19 catastrophe are nearing collapse. This impasse is due to the refusal of countries such as the US, Canada, and Germany to compromise on Big Pharma’s intellectual property rights.
Nolan’s Oppenheimer Shows Us the Grandeur and the Horror of Modernity
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is an evocative exploration of the contrasting dimensions of modernity. The film probes the potential horrors cast by advancing technology alongside the exhilarating heights of human achievement.
Scientists Don’t Say
From lab leaks to mask efficacy, the media enforcement of scientific consensus through a policing of which questions are acceptable to ask is itself unscientific.
Let’s Talk About the COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory
Whether COVID emerged from nature or from a laboratory leak is a legitimate debate. We still don’t have all the answers, but how that discussion was stifled bodes poorly for scientific inquiry.
Degrowth Is Not the Answer to Climate Change
Proponents of degrowth rightly argue that free market capitalism is threatening the planet. But pushing austerity on workers in either the Global South or the Global North is no way to achieve a just, sustainable future.
Are We at the Dawn of “Insulin Socialism”?
The high cost of insulin is one of the great injustices of the US health care system. But now, states like California are looking at directly manufacturing this essential medicine — a potentially massive win for both patients and left-wing politics.
Omicron: Panic or Dismiss? Mourn or Organize?
Some have responded to Omicron with despair at the possibility of ever exiting the pandemic. Others have dismissed the new variant, given preliminary data suggesting milder disease. How should the Left navigate the evolution of the virus amid such uncertainty?
We Need a Movement Against Vaccine Apartheid
Vaccine apartheid has built a giant variant factory that threatens us all — and it’s caused by private ownership of pharmaceutical production and the indifference of Western governments. We need a movement demanding an end to it.
We Don’t Need Elon Musk to Explore the Solar System
Elon Musk is right to dream of humanity’s future as a multi-planet species. However, the multigenerational, millennia-long project of space colonization will be a public-sector endeavor, or it will not happen.
Neoliberal State Failure Is Slowing Down Vaccine Distribution
Forty years of neoliberal hollowing out of state capacity is what’s responsible for Europe and Canada’s great failure to quickly vaccinate people.
Placing the Proud Boys on Canada’s Terrorism List Is a Threat to the Left
The far-right Proud Boys is an odious and reactionary force. But the Canadian government’s decision to designate them a “terrorist group” is an overreach that threatens the ability of progressives to organize themselves and protest injustice.
Thank Socialism for the Vaccine. Blame Capitalism for Its Distribution.
The jaw-dropping speed of COVID-19 vaccine development is a glorious marvel of science, cooperation, and economic planning. But the lifeboat ethics of vaccine rollout is a horrifying display of the cruelty of capitalism.
Thank Socialism for the Vaccine. Blame Capitalism for Its Distribution.
The jaw-dropping speed of COVID-19 vaccine development is a glorious marvel of science, cooperation, and economic planning — a glimpse of how much more an egalitarian world could produce and achieve. But the lifeboat ethics of vaccine rollout is a horrifying display of the inefficiency and cruelty of capitalism.
Tough on Anti-Vaxx Nonsense, Tough on the Causes of Anti-Vaxx Nonsense
Perhaps months away from the first COVID-19 vaccines, their effectiveness may be threatened by growing anti-vaccination sentiment in the Global North. The Left should brook no vaccine skepticism in its ranks, but we should also work to prevent the conditions that give rise to such irrationality in the first place.
We Need a World Government — But It Has to Be Democratic
The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged influential figures like Gordon Brown and Tony Blair to press for new structures of global governance. But the system they have in mind won’t be democratic. We need a radically democratic world government.
The Threat to Civil Liberties Goes Way Beyond “Cancel Culture”
The “cancel culture” debate is stale. But there are real threats to civil liberties in society today. The Left must claim the mantle of free speech, broaden its scope, and bring in the dimension of class.