This new year has been kickstarted by increasing conflict and aggression, and a lot of confusion and misinformation.

When it comes to misinformation, we have to recognize that it has been a staple of rulers throughout the ages to try and spin the story so that we no longer know our own history – not even our history of struggle, let alone our history of successful struggle. In fact, we often do not even know the names of the leaders who led those struggles.

The first casualty of war is the truth, as the oft repeated axiom attests.

Reading short form texts on social media often does not help. And now with AI (artificial intelligence) one is never really sure what is solid, accurate reflection, and what has been ‘scraped’ from the web and rewritten by generative AI.

To start the new year I have a few recommendations on what we might be reading to let us know where we have been, and also where we might be headed — and just maybe, find a bit of inspiration in the stories and information that long-form documents can provide.

Harvesting Freedom

Firstly – rabble.ca has often published on the harsh working conditions and rights of migrant farm workers in Canada. Human rights and labour advocates have for several years lobbied for changes in federal government policies to recognize the contributions of migrant farm workers to food production and Canadian society.

Harvesting Freedom: The life of a Migrant Farm Worker in Canada by Gabriel Allahdua published by BTL Books in 2023 is a first-person account of the struggles of a farmworker born in St. Lucia.

This book covers a lot of ground and puts a very human face on the farm workers who come to Canada. It’s also an insight into the conditions that lead farm workers to leave their families and their communities to earn money to provide for them. It’s a touching and also a tough read at times. But, it is also an inspirational read, a very personal journey about why and how a person becomes a migrant worker. In the process it dispels many myths. And it is also a call to action to recognize human and workers rights. Various articles on rabble.ca have included detail about the condition of migrant workers, and this book is an excellent way of providing a more in-depth, first-person look at a very important issue.

Humans

Humans: The 300,000 year struggle for equality by Alvin Finkel, is a 416-page book published by Lorimer in 2024.

If you are feeling down about the challenges ahead and wondering if efforts by common folk will ever change anything, this is the book that could help perk you up. As its author Alvin Finkel stated in an email sent to me awhile back: “I believe it is a hopeful book for our hopeless-seeming time.” Prescient, I would say – particularly given the happenings of 2026 so far.

Understanding how communities and individuals have made a difference throughout the ages........

© rabble