Saturday, 30 January 2016
Sport grows in popularity as workplace control declines?
Though professional sport has been with us for a long time its rise to saturation prominence in daily life and the media has been a long time coming. And that this comes at a time when, if obesity rates are anything to go by, more and more everywhere are watching more and doing less deserves maybe a few moments of reflection, not even the fourteen minutes of exercise being relentlessly promoted on TV by one of the many new get fit quick gadgets. The attraction,as argued by a recent book [National Pastime by Stefan Szymanski] on football (aka soccer), the world's most popular professional game, may well be that as our lives get more controlled, sports is one of the few areas left where a degree of surprise is still available for free.
The "degree of" here is important given the rampant fixing of games like tennis recently reported. But the modest surprises provided by sport - modest because the same bunch of teams usually win, and lose [classsic example, Toronto's own remarkably unsuccessful Maple Leaf hockey team] - should serve as a wake-up call about arguably the only truly sustaining source of excitement and fulfilment in life: self-determination. And given that most of us in 2016 spend much, if not most, of our time at work, that means workplace determination. The number of workplaces in North America with serious worker participation, let alone worker control, especially as rates of unionization have been dropping for over 30 years, is very small. Unless participation grows, the need for vicarious control and distraction through sport is likely to become more addictive and, like most addictions, ultimately self-defeating as need grows and benefits tank.
The "degree of" here is important given the rampant fixing of games like tennis recently reported. But the modest surprises provided by sport - modest because the same bunch of teams usually win, and lose [classsic example, Toronto's own remarkably unsuccessful Maple Leaf hockey team] - should serve as a wake-up call about arguably the only truly sustaining source of excitement and fulfilment in life: self-determination. And given that most of us in 2016 spend much, if not most, of our time at work, that means workplace determination. The number of workplaces in North America with serious worker participation, let alone worker control, especially as rates of unionization have been dropping for over 30 years, is very small. Unless participation grows, the need for vicarious control and distraction through sport is likely to become more addictive and, like most addictions, ultimately self-defeating as need grows and benefits tank.
Sunday, 24 January 2016
TorontotheBetter recognizes Duca Credit Union for support to Goodwill Industries' workers
Congratulations to DUCA Credit Union, a community based social enterprise, like the many in TorontotheBetter's online directory at www.TorontotheBetter.net (see under banking or finance), for a donation announced by CEO Richard Senechal [www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/great-sense-of-relief-as-goodwill-announces-it-will-pay-back-wages/article28336091] to redress some of the the lost wages of Goodwill workers whose Toronto locations closed their doors on January 16. For workers like Goodwill's, victimized by corporate actions, emergency help like DUCA's in this case, is critical to their short-term well-being. But beyond emergencies we believe the long term prosperity of Toronto workers and all citizens will be best served by social economy enterprises dedicated to social benefit, not only in what they do but how they do it.
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
The myth of a-social "Free" markets exposed in new book by Cambridge University economist Ha-joon Chang
"Free-market economists have told us that active (or intrusive, as they put it) governments are bad for economic growth. However, contrary to common perception virtually all of today's rich countries used government intervention to get rich..." p.261 in Chang's 2010 book "23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism". More about Chang's contrarian and witty (a witty economist!) book along with our other social economy news will follow soon in the first TorontotheBetter Bulletin of 2016. Like all books referenced in this space Chang's book is available for purchase from TorontotheBetter at a discounted price. And we are unionized too, unlike the obese Amazon.
