This Will Be Our Year Took A Long Time To Come
The Thorn on Thursdays | Dec 31 2020
The warmth of your love's
Like the warmth from the sun
And this will be our year
Took a long time to come…
As we prepare to say goodbye to 2020 and welcome 2021, we’re looking forward to the vaccine rollouts that will drive down the pandemic and allow us to resume less physically-distanced lives.
Though currently operating as a newsletter with volunteer contributors, The Thorn is hoping to expand into a full publication in the first half of 2021. The Thorn is looking for contributors, and will be launching a fundraising campaign in the run up to the launch of our full publication. We currently cover Vancouver news, as well as provincial, federal and international news, from a socialist perspective. If you like what we’re doing, please spread the word!
Notable 2020 deaths
The end of the year is a time to look back on some of those inspiring figures who we lost over the preceding twelve months. A more comprehensive list of figures we lost this year can be found in the Bless Me Now With Your Fierce Tears thread on the rabble.ca discussion boards.
Bill Withers, March 30, 2020 (aged 81). Bill Withers was an African American soul singer-songwriter who achieved fame in the 1970s. His best known hits include Lean on Me and Ain’t No Sunshine When He’s Gone.
Mel Watkins, April 2, 2020 (aged 87). Mel Watkins was a Canadian economist and activist, and a professor emeritus of economics and political science at the University of Toronto. He was a founding member of the Waffle current in the NDP, which in 1969 issued a Manifesto for an Independent Socialist Canada. The Waffle was expelled from the NDP in 1971, though its members were allowed to remain in the party.
Shirley Douglas, April 5, 2020 (aged 86). Shirley Douglas was an actress and activist, and the daughter of former Saskatchewan Premier and NDP leader Tommy Douglas. Shirley’s activism spanned such diverse issues as civil rights, nuclear disarmament, and health care.
John Prine, April 7, 2020 (aged 73). John Prine was a highly acclaimed U.S. country folk singer-songwriter who came to prominence in the 1970s.
Little Richard, May 9, 2020 (aged 87). Little Richard was a wildly flamboyant pianist and singer-songwriter who was one of the seminal figures of 1950s Rock n’ Roll. Some of his biggest hits include Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Keep a Knockin’, and Good Golly Miss Molly.
Jerry Stiller, May 11, 2020 (aged 92). Jerry Stiller was an actor whose most acclaimed role was as Frank Costanza, the highly-emotive father of George Costanza on the popular 1990s sitcom Seinfeld.
Michael Brooks, July 20, 2020 (aged 37). A shocking premature death that represents a huge loss for the left media ecosystem in the U.S. and globally. Michael Brooks was the host of The Michael Brooks Show, as well as a writer, co-host of The Majority Report with Sam Seder, and a founding member of Jacobin Magazine. Michael was a great admirer of former Brazillian President Lula Da Silva, and he believed in building a left that practices internationalism and fights to win.
Chadwick Boseman, August 28, 2020 (aged 43). Chadwick Boseman is an African-American actor who portrayed both Jackie Robinson AND James Brown, in addition to his memorable turn in Black Panther.
Toots Hibbert, September 11, 2020 (aged 77). Toots Hibbert was a beloved Jamaican singer-songwriter and frontman for the band Toots & The Maytals. Toots & The Maytals are second only to Bob Marley & The Wailers in terms of popular Jamaican musical acts. Though Toots is credited with coining the term reggae to describe the new musical style that began emanating from Jamaica in the early 1970s, his musical style owes just as much to the southern soul of the likes of Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. Some of his most well known songs include Bam! Bam!, 54-46 Was My Number, Sweet and Dandy, Pressure Drop, Monkey Man; and Country Road, a killer reggae cover of Country Roads by John Denver. Toots continued performing and releasing new material almost until the end.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (RBG), September 18, 2020 (aged 87). RBG was a U.S. Supreme Court justice appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Ginsberg was one of the first women to receive a law degree from Harvard University. In the 1970s, Ginsberg launched successful Supreme Court challenges against several laws that discriminated against women. As a Supreme Court Justice, RBG was famous for her dissenting opinions on a court that mostly issued conservative majority rulings.
