So, I had another entry picked for my first in this series, but I changed my mind. I want to do a few entries on all the things that are fucking up the world right now. I'll back up; seeing the poverty in Yellowknife, staying in downtown Edmonton for a couple of nights, and then seeing downtown Saskatoon the other day, it is heartbreaking to see how the world has gotten. We can also add Pandora Street in Victoria to the list. The poverty, you can look at the crime and addiction stats. It is all terrible & what struck me is that no one gives a fuck. I love Canada, I love 'Berta! But I don't love our politics. If you watch every party, every one, including the ones I support, do fuck all to make the world better. They try to prove how the other party is wrong, but none try to make things better. I have gotten to the point I don't think they want to. Hell, if things get too good, what do they rant about? Even at a municipal level, you take Edmonton, for example. Crime and poverty are rampant; what did we do? Well, we banned single-use plastics. Thank fuck for that!
Who cares about people who need help as long as we stop plastic! I digress. It is pointless to look at these issues without looking at the system as a whole to start. The things that control the system, politics and economics. For all these blogs, I will try my best to keep my personal views out, but it will be hard on this topic. So yes, this one may be biased.
First, our whole system is broken, and I have done a bunch of blogs on that. So I won't go into it. However, I stick with democracy; capitalism is the best way to live. First and foremost, you never see people saying, "Man, I want to go back to that dictatorship." democracy promotes freedom. Without that, the rest is all meaningless. Loki in Avengers had a great speech on freedom. How we don't want it and how it ruins things, Anakin in Star Wars talks about dictatorships working, and both are right. The simple fact is that for a while, a dictatorship does work. There is a reason we have things like the War Measures Act, because when things get bad government needs to be able to get shit done, BUT that is not a way to live day to day. No one wants the government to control their lives. To be able to ban books, art, communications, basic freaking knowledge. So don't take that as a pitch for a dictatorship, but if we are honest, there are certain things that style is better at. My whole point in this series of blogs is honesty.
It boggles my mind that all these "kids" want communism. There has never been a communist nation that has been great for people. I freely admit that Cubans loved Fidel, and it seems like commie leaders around the world are adored by their people. Yet people from each one of those nations want to escape. On paper, it is a great system; everyone gets provided for. The sad fact is, though, as long as humans are human, we are going to fuck each other over. We will want more, and "leaders" will have a better life. Our basic human desire for more is what makes communism not work. I believe humanity can do good things. We see it daily, but we still have cravings leading down a greedy road. Maybe greed isn't even the word, but look at an average person. Let's say they go to university. They live in a single one-bedroom with a TV, couch, and coffee table, which seems excellent. Then they meet the love of their life and get a more excellent 2-bedroom condo. Maybe add a kitchen table. Take down the flag that was a curtain and buy actual curtains. Get a job and have to upgrade the wardrobe. Perhaps they get promoted and buy their first home in a few years. Slowly fill it with nicer things; that ratty old couch no longer cuts it. Then they get married and have a couple of kids. Well, that old beater car needs to be more reliable in the Canadian winter. That house isn't big enough for a family and the new dog, so they buy a bigger house. (Not even greedy, just a slightly bigger bungalow!) Then, as the children grow, the parents want to save and put away for their school. To help them out so maybe they don't have to struggle. Is any of that wrong? No, is it greedy? No, but it is people wanting things. That wasn't even keeping up with the Jones mentality. That was just life. Until a society becomes so wealthy that EVERYONE can get a comfy life, communism will never work. I'm pretty sure no one wants fascism or any of the other isms, SO the best option is still democracy.
I should include the breakdown that needs fixing in our system. First, our first-past-the-post system needs to be overhauled. It is becoming more common to see the government made up of parties that do not win the popular vote, which is wrong. In a democracy, the government should be the most voted-for party, not one put in by winning ridings. Other nations around the world have used proportional representation to combat this problem. This system gives some of the small voices that are usually shut out a voice in government. The only other option is to keep that but make the Senate here useful. Make it nonpartisan, but I don't see that happening this far into the game. Or make the Senate the proportional house and see if that works.
Another change I strongly support is term limits, sixteen years in government max, four terms. I'll even be generous: you can add two terms if you become a leader. That could be up to 24 years in government, which is more than enough. Get out and see the world. We all know you have made enough connections. You are going to land a cush job somewhere. No one should be a career politician. It was once a responsibility that people took seriously. Now, it's a great way to make money, and on top of that, how can you govern people well if you don't know them? People should have some life experience before they hold office. You could be a staffer and in the wings, but to genuinely govern people, you should have life experience.
