Billionaire Owner of Western Canadian Supermarket Chain Suggests He’s Powerless to Stop Worker Pay Cut. Canadian billionaire Jim Pattison, the sixth richest man in Canada and owner of the Save-on-Foods grocery chain, says the buck stops somewhere else when it comes to cutting hazard pay for frontline grocery store workers. “I’m not involved,” Pattison told PressProgress in response questions about his company’s recent decision to cut grocery store workers’ $2 hazard pay in the middle of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “We own and finance the company, but we don’t run them,” Pattison explained. Pattison, who has reportedly picked up half a billion dollars in pocket change during the pandemic, said that the “company president makes those decisions,” noting that the Jim Pattison Group owns “24 different companies in various businesses.”
Thank you to our amazing customers, friends and neighbours for your positivity! Our team members are committed to helping you get the food and medicine you need, and we appreciate all the support we’re receiving from our communities. “Mr. Become a member. A New Oakland Museum Imagines a World Where Capitalism Is Dead. It’s works such as Rimini Protokoll’s that emphasize the Museum of Capitalism’s surreal setting.
The museum’s temporary location is tucked away in Oakland’s Jack London Square, a developed waterfront area that was initially envisioned as a tourist destination but has been plagued with storefront vacancies for the past decade—and is eerily deserted on most days of the week. Steves and Furstnau partnered with the Jack London Improvement District to move into a massive empty building that was designed to be a bustling vendor marketplace. To reach the museum from the street, visitors must cross railroad tracks via an elevated walkway with a sci-fi feel. Once in the second-floor exhibition space, they can peer down into the still-vacant first floor of the building and see scaffolding left behind like a ghost of the intended marketplace—almost a work of art in itself.
Without the Museum of Capitalism there, the area would seem ordinary to any Oaklander. —Sarah Burke. Stop buying crap, and companies will stop making crap. Hippie Capitalism. The golden moment for a reporter on assignment comes in the evening. You stumble into a room at some two-star hotel, throw notebooks and gadgets onto the bed, plug in your computer, splash water on your face, get to work. You have a story, and all night to tell it. No kids. No clutter. Alas, out here in Mountain View, California, where I’ve been reporting June’s Walrus cover story on digital privacy, solitude is unaffordable.
“I call it ‘collaborative consumption.’ Airbnb—as most readers already know—is Uber done up in bricks and mortar. When the door opens, I am greeted by a fifty-something woman with soft manners and grey hair done up in a casual style. I cast my gaze across the bungalow: a young teenager doing homework at a coffee table, books and papers organized in giant stacks, and two dogs—one happily chewing up a pair of adult Crocs. My bedroom, as it turns out, also functions as a library—which I waste no time in examining. And just like that, it becomes an interview. One Quarter (23%) of In-Debt Canadians Say They’ll Never be Debt Free; Those More Optimistic Say It Will Take 8 Years to Pay Down | Ipsos.
Toronto, ON – Three in four Canadians (73%) are currently in debt, whether it is a mortgage only (15%) or some level of consumer debt (58%), a new Ipsos poll for BDO reveals. One in three (36%) Canadians say they have ‘a little bit of consumer debt’, while two in ten (18%) have ‘a good deal of consumer debt’ and 4% have ‘a lot of consumer debt’. Only one in four (27%) describe themselves as completely debt-free, with no mortgage, loan, line of credit or credit card debt. Canadians aged 35-54 are the most likely to have higher levels of consumer debt, suggesting that this group has had enough time to rack up some important debts, but not quite enough time to fully pay them down yet.
Three in ten (28%) 35-54 year olds have a good deal or a lot of debt, more than the 20% of those aged 55+ or the 16% of those younger than 35 who have a good deal or a lot of debt. Debt-Free Living a Distant Goal for Many (Click to enlarge image) Cost of Living Impacting Debt-Payment Capacity About Ipsos. “Citizen Capitalism” makes you responsible for your world. Posted by Tom Megginson | 25-06-2012 20:38 | Category: Consumerism I’ve always maintained that those of us who live in capitalist democracies are responsible for the world we live in. Despite the underground forces of corruption and manipulation, we still have a vote and we still have a dollar to spend. That’s the idea behind “Citizen Capitalism”, a movement founded in Toronto by adman Andy Macaulay (formerly of Zig) Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD) instructor Anne Sutherland, and magazine editor Beth Thompson.