Eddie Van Halen, October 6, 2020. Eddie Van Halen was the founder and guitarist of the hard rock band Van Halen. One of the most popular musical acts of the 1980s, Van Halen released 12 studio albums between 1978 and 2012, two live albums, two compilation albums, and dozens of singles and music videos. Eddie is widely held up as the second greatest electric guitar player of all time (after Jimi Hendrix), and was the leading exponent of the style of electric guitar playing known as finger tapping.
Helen Reddy, October 29, 2020. Reddy was an Australian-American singer, songwriter, author, actress and activist. She wrote and sang the definitive feminist anthem of the 1970s, “I am Woman”.
Robert Fisk, October 30, 2020 (74). Fisk was a veteran UK foreign correspondent, and a former UN Special Envoy to Palestine. Fisk was a critic both of U.S. foreign policy and of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people.
Alex Trebek, November 8, 2020 (aged 80). Alex Trebek was the beloved Canadian-born host of the popular television quiz show Jeopardy! for 37 seasons from the program’s revival in 1984 until his death.
Leo Panitch, December 19, 2020 (aged 75). Panitch was a distinguished research professor at York University and co-editor of the Socialist Register. Panitch saw the Register as playing a major role in advancing a democratic, co-operative and egalitarian socialist alternative to capitalist competition. He authored nine books including Working-Class Politics in Crisis: Essays on Labour and the State (1986), The End of Parliamentary Socialism: From New Left to New Labour (2001) and Renewing Socialism: Transforming Democracy, Strategy and Imagination (2008).
What this pandemic has taught us
This was a year of challenging lows and significant highs when it came to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The lows include many infections (cases) and long-haul illness due to the virus, and many Covid-19 deaths (the deadly disease that can result from the virus). Scientific breakthroughs like rapid diagnostic testing, vaccines and world-wide scientific collaboration mark the highs this year battling this virus.
To keep the virus at bay we have been staying home (a lot more!) and learning how to be physically distant when we are out and about. Two meters has never been so measured-out in the history of humankind – everywhere! We have heard a lot (too much?) about hand hygiene to last many lifetimes. We know that viral transmission can be reduced with mask wearing, frequent hand washing and physical distancing. Many lessons have been learned this year and most of us are ‘armed to the teeth’ with this knowledge. But lessons learned from this pandemic have been hard won and continue to evolve. Physical distancing can be one of the hardest behaviors to change as we adjust to new ways of being with family and friends. Communicating with hugs and kisses seems like a relic from the past and finding new ways of being close to extended family and friends remains one of the most challenging behavioral changes required this year.
Flu viruses circulate each year among us and up to 4,000 Canadians die every year from ‘the flu’. Flu vaccines reduce the burden of disease associated with the yearly virus strains, yet only a small number of Canadians get the flu vaccine annually. More Canadians are getting flu vaccines but this very safe vaccine is still not taken by most Canadians – 42% got vaccinated in 2019 and 38% in 2018. Recent studies have shown that the vaccine will help to reduce the burden of infection and decrease the risk of transmission. Vaccines just make sense. We are hopeful that in 2020 up to 80% of Canadians will get vaccinated and with this broad immunity the pandemic will subside. The Thorn is pleased that we can ring in 2021 with BC health care workers and long-term care residents being vaccinated.
In terms of the government responses to this health crisis, the federal government responses to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic that are noteworthy include the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the new Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB); along with the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS - which was recently extended until June 2021). Positive provincial responses to the pandemic include a rent increase freeze (until July 10, 2021), the BC Seniors Crisis Supplement, new job-protected leave due to a Covid infection and the recently announced BC Recovery Benefit. The people of BC must continue to urgently challenge both the provincial and federal government to step-up with financial support (and no rent increases or evictions!) as we move into 2021 with the pandemic still in full force.
While we support these government initiatives, we must always remember that it was the nurses, teachers, doctors, cleaning staff and transit and food workers (to name just a few essential workers) who have led with bravery and conviction. The work of front-line health workers must be honored with better working conditions and wages. ‘The conditions of work are the conditions of care’ – in particular for health care workers and residents of long-term care. We must urgently tackle the clear and urgent inequity of how the virus impacts people of color, those with less financial means and the elderly – particularly those elders that live in long-term or residential facilities.
In a final note on this pandemic year, in Vancouver community support groups sprung up to help those in need. The Covid-19 Coming Together (Vancouver) Group - a public Facebook group of 33,000 – is just one example of how community coming together remains a revolutionary act. This Coming Together group reminds us of how we are all interconnected and challenges us to look closer at how our neighborhoods function and support us, and encourages us to experience our neighborhoods in new and innovative ways.
