Author: Kim Siever

I live in Lethbridge with my spouse and 5 of our 6 children. I’m a writer, focusing on social issues and the occasional poem. My politics are radically left. I recently finished writing a book debunking several capitalism myths. My newest book writing project is on the labour history of Lethbridge.

I’m also dichotomally Mormon. And I’m a functional vegetarian: I have a blog post about that somewhere around here. My pronouns are he/him.

Categories
Politics

Tax cuts are job cuts: a running total

On 20 February 2019, Jason Kenney, then the Official Opposition leader, said in a press conference that if elected, a UCP government would conduct a performance review of Alberta Health Services within 30 days of taking office. 

“With the most expensive health system in Canada, I believe we can find some savings to do things more efficiently without affecting front-line services.”

Jason Kenney, as reported by Dustin Cook. “Jason Kenney calls for Alberta Health Services review, says UCP will not make cuts to health care”. Edmonton Journal. 20 February 2019.

He reiterated in the press conference, “If we can find the money, there will be increases in the health budget. There will be no cuts.”

Continue reading “Tax cuts are job cuts: a running total”
Categories
Politics

Gun violence, race, and gender

Regarding gun violence in the United States, there are a couple of things to keep in mind before we conclude that the gun violence is caused by an abundance of guns.

Let’s take mass shootings.

Continue reading “Gun violence, race, and gender”
Categories
Politics

Canadian soldiers didn’t fight for Canadian freedoms

The idea that Canadian veterans fought for our freedoms is completely made up.

Continue reading “Canadian soldiers didn’t fight for Canadian freedoms”
Categories
Lethbridge SCS

My response to “SCS isn’t to blame for crime problems”

Yesterday, someone wrote a letter to the editor of the Lethbridge Herald. This person is dealing with drug addiction and was providing some insight from that perspective on the benefits of the supervised consumption site, as well as addressing some myths.

Naturally, the online version of the letter received negative feedback, many with the same, tired myths and rhetoric. I thought I’d address some of them here. 

Continue reading “My response to “SCS isn’t to blame for crime problems””
Categories
Politics

Transphobic jokes affect trans people

A few months ago, someone I know commented on a Facebook post of someone else I know and made a joke about gender. When my trans child confronted them on it and I later confronted them on it, they responded by saying that their comment wasn’t directed at my child and that they’d never disrespect my child like that.

The thing is though when you make fun of a marginalized group, you disrespect those who belong to that group, even if you didn’t direct your comments to those specific people.

Continue reading “Transphobic jokes affect trans people”
Categories
Politics

Capitalism keeps workers poor

When I took my 7-year-old to ballet this past weekend, I noticed quite a few vehicles in the university parking lot that were in various states of disrepair.

Some had cracked windshields. Some had broken grills. Some had duct tape either masking blemishes or holding parts together. Some had patches of rust.

And all this reminded me that we live in a society that doesn’t pay its workers sufficiently.

Continue reading “Capitalism keeps workers poor”
Categories
Lethbridge

I’m writing a book on Lethbridge’s labour history

So, a few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the labour history in Lethbridge. I discovered that historical information about labour in Lethbridge is not readily accessible. I intend to change that.

I’m writing a book.

Continue reading “I’m writing a book on Lethbridge’s labour history”
Categories
Politics

Most popular social media posts from October

I decided to try a new feature here on my blog a couple of months ago: my most popular social media posts. Well, here is the third installment:

Continue reading “Most popular social media posts from October”
Categories
Politics

Poor mental health care isn’t causing gun violence

When the topic of gun control comes up, it’s inevitable that someone will mention mental health. They claim that guns aren’t causing gun violence, but rather poor mental health care is.

Continue reading “Poor mental health care isn’t causing gun violence”
Categories
Politics

Gun ownership isn’t the problem

If gun ownership breeds higher gun violence, then countries with higher gun ownership should have higher gun violence, right? Well, it certainly seems to be the case with the United States. They have the highest civilian gun ownership rate in the world and one of the highest firearm homicide rates.

But it’s not that easy.

Continue reading “Gun ownership isn’t the problem”