Let's end affirmative action as well. At the level of running a nation, it should be the best person for the job. It is not based on age, gender, religion, or sexual preference. The Minister of Health should be someone in the healthcare field for a time, with knowledge not just of running a hospital but someone who has done the day-to-day activities in healthcare. I don't care who this person is; they should be good at it. If a party wants to show how progressive they are, that is on them. I prefer the best person for the job. Politics should not be a show sport but working for the betterment of all. An intelligent party will TRY and have representatives from all communities and cultures in Canada. I am not saying don't have a good mix of people; various ideas are essential in such a large and diverse nation, but don't be doing it for show.
When you hit economics, it has to be capitalism. BUT mixed capitalism. We see that pure capitalism will never work for the same reason communism won't work. GREED. However, capitalism is greed that is made to work. People get wealthy and want to get richer and horde it. Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with billionaires. Suppose you have an idea and move on it; all the power to you. You take the risk and deserve the reward, but we lost true capitalism along the way. Adam Smith thought that people would take care of the less fortunate as they got wealthy. I am guessing he also believed trickle down economics worked (It does). Years ago, the ultra-wealthy built hospitals and libraries. Put much money into improving the world. Now, they build spaceships for themselves. I am unsure if it was a spoof, but I have seen 2 of these rich clowns want a mma match. SO yet again, humans being humans screw us all and make an economic system fail. Ergo, we need mixed capitalism. We require a capitalistic push to produce the best goods and services. However, we do need to take care of people better, which new capitalism isn't doing. For example (Not supporting private healthcare but a great example), I Saw a specialist with Alberta Health; honestly, she did not seem to give a crap. Oh, google this, do that. Really? I could google without seeing you HOWEVER called a private specialist in the same field and wow much better. Let's lay out a plan; let's do this, we can check if it is working. One is just sent clients and "appears" not to put all-out effort. (I could be wrong) One who is forced to work to get and keep clients seemed to work her ass off. So again, capitalism makes people work; if people want to be successful, they have to work. The same goes for goods; for a long time, people concentrated on making the best product people wanted to buy, but sadly, we let that slip as well. We allow places like Walmart to move in, and they raced to the bottom. Instead of demanding good products, half-assed shit did fine. When you produce less quality products, you pay employees less. These people have less to spend, which isn't good for the economy. I will always push for a better product, even if it costs more. I realize that is easy to say with some money in the bank. I have had minimum wage and needed Walmart, so I know a better minimum wage would help and let people demand a better product. However, many people need to deal with their money better. I was also guilty of that; maybe in high school, career and life management should teach personal economics a lot better! A race to the bottom is what has made such class divides. It is why the people at the top and bottom are now so far apart. Again, that is just an example of the positives and negatives of capitalism.
Taxes are not theft. Taxes pave roads, staff hospitals, and pay the police to keep order. Your taxes cover any provincial, municipal, or federal building. It is paying a fair share to keep society rolling. I have no kids, but I know some of my hard-earned cash is helping build and staff schools. Deep down, does it annoy me a bit ya. Same a discount daycare; I didn't have these kids, so why am I paying? Because someday down the line, they may be looking after me. I have no kids and might end up in a home somewhere. I prefer a professional caregiver that was educated. I discussed with a person who only rides a bike, and they said they should pay less for road maintenance than a person like me who drives a truck. They are less wear and tear on the road... That is true, but do they go to market to buy food? YES, ergo, they should pay the same; big trucks supply all the stores we shop at. We all use all parts of society and are all responsible for it. The taxation system should be fair for everyone. That is my final thought on economics.
So this is not one of those nothing is broken; don't fix it, blogs. There is a lot we can do better in government. Not meaning the parties, but the overall system could use a light overhaul. How we elect parties, their control, and even how long they can serve should be considered. As for economics, that is a complex issue. Capitalism is always going to create wealthy and poor people. The system is rigged against the poor ever really gaining ground, and poverty will be a separate blog altogether. So I am not getting into its effect here. That is why we have some socialist ideas that make our society better. In the end, we do have the best system going. Democracy, for all its flaws, is the closest we have to people having power, and capitalism should drive a healthy economy. We don't want dictatorships, we don't want communism, we don't want a theocracy where religion dictates our lives. We want our say and the ability to generate a good income.
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