Our daily business has been stilled (and stifled) by this pandemic and in these moments, we can begin to reimage our collective future in 2021 and beyond. Recovering from this pandemic requires a revisioning and rebuilding of how we live and work in our communities. Many of the tragedies of this pandemic remain hidden as many of us struggle in silence.
This pandemic has shown the strength of our communities as thousands of people in Vancouver (and around the world) came out to help others. We have re-discovered nature and being outdoors, gardening, long walks with friends, and buying locally. Our usual ways of being, knowing and doing are irrevocably changed and we have a profound opportunity, as socialists, environmentalists, and anti-capitalists, to connect the dots in new and innovative ways, raising radical and provocative questions about health care equity and justice.
It is not inevitable that we can end this pandemic. However, what is clear is our responsibility to remember what got us here (e.g. climate change and late-stage capitalism) and to challenge old ways of thinking about how we live and work in our communities.
Silver linings from 2020
Despite being a year dominated by the Coronavirus pandemic, 2020 still saw a number of silver linings. Here’s a run down of some of the non-pandemic related good news stories of 2020.
Following a February 7, 2020 RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory in support of Coastal Gaslink Pipeline construction, and the arrest of a handful of members of the Wet’suwet’en nation who were attempting to block construction work on the pipeline, solidarity protests erupted across the country. These included marches and rallies of several hundreds and in some cases thousands of people in communities across the country, a blockade of the Port of Vancouver over multiple days, and Indigenous rail blockades in several locations across the country under the banner of “Shut Down Canada.” Some of the rail blockades lasted for the better part of a month.
Despite ultimately losing the 2020 U.S. Democratic Presidential primaries, self-described democratic socialist Bernie Sanders managed to win the most votes in the first three states in the primaries (Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada). This in a country where socialism was not anywhere on the mainstream radar prior to Sanders’ previous bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016.
Following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police in early May, millions of people in the U.S. and around the world took to the streets in protest of police brutality, and to call for defunding police. This led arguably to the biggest shift in mass consciousness around issues of race since the 1960s.
In the spring of 2020, a group of socialists in Vancouver launched a new socialist organization called the Democratic Socialists of Vancouver. The group has been holding monthly public meetings since July (online since September due to high Covid case numbers), and is welcoming new members.
In July, Vancouver City Council voted unanimously in favor of a motion from Councillor Jean Swanson to “de-prioritize policing as a response to mental health, sex work, homelessness, and substance use and to prioritize funding community-led harm reduction and safety initiatives in these areas.” The motion included a directive to city staff to consult with several community and non-profit organizations on how best to initiate the community-led harm reduction and safety initiatives.
Self-identified ecosocialist Dimitri Lascaris came close to winning the Green Party of Canada leadership race. In voting held online between September 26 and October 3, Lascaris received 5,768 first round votes, coming in second behind eventual winner Annamie Paul with 6,242 votes. Final round results had Lascaris with 10,081 votes, only 2,009 votes behind Annamie Paul at 12,090 votes. Lascaris is widely believed to have signed up the most new members during the leadership race. Both Lascaris and Meryam Haddad, the other openly ecosocialist candidate in the race, successfully fended off attempts from the executive of the party to block their candidacies and keep them off the ballot. Lascaris says that he intends to stay in the Green Party and continue to fight for ecosocialism within it.
In an election held October 18, 2020, Bolivians in their majority voted to make Luis Arce, Presidential candidate for the Movimiento El Socialismo (MAS) Party, the next President of Bolivia. Evo Morales, the previous democratically-elected President of Bolivia (also from the MAS party), was ousted in a coup in November 2019. A mass popular uprising forced the highly unpopular coup government of President Jeanine Añez to hold a new election. Mass popular pressure also forced Añez to withdraw her candidacy from the election.
In the B.C. provincial election, held on October 22, 2020, the BC NDP managed to win a sizable majority in the legislature. (The BC NDP came second in the seat count in the 2017 election, but managed to govern as a minority with the support of the three BC Green Party members of the legislature). The NDP increased their seat count from 41 to 57 seats, while the BC Liberals fell from 41 to 28 seats.