From their “Purpose” page: Isn’t it ironic that while the world has never been plagued with such deep and far-reaching challenges as it is today, the solutions to our very survival will ultimately be driven by little actions taken every day by you and me. By the choices we make as citizens — to vote at election time, to take an active role in our communities by volunteering or shopping local, to be mindful of how and why we consume. [more after the break] The Non-Consumer Advocate Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. ACT | Citizen Capitalism. Have a beef with a local business? Want action on a community project? Interested in starting a sustainability venture? Put your issue on paper.
Here are our top tips for writing a successful letter. Make it Personal: Don’t use general salutations like “To Whom it May Concern.” Make the effort to get a name. The Average Hipster Employs 27 Slaves Each Day. Here's How To Change That. Hipsters may value social progress, but their coffee habits say otherwise. That's according to the team at Made in a Free World (MIAFW), a group dedicated to raising awareness on how consumers support illegal slave operations -- often without realizing it -- with their purchasing power.
According to a statement provided to The Huffington Post, MIAFW looked at stereotypical purchases made by those associated with the subculture -- things like cotton for clothing, coffee beans and tantalum for cell phones -- and estimated that the average hipster employs 27 slaves a day through their purchasing power. The figure, of course, isn't exact, MIAFW explained, as purchasing habits vary from person to person. But it does highlight how even those who try to be conscious, smart consumers can support unethical global business practices. "Think about how crazy that is," MIAFW noted in the statement. Modern-day slavery affects more people now than during any other period in human history. Stop land grabs. What is a land grab? It's when governments, banks or private investors buy up huge plots of land to make equally huge profits.
What's the problem with big land deals - isn't investment a good thing? Responsible investment is an important part of fighting poverty. But big land deals are happening so quickly and on such a large scale that poor people are more vulnerable to the injustice of land grabbing than ever before. So what does this mean for people living on the land? They lose the land they rely on to grow food and feed their families. Why is there such a high demand for land? High food prices and a demand for new fuels have both played a part. Who's involved? From Honduras and Indonesia to Liberia and Sudan, land is being looted by investors of all shapes and sizes.
But if investors use the land to grow food, won't it work out OK in the end? Most investors intend to export the food they grow back to rich countries. Land grab facts. How Much to Tip at the Nail Salon: Your Ultimate Guide. Everything your caregiver wants to tell you but isn’t privileged enough to say — Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. It has been three glorious months since I closed my home daycare and became the Artistic Director of b current performing arts. In those three months I have had some time – not a lot of time, mind you, since being an AD, I have learned, means sleeping with one eye open – to reflect on my experiences caring for children.
I have worked as a youth educator since I was 15, but owning a home daycare was by far the most challenging to my patience. It was a wonderful journey for me in which I had the honour of making lifelong friends (including the last two families I served) and I got to test the limits of my multitasking abilities and athletic prowess. At the end of my six years of daycare work, I could expertly trudge through a snow storm with a baby on my back, one trailing behind me on an attached sled, and a toddler on each arm. It was like an episode of American Gladiator but with snotty noses and leaking diapers. Not only is this an ableist notion, but it’s a load of bullshit. The Economics (and Nostalgia) of Dead Malls. OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Inside the gleaming mall here on the Sunday before Christmas, just one thing was missing: shoppers. The upbeat music of “Jingle Bell Rock” bounced off the tiles, and the smell of teriyaki chicken drifted from the food court, but only a handful of stores were open at the sprawling enclosed shopping center.
A few visitors walked down the long hallways and peered through locked metal gates into vacant spaces once home to retailers like H&M, Wet Seal and Kay Jewelers. “It’s depressing,” Jill Kalata, 46, said as she tried on a few of the last sneakers for sale at the Athlete’s Foot, scheduled to close in a few weeks. “This place used to be packed. And Christmas, the lines were out the door. Now I’m surprised anything is still open.” The Owings Mills Mall is poised to join a growing number of what real estate professionals, architects, urban planners and Internet enthusiasts term “dead malls.” Continue reading the main story Share of malls with vacancy rates (considered a.
Strength In Every Day - Gender Dichotomy in Cancer Culture - Gender Dichotomy in Cancer Culture. The Invisible Hand - Radio Summer - Radio - CBC Player. Economix Comix. Trump was right. The rest of the G7 were wrong | George Monbiot. He gets almost everything wrong. But last weekend Donald Trump got something right. To the horror of the other leaders of the rich world, he defended democracy against its detractors. Perhaps predictably, he has been universally condemned for it. His crime was to insist that the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) should have a sunset clause.
