Barry Stephenson

Barry Stephenson

@bstepmun.bsky.social

Professor, Memorial University - I'm not here representing my employer, so my views may or may not reflect my employer's views. “I count false words the foulest plague of all.” - Prometheus Bound

150 followers139 following648 posts

Oxfam Canada reports that wealth inequality in Canada has reached "crisis levels". In 2025, the top 1% of Canadians held nearly $1.25 trillion in wealth—almost as much as the bottom 80% combined. Canada’s 40 richest billionaires saw their wealth grow by over 20% in 2025. It is time to properly tax

Maybe Magyar is a sign that a decent form of conservatism is a possibility. Among the things he said the other night on M1: Hungary will renationalize those public assets that the Orban years handed over to private interests.

We need tools like this. The university is indeed under siege. Without action, soon, we’ll have no public institutions and goods left.

Marc Spooner@drmarcspooner.bsky.social

In the spirit of open access to knowledge, you can download this book for free! No strings. Of course we hope you buy it, but that isn't necessary. Knowledge Under Siege Charting a Future for Universities

Barry Stephenson reposted

Replying to @anjalikdayal.bsky.social

“These crimes were committed against a backdrop of supremacist beliefs, racism, corruption, extreme misogyny, and the commodification and dehumanisation of women and girls from different parts of the world,” the experts said." www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

ohchr.orgFlawed ‘Epstein Files’ disclosures undermine accountability for grave crimes against women and girls: UN expertsGENEVA – The so-called ‘Epstein Files’ contain disturbing and credible evidence of systematic and large-scale sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation of women and girls, UN experts* said today.Acco...

Q. How do we end oligarchic control of our political economy? They are kinda ruining everything for everyone all the time, at a quickening pace. Of all the bad ideas we’ve come up with, handing the reigns to the 0.1% is right up there.

When i was young, Alberta (like every other prairie provinces) had a public telecom. We could have that again. Privatization of everything these past 40-50 years has not made life better. This includes the privatization of education, which is continuing at an accelerated pace.

Barry Stephenson reposted

According to the flotilla tracker & Al Jazeera, the Conscience (along with other flotilla ships) has been intercepted. Time to get on the phones and call our MPs to demand Canada ensure the safe return of the Canadians on board including NL activists Devoney Ellis, Nikita Stapleton, & Sadie Mees.

Watching the sham replies of America’s chief law enforcement officer in Senate yesterday, it really did hit home that the institutions people can appeal to to take action - generally named ‘the government’ - are useless because they’ve really been taken over. How this ends won’t be pretty.

Barry Stephenson reposted

Italy is, I believe, 3rd on list of countries that sell arms to Israel. The people recognize that’s a problem. Most people, in most countries recognize it too. Among UN’s recent recommendations:

‘Cease the transfer of arms and other equipment or items, including jet fuel, to the State of Israel or third States where there is reason to suspect their use in military operations that have involved or could involve the commission of genocide.’ How hard is that to agree with? And yet we don’t.

Barry Stephenson reposted

✊📢 Tens of thousands joined #DrawTheLine actions on Sept 20, demanding PM @mark-carney.bsky.social act for people, peace & planet. Collective power was on full display across Canada. 📺 Watch the CTV coverage: youtu.be/a2YbV-Ss9fk?... 📷 See @350.org’s photo gallery: www.flickr.com/photos/350or...

youtu.beThousands rally in cities across Canada | CTV National News for Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025YouTube video by CTV News

Barry Stephenson reposted

"It's the banality of evil. It happens around essentially a watercooler." From the new 'We're Not Kidding', 'Andor' star Denise Gough and @mehdirhasan.bsky.social talk about the depiction of fascism in 'Star Wars' and its similarities to real world politics.

Barry Stephenson reposted

"While other governments sue oil companies for climate damages, the NL government brings along an oil lobbyist like a Negotiator-in-Chief. This is inviting the fox into the henhouse." Read the op-ed from @acantle.bsky.social & Angela Carter 👇 #nlpoli www.saltwire.com/newfoundland...

saltwire.comOPINION: Oil blocks our fire exitWhen it comes to NL’s economic/climate emergency, our collective road to safety is blocked by oil lobbyists and their government support.

In 2011 Benjamin Ginsberg published The Fall of the Faculty, The Rise of the Administrative University and Why it Matters. If you've time & can can find it, you should read it. Then, you should read the Auditor General's 2023 performance audit of the university. These past years, students & programs

A most arresting sentence: “The movement of energy between enslaved bodies in plantations, plants, long-dead fossilized plants, and industrialized labor is a geochemical equation of extraction in the conversion of surplus.” - Kathryn Yusoff, A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None