In a plebiscite held on October 25, 2020, the Chilean people voted to elect a constitutional convention to draft a new constitution for the country. This result is a repudiation of the heavily neo-liberal constitution that was brought in during the Pinochet dictatorship.
In the U.S. election, held on November 3, 2020, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden defeated Republican U.S. President Donald Trump by over 4 million votes. Biden managed to flip several states that Trump won in 2016 (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin).
The U.S. election also saw a record number of openly socialist candidates elected to various legislative bodies at every level of government. (List of Democratic Socialists of America members who have held office in the United States.)
In November, the Vancouver Tenants Union declared victory in their campaign to get a settlement from PortLiving for Nelia Guevarra and her husband Wilfredo, whom PortLiving was evicting from their apartment at Broadway and Carolina. Tenants Union activists blocked PortLiving from enforcing the September 30 eviction date for the couple, eventually forcing PortLiving to agree to an extension of their eviction date, plus a $250 “rent bridge” to help them afford an apartment on Main st. near 50th Ave.
In December, Vancouver City Council resisted the lobbying efforts of the Vancouver Police Department and its allies for a $6.5 Million 2% increase to the police budget, and instead passed a 2021 City of Vancouver budget that keeps the Police budget at 2020 levels. The budget also included $300,000 in funding that city staff say they need in order to consult with community and non-profit groups as outlined in Jean Swanson’s motion from July. Also in December, the Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to ask the federal government to grant them the power to decriminalize all street drugs.
Ten things we are excited to get back to Post Pandemic
Vancouver is a beautiful and bustling city inside and out, but many of its best attractions and activities have been put on hold or altered during the current global health crisis. Here’s our lighthearted list of the top ten activities we can’t wait to get back to!
1. Hiking the Chief and sitting on top of the world
The Stawamus Chief which overlooks Squamish and the sea to sky corridor has been closed to hikers since last March, with guards posted at the trailhead to turn away hopeful hikers. We can’t wait to see the trail reopen as soon as it is possible to do so safely.
2. Spending a day in Van Dusen Gardens
These beautiful gardens were closed for a while this year when cases of the virus were on the rise. Luckily, the gardens are most beautiful in the summer, so we didn’t miss much while they were closed this autumn. Here’s hoping that this year’s spring season in the gardens is just as beautiful- and spacious- as it was in 2019!
3. Taking a Leisurely stroll through Granville Island’s Public Market
Though the marketplace is currently open for business, if you head there on a weekend you may be faced with a dauntingly long lineup. Since meandering through densely populated public spaces has recently lost the majority of its charm, the Granville Island experience might be more nerve wracking than charming these days. We’re looking forward to getting back to browsing and perusing casually- in peace!
4. Popping in to the Bloedel Conservatory for a 30-minute tropical vacation
This beautiful tropical paradise sits under a dome on top of a small mountain that overlooks the entire city. What could be more peaceful? There was a time when a stroll through Queen Elizabeth gardens could easily end with a visit to the conservatory, but times have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now necessary to book tickets ahead of time and show up for a specific slot. We’re looking forward to returning to a more casual, walk-in approach to visiting this beautiful and iconic space.
5. Perusing Riley Park Farmers Market
This resilient market has been going through the pandemic and through the winter! Things have changed however, and the movement of patrons between vendors has been significantly curtailed. The market is now divided into four zones, each with its own (short) lineup to get in. Free samples (arguably the best part of the market) have been temporarily banned, and many regular vendors have chosen not to set up shop during the pandemic due to safety concerns. We’re excited to see this market bounce back to its former splendour in the new year!
6. Attending a performance by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
The list of cancelled performances on the VSO website is long, but the inability to host in-person events has inspired a wave of digital performances that have been ongoing throughout the pandemic. The players are excited to get their live audiences back, and we’re excited to return to the Orpheum and hear them as soon as it is safe to do so!
7. Heading up Grouse Mountain to take on the slopes
It came as a bit of a shock for late-season skiers last year when the hill closed down and sent everyone home in the middle of a ski day. There’s a lot of hill days to make up for this winter season. Though the hill is currently open, there are many would-be downhillers who may be hesitant to head up the lift when daily Covid cases are still in the 500+ range… especially when many of those hill-goers would have to take public transit to get there and back. We’re looking forward to indulging in some snowy athleticism without the fear of contracting a potentially deadly virus in the process.
