By Ryan Pike
For many, summer is a time to experiment. Some grow beards. Some shave their heads or dye their hair. Some go on vacations to strange places. All of these experiments ultimately reveal lessons to be learned. In Calgary, summer is a time for municipal government to experiment, this time revealing lessons regarding urban culture. Last… Continue reading Going downtown in two big cities
By Ryan Pike
Whenever the world is in economic turmoil, visionaries emerge from amidst the chaos to lead society back to prosperity. Programs like the New Deal changed government policies and allowed economies to recover and eventually prosper. In this current economic crisis, the most logical thing governments can do is repeal child labour laws. Children in society… Continue reading The beauty of child labour
By Ryan Pike
Sometimes you just have to feel sorry for George W. Bush. With just under a week left in his eight-year term as United States President, Bush already has political muckrakers shoveling dirt onto his grave and declaring him the worst leader in the history of the country. The only problem is they’re conducting the autopsy… Continue reading Bush is a good dude
By Ryan Pike
Dear Mr. Harper, As a child of energy sector workers who moved to Calgary from the Maritimes, a combination of indoctrination, ideology and pragmatism has molded me over time into a Conservative Party supporter. I’m not a fan of your social policies, but as my father says, “social issues come and go, the market is… Continue reading An open letter to Stephen Harper
By Ryan Pike
Don’t let the pundits fool you, Canadian federal politics has always been a coin flip. Ever since the first federal election in 1867– when 268,000 voters decided between John A. MacDonald’s Conservatives and George Brown’s Liberals– Canada has faced a two-horse race. One hundred-thirty-one years and 39 elections later, the choice is still the same,… Continue reading The failure of Canada’s New Left
By Ryan Pike
As late as the early part of the 20th century, the world was dominated by states. States shaped laws. States shaped behaviours. States shaped economies. Much in the same way states defined the century before, recent years have seen the world dominated by corporations. As England, the United States and the Soviet Union stretched their… Continue reading It’s a Google world, we’re just living in it