Illustration by Remie Geoffroi
Even before the ravages of a global pandemic, America’s body politic looked dangerously ill. On this sentiment, at least, there is probably still widespread agreement. But, as with any diagnosis, the devil is in the details.
International relations, peace and conflict
Donald Trump makes people sick, himself and his entourage included. Given the U.S. president's shameful, almost criminally negligent record on COVID-19, it will be surprising if he is re-elected on November 3. A sizeable expat community aside, most Canadians will not have a say in that race but its outcome will be felt globally.
Photo of a Vietnamese garment factory in 2012 from the ILO Asia-Pacific
Photo by Alma Ayon, Flickr Creative Commons
In her 2012 book, Consent of the Networked, Rebecca MacKinnon noted that the companies and governments “that build, operate, and govern cyberspace are not being held sufficiently accountable for their exercise of power over the lives and identities of people who use digital networks.” MacKinnon’s observation, that both public and private sector actors are “sovereigns operating without the consent of the networked,” is even more apparent today, not least in the context of policing and law enforcement in the criminal justice system.
Photo by duncan c, Flickr Creative Commons
A U.S. sailor stands watch on a Mark VI patrol boat before a weapons sustainment exercise in the Arabian Gulf, April 16, 2020 (U.S. Navy)
Reviewed in this article:
Bigger than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic SocialismMeagan Day and Micah UetrichtVerso (March 2020), $33.95
Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe BidenBranko MarceticVerso, January 2020), $25.95
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The summer issue of the Monitor features two previously published reports on the crisis in Canada's nursing homes, one from the CCPA's national office, Re-imagining Long-term Residential Care in the COVID-19 Crisis, and one from the CCPA-BC,
G20 summit in Toronto, June 2010. Photo by katerkate (Flickr Creative Commons)