8. Kicking back on Wreck Beach
The ultimate Vancouver summer activity- spending a day lounging in the sun, meeting new folks, and watching the sun set over the open ocean. The beach was open all summer and inebriated beach goers got a little too close for comfort during Friday night mosh pits and Saturday bonfires. It was hard to spend time on the beach without feeling a little wigged out by the density of the crowd and the cavalier attitude that many beachgoers seemed to have towards the pandemic situation. We’re looking forward to descending the famous staircase without fear of being shoulder-to-shoulder with panting, sweating people from outside our bubbles.
9. Bar hopping in Gastown
This (supposedly) historical district of Vancouver was once the go-to place for tasty eateries, interesting sights, and unique bars. The numerous hidden, intimate venues offered a perfect spot for bar hopping, catching up with old friends, and meeting new ones along the way. Unfortunately, bar hopping has become a significantly less appealing activity during this global health crisis. Going to one bar is sketchy enough; going to more than one per night is simply reckless. We’re looking forward to hitting the streets and hitting up our favourite haunts asap when Bonnie Henry gives us the all-clear to do so.
10. Thrift Store Shopping on Main Street
If you start walking up from Broadway, you can hit over a dozen thrift shops and consignment stores on Main Street by the time you reach King Edward. There was a time when this would have been an excellent activity to do with a fashion-forward friend, or to kill time on a slow summer day. During the pandemic however, browsing multiple stores in one go has become a somewhat risky venture. Though many of our favourite stores are still open for business, we’re happy to wait until we’ve been doubly vaccinated before we visit all of them in one day!
Political goals we’d love to realize in 2021
Here’s a list of ten political actions we’d love to see in 2021. For simplicity’s sake, we’ve kept it focused on Canadian issues.
Defunding the Vancouver Police Department. Groups like the Democratic Socialists of Vancouver are calling for a 50% cut, but any cut to the VPD’s budget would be more than welcome.
Enough modular housing to end homelessness in Vancouver and B.C.
The Government of Canada to grant the city of Vancouver the power to decriminalize all street drugs.
The cancellation of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline, the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline, and the Site C dam.
Movement on bringing long-term care homes into public ownership and eliminating the two-tier system whereby those who are able to pay the full cost for private care can bypass the wait-list that everyone else in need of care goes through (which in turn results in longer wait times for people in need of subsidised care.)
Elimination of all remaining boil water advisories on Indigenous reserves.
A comprehensive national pharmacare plan.
A Wealth Tax from the federal government.
A ban on Canadian arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
An end to Canada backing coups against socialist governments like the (thankfully failed) regime change Canada backed in Bolivia.
We love the smell of newsletters in the morning
Local comedian, author, and founding editor of the now dormant Seven Oaks Magazine, Charlie Demers has launched a substack Charlie don’t Tweet. We wish him Godspeed. If you’re looking for a thoughtful read then give him a subscribe. In his most recent post beginning a new podcast, Charlie interviews Vancouver city councillor Christine Boyle. Demers’ latest book ‘Primary Obsessions’ came out this fall, and is available wherever fine books are sold.
The Rabble-Rousers of 2021: Is this an Op?
Progressive news outlet rabble.ca is asking: Who Are The Rabble Rousers to Watch in 2021?. Fill out their survey with the names of a few organizers in your area that deserve some love & support. (And maybe make up some fake ones to throw any CSIS agents reading this off the trail!😝)
The Art (And Business) of Cinema in a Pandemic
2020 brought the new reality of COVID-19 to the film & tv industry. Streaming and online viewing has skyrocketed drastically while theatre attendance has all but collapsed. A new provincial health order for B.C. closed them again at the end of November. Even before this, theatres were struggling, with some smaller, art-house or cultural cinemas embracing streaming as a means of survival.
Another signal of the change being more permanent was Warner Bros announcing that its theatrical releases would simultaneously be available to stream on HBO Max.
Two auteurs-turned-blockbuster directors with Warner Brothers film went directly to the press to criticize the decision: DUNE director Denis Villenueve and Tenet director Christopher Nolan. Nolan’s frustration was about artistry, not profit:
“Do they own it absolutely, because they paid for it or they financed it? And that is not a purely legalistic question; it’s a question of ethics… of partnership and collaboration. They did not speak to those filmmakers… I felt that somebody needed to point out that that wasn’t the right way to treat those filmmakers.”
