Roshan Abraham

Proud UofA MD and FM Alumni. Passionate about relationship-centered care and communications in #MedEd. Settler. Views are my own. AKA Joseph (he/him)

[Jon Meddings @JMeddings]

My guess is that having them as part of a team, run by the MD, would not only provide better care - it would be cheaper.

This is a good incentive for the prov government to have.

Of course this does nothing to plug the other loophole the provinces use. /5

[Greg Stoker @gregjstoker]

On SNL last night the millionaire host and working class audience were suddenly faced with the awkward realization that they each belong to two very different social classes, but neither fully understands what’s going on yet…

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

Whoever controls production, and the surplus we produce, determines the shape and direction of our civilisation. If we do not have democratic control over our surplus then we can hardly say we live in a democracy.

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

Yes: https://t.co/ePET836KQn

[Joachim @JDespland]

when did CBC get so based

[Tom Morello @tmorello]

#ArtistsForCeasefire

[Rajesh Balasubramanian @RajeshB18566468]

Forbes 30 under 30 has been doing this for years.

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

Every week I get several emails from people asking "what should I do?". Everyone can contribute in different ways, but the basics are fairly straightforward: join a union, work toward the creation of a mass-based ecosocialist party, and develop anti-imperialist solidarities.

[David Graeber Institute @Graeber_social]

An extract from the introduction to the Book; Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber!

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

The problem with liberalism is that it rests on a fundamental contradiction that cannot be resolved. It will always fail, it will always collapse, and this explains everything about our current moment.

Liberals try to hold two commitments at once: on the one hand, they are firmly committed to capitalism; on the other, they express support for principles like human rights, democracy, equality, freedom of speech, environment and the rule of law.  This duality is the core of liberalism.

But there's a problem. Capital accumulation requires cheapening labour and nature. This eventually comes into direct conflict with principles like rights and equality. And whenever this conflict appears, the liberal ruling class sides with capital, abandons their lofty principles, and throws workers and nature under the bus.  Every. Single. Time.

This results in flagrant displays of hypocrisy. They run on nice-sounding platforms but end up either betraying their promises or actively working against their stated values. They'll slash public services, bail out banks, imprison journalists, beat up students, expand fracking, coup democratically elected leaders in the global South, bomb liberation movements, fund a genocide - they'll even trash international law itself - anything that's needed to maintain the conditions for capital accumulation.

At most, they may try to negotiate mediocre compromises, a few social policies here and there - some abortion rights, a tiny increase in the minimum wage - but nothing that might pose any serious threat to capital accumulation. Thus the soul-crushing slowness of liberal incrementalism.  Ultimately they are unwilling to take any of the obvious steps that would actually resolve our urgent social and ecological crises.

This is why nobody trusts liberal politicians.  This is why they come across as so fantastically insincere, and even sneering.  This is why they feel so spineless and *empty*.

The center cannot hold.  Liberalism will always collapse, inevitably handing power to fascists, and this is not acceptable.  There is only one way to overcome this deadly impasse, and that is to mobilize a socialist alternative. A political movement that can unite the working-classes, overcome capitalism, deliver real economic democracy, and enable us to achieve rapid progress toward social and ecological goals.

[Cody Johnston @drmistercody]

"We need our own sociopath and wacky celebrity to lead the party." Stop it. Listen to yourselves.

[Nora Loreto @NoLore]

It's always true but it has also never been more true: there are only two paths forward, socialism or barbarism. What you're all freaking out about is that we keep choosing barbarism.

[Amanda Hu @amandalhu]

I'll tell you a story: last year, my kid, who wears a mask every day at school, became close friends with a Trumper kid. The kid's family was American, living in Calgary. Her dad was interviewed in the National Post about how he loves voting for Trump and how important it is 1/

[Politics For You @PoliticoForYou]

🚨 The cycle of democracy keeps turning.

[Hank Green @hankgreen]

If you’re on Twitter right now, you are not the kind of person who is going to miss out on big picture analysis long-term.

I think the thing to do today is focus on stuff that’s close, stuff you believe in, stuff you’ve gotta do, and stuff that brings you joy.

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

All the takes are correct and yet they also miss the point.

Yes, it was insane for the Democrats to think they could win by running a soulless candidate, without a shred of progressive policy vision, pursuing endorsements from neocon war-hawks everybody hates, while arming and funding a genocide, and belittling and crushing those who have enough morality to protest it.  It is enraging that the Democrats are so smug and blind to this.

But these are all just symptoms.  The deeper reality is that liberalism has failed, liberalism is dead, and people urgently need to wake up to this fact and respond accordingly. It is a defunct ideology that cannot offer any meaningful solutions to our social and ecological crises and it must be abandoned.

Democrats have proven over and over again that they cannot accept even *basic* steps like public healthcare, affordable housing, and a public job guarantee - things that would dramatically improve the material, social and political conditions of the working classes. And they cannot accept a public finance strategy that would steer production away from fossil fuels and toward green transition to give us a shot at a liveable future.

Why? Because these things run against the objectives of capital accumulation. And for liberals capital is sacrosanct. They will do whatever it takes to ensure elite accumulation, it is their only consistent commitment.  At home, they suppress and demonize progressive and socialist tendencies. Abroad, they engage in endless wars and violence to suppress input prices in the global South and prevent any possibility of sovereign economic development.

The Democrats have done all this purposefully and knowingly, for my whole life, not as some kind of "mistake" but in full consciousness that it is in the interests of capital.

And because liberalism cannot address our crises, and because it crushes socialist alternatives, it inevitably paves the way for right-wing populism.  They know this pattern, and yet they risk it every time - this election being only the most recent example. They did it in 2016, when they actively crushed the Sanders campaign and sent Trump to the White House. They do it because ultimately they (and I mean the liberal ruling class here) don't really mind if fascists take power, so long as the latter too ensure the conditions for capital accumulation. They 100% prefer this to the possibility of a socialist alternative.

So, progressives have to face reality. The dream of "converting" the Democratic party is dead. This is now a fact and it must be accepted. The only option is to build a mass-based movement that can reclaim the working classes and mobilize a political vehicle that can integrate disparate progressive struggles into a unified and formidable political force and achieve substantive transformation. This will take real work, actual organizing, but it must be done and that process must begin now.

[Purplepingers ☭ @purplepingers]

If the quote: “environmentalism without class struggle is just gardening” has ever resonated with you, I encourage you to listen to this chat from Jason Hickel: “why a liberated Palestine threatens global capitalism”