In other words, it should not remain valid indefinitely, but expire after five years, allowing its members either to renegotiate it or to walk away. To howls of execration from the world’s media, his insistence has torpedoed efforts to update the treaty. In Rights of Man, published in 1791, Thomas Paine argued that: “Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself, in all cases, as the ages and generations which preceded it. Even if the people of the US, Canada and Mexico had explicitly consented to Nafta in 1994, the idea that a decision made then should bind everyone in North America for all time is repulsive.
American Airlines gave its workers a raise. Wall Street freaked out. McDonald's Improving Sales Linked to Employee Benefits. McDonald's' sales are booming — but don't thank All-Day breakfasts. Flickr/Mike Mozart When the burger chain reported an increase in comparable sales for the third straight quarter late last month, CEO Steve Easterbrook said that the positive growth was in part linked to better employee benefits and higher wages. Easterbrook said lower employee turnover and higher customer satisfaction were linked to employee compensation package improvements. "The improvements we made to our compensation and benefits package to employees in U.S. -company operated restaurants, along with expanding [the tuition assistance program] Archways to Opportunity ... have resulted in lower crew turnover and higher customer satisfaction scores," Easterbrook said in a call to Wall Street analysts, Fortune Reported.
In April last year, the company announced it would raise wages for the estimated 90,000 workers employed at company-owned U.S. stores, or about ten percent of McDonald's restaurants. John Taggart, epa. The True Cost | A Documentary Film. Fast Fashion Problems- Why I Don't Buy Cheap Clothes. Before I buy any piece of clothing or accessory, I like to know a little bit about where and how it’s made. I ask questions. I avoid companies that aren’t up to my standards. I buy fewer things of higher quality.
And apparently you don’t like me. According to a study that came out earlier this month, not only do most people choose to remain willfully ignorant of the conditions in which their clothing is made, they also look down on the type of consumers who do care. In the study, 174 undergrads at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business were given three pieces of information about a pair of jeans in order to evaluate them: the style, the wash, and the price. Most of the participants chose to hear about the control attribute, remaining willfully ignorant of how the jeans were made. What’s more — and this is what got my hackles up — those unconcerned consumers rated ethical shoppers boring, odd, less fashionable, and less sexy.
The Smoking Kid: Messengers of cognitive dissonance. Posted by Monica Brasov-Curca | 11-07-2012 18:56 | Category: Health The old adage “people should take their own advice” has never been more true than in this Thai ‘quit smoking ad’. The video below features children asking adults for a light. Shocked, the adults precede to tell the kids how bad smoking is for them and what the affects really are. This is the classic case of hitting someone over the head with cognitive dissonance or rather that their talk does not match their walk. Watch how the adults are speechless when presented with a small flyer saying “You worry about me, why not yourself?” This ad was first brought to my attention in a listserve email sent by Nancy Lee ( Author and Social Marketing consultant ) and it was sent to show an example of how critical messengers can be persuasive in changing behavior. Advertiser:Olgivy, ThailandAgency:Thai Health Promotion FoundationSource:Georgetown Social Marketing ListServe.
Sorry, Pepsi Haters, But Social Justice Needs Capitalism – Liberal Currents. Last week’s backlash to the Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner and an army of hipster-looking protesters was fast and fierce. Accused of “co-opting the resistance,” and insensitivity to movements like Black Lives Matter, Pepsi was forced to pull the ad within 24 hours.
The irony of the fiasco is that Pepsi was repping social justice long before it was cool — and forged real progressive change along the way. But in their haste to build a firewall between social justice and corporate capitalism, Pepsi’s haters have missed the ways in which the two are not merely compatible, but in many ways mutually reinforcing. More Woke Than Coke Flashback to 1940, just a couple years after Walter S. Mack Jr. assumed the reins as CEO of Pepsi-Cola Company. At the time, Pepsi was struggling in the shadow of the Coca-Cola behemoth, whose sales outnumbered Pepsi’s twenty-five to one. World War II’s sugar rations forced Pepsi into hiatus, but when the war economy subsided Mack got back at it.
Samuel Hammond. How an Ad Campaign Made Lesbians Fall in Love with Subaru. The 'Crying Indian' ad that fooled the environmental movement - Chicago Tribune. The Debate: Have Olympic sponsorship regulations gone too far? | Steve Anderson.