Olympics vs. the Downtown Eastside
From an investigation of the impact of the Olympics on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to an exploration of Buddhism’s looming schism, from an in-depth look at the confrontational tactics of anti-racist activism in urban Alberta to Derrick Jensen’s thoughts on the liberatory potential of despair, this issue of Briarpatch seeks out tales of grace and courage in the unlikeliest of places.
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MagazineLetter from the editor
What happens when large numbers of people give up on the paradigm of “progress”—the idea that each generation will invariably live in greater material comfort and prosperity than the generation before?
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Magazine“It’s tremendous fun to fight back”
Derrick Jensen joined a Regina, Saskatchewan, audience via videoconference for a wide-ranging conversation. As usual, he challenged the audience to focus on protecting life rather than lifestyle, and urged them to recognize the breadth of the changes necessary to protect life on earth.
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MagazineGoing Dutch
Sadiqa Khan explores race, nation and white privilege through her experiences as a Dutch-Kenyan woman.
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MagazineOlympic profits
Christopher A. Shaw examines how the Olympic games and profits played into the poverty and homelessness of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
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MagazineFighting fire with fire
The rise of neo-Nazism in Alberta and the Anti-Racist activists organizing against them.
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MagazineManufacturing a crisis
General Motors’ recent decision to close its Oshawa Truck Plant employing 2,600 workers has highlighted the massive loss of manufacturing jobs in Ontario and much of the rest of Canada in recent months. In the wake of this closure decision, a question has to be asked. Is it accurate to characterize what is taking place a “manufacturing crisis,” in which the auto industry is simply the victim of “market forces”? Or is it actually something more deliberate?
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MagazineThe two Buddhas
A philosophical storm has been brewing (in its quiet, Buddhist way) in sanghas, meditation groups, magazine articles and monasteries across the continent. Don Sawyer explores Western Buddhism and Buddhist fundamentalism.
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MagazineStupid to the last drop
A book review of William Marsden’s, Stupid to the last drop: How Alberta is bringing environmental armageddon to Canada (And doesn’t seem to care)
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MagazineCanada’s deadly secret
Book review of Jim Harding’s -Canada’s Deadly Secret: Saskatchewan Uranium and the Global Nuclear System_
