Shane Joseph

The Burden of the Echo Boomers

They bear many names: Echo Boomers, Millennials, Gen Y, Boomerang Generation, Trophy Kids—our kids—born circa 1980•2000. They have been characterized as left•leaning team•workers (counterbalancing their parental neoliberal inheritance), technologically adept multi•taskers, cultural liberals, and social conservatives with high aspirations towards work and career. They are also classified as possessing delayed maturity for taking longer to

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The Economics of Greed and Fear

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“Last year, crude oil prices were around $140 per barrel and the gas price at the pump was $1.35 per litre. Now, a barrel of crude is $98 and the pump price is at $1.41,” says our Industry Minister. What happened to this unregulated, open market industry where in a state of perfect competition, prices

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Can a government run like a corporation?

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The global shift to the right has resulted in governments of countries trying to run themselves like corporations; Dubai and Singapore are examples that come to mind. Privatization, less government, less taxes, and less social benefits are in fashion. And yet some governments are on the verge of bankruptcy, if not broke already. Is this

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To vote or not to vote – that is not a question anymore

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It’s election time in Canada again and I can’t avoid pondering matters political. Nothing much has changed from the last election it seems, and therein lies the question. Will there be voter apathy this time too? Too many people saying, “Well, it’s the fourth election in seven years and it will end up with another

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Home – where is it?

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Having lived at various times of my life in different places, I’ve often wondered where home really is. Is it where I live right now as a suburban transplant in a small town by a large lake? Is it back in Toronto or in some large city where everything is more or less the same:

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Changing Publishing Models

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I’ve begun to see the “small publisher” (SP) value proposition diminish. In cutting back on editing and marketing support, in losing ground to technology that makes it possible to go direct from author to reader today (i.e. e•books), in having no better alternative to online distribution offered by the likes of Amazon, and in still

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Is Social Media only Social Mania?

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I have been watching events unfold in North Africa and across the Middle East and I am wondering if this is a well orchestrated attempt to drive up the price of oil, or a cheaper alternative to “Shock and Awe” that got bogged down in “It’s Draining Our Money Away.” The formula is simple: pick

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Presidents for Life

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Presidents for Life (PFL) are in the news these days, and last week it was Hosni Mubarak’s turn. Let’s see, we have had out share of the Shah of Iran, Ferdinand Marcos, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Manuel Noriega and others, all lifers, until destiny caught up with them. What makes these creatures? Western powers have

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Swinging both ways

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A reader recently asked me why I swung both ways, i.e. played on the other team as well. I reminded him that I was heterosexual and played only on one team. “But you write book reviews,” he reminded me. “So?” “But you are a writer yourself.” “So?” Then he went onto clarify that writers should

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New Year Resolutions – short and sweet

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On a beach in a Caribbean island, I ran over my usual list of New Year resolutions: manage the weight, exercise regularly, save money, save the trees, go e•books, write more, read more, work less, drink less, shamelessly self promote, keep building my online platform etc., etc., etc. As nudists on the adjacent beach strutted

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