Villenueve’s take was more cynical:
“There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here. It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth, one that is currently bearing an astronomical debt of more than $150 billion… AT&T decided to sacrifice Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 slate in a desperate attempt to grab the audience’s attention.”
This comes shortly after veteran directors like Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood called for government bailouts for a film industry hemorrhaging money during COVID.
Whether or not audiences will return to cinemas post-COVID, streaming services are here to stay. They are also driven by profits, which in turn answer the question of what does or doesn’t make it to stream:
Netflix cut a morbid joke about hanging from the Final Destination movies without warning. Especially strange since the actual, brutal death scene it foreshadows was left in. This may have been a response to the controversy over 13 Reasons Why, a teen drama about self-harm and suicide.
In addition, an Oscar-Winner was unable to sell his documentary about the murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi to any streaming service. He claims it’s because streaming services seek paying audiences in countries like Saudi Arabia & need to play ball with the authorities there. Saudi TV Company Telfaz11 recently inked a huge contract with Netflix. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been meeting with major players in Hollywood, and Saudi Bank has been financing many “Liberal” filmmakers including the Russo Brothers, directors of many Marvel Movies, who have been criticized for working closely with the U.S. Military and C.I.A. in exchange for machinery, access, and “expertise”.
Netflix, Cineplex and their many competitors make choices driven by money, not art. If they can make more money ignoring directors or taking blood-soaked investments, they will - in fact, they must to survive. Filmmakers who take that money are, whether they like it or not, subject to their benefactors’ largesse.
But someone has to pay for these movies. Villenueve, Nolan, Eastwood and Scorsese are all veterans who realize this. It would be incredible to see them use their platforms and influence to campaign to continue to call for more public funding of movie making, and the visual arts in general.
We must remove the barriers to making and viewing cinema, not crack the doors to a new chosen few because it satisfies the profit margins of film conglomerates. In 2021, let’s stop arguing over Streaming vs. Theatres, and instead call for a robust public funding of cinema, streaming, and all public arts.
The fall of King Capital? A hopeful astrological take to start 2021
The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on the 2020 Winter Solstice occurred at zero degrees Aquarius, the sign of social change, humanitarian efforts and justice for all. This coming together of Jupiter, the generous leader and Saturn the strict taskmaster indicates power struggles and heralds a time of massive change. Politics will shift towards progressive change (Jupiter) and away from old ways that have structurally (Saturn) failed us. Astrologer Rylen Moore puts it simply: “When Jupiter and Saturn meet, a King will fall.”
In their recent article Moore gives us a quick overview of the coming month in which we herald in the long and anxiously-awaited Age of Aquarius, wherein Earth is under new rulership for the next 2000 years.
This marked and historic celestial event kicks off the New Year with the true Aquarian revolutionary spirit, bringing a hurricane of progressive movements and reform. The people are done with the structures in place and are ready for total societal upheaval. It is likely we will see a rapid decline in support for traditional economics and a huge push for more socialist values - something that the Pluto in Scorpio (ancestral transformation) and Sagittarius (spiritual principles & guidance) generations have been focusing on for years and for which will be at the frontlines.
January 2021: What Does the First Month of the New Year Bring?
MEDIA ROUNDUP: RECENT ARTICLES
Mike Davis (New Left Review)
In this recent article from the New Left Review Mike Davis argues why the goal must be the creation of more ‘organizations of organizers’ offering niches that allow people to lead lives of struggle.
https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii126/articles/mike-davis-trench-warfare
Tropicana strike ends with collective agreement (TropicanaStrikes.ca)
Poverty-reduction advocates decry province's cut to COVID-19 assistance (Vancouver Sun)
The Farmers’ Protests in India: Lessons for Marxists (Legal Form)
https://legalform.blog/2020/12/28/the-farmers-protests-in-india-lessons-for-marxists-jai-vipra/
Somebody’s someone (Interior Health)
https://news.interiorhealth.ca/news/somebodys-someone/
That’s all from The Thorn This Thursday! Please follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more updates!
Thank you very kindly, comrades! And I very much like the look of what you’re doing here, too. Your tribute to Gordie Larkin was very touching; his stepson Andy is my cousin’s husband — we were heartbroken by the news.