| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
 Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 1:27 am Post subject: Justin Trudeau's economics 101 |
 |
|
| Quote: |
National Post
Published: Friday, May 18, 2007
It seems Justin Trudeau, fresh from the adventures in constitution- making that landed him in so much trouble with New Brunswick francophones, has decided to share more of his political philosophy with us. On Wednesday, at a high school in Windsor, Ont., Trudeau the Lesser presented 600 students with a bleak vision of the future, warning that an out of control capitalist "machine" is "using up everything on the planet" and that it is time to reconsider our whole way of life. Then he fired up a spliff, put on a vinyl Soft Machine LP and told the kids "I hope I'm not handing you a bummer with this Mother Earth rap--it's my thing these days."
Well, OK-- we're kidding about that last part. But the overall tenor of his remarks suggests that Mr. Trudeau's ideas may not have advanced very far beyond his birth year of 1971. The prize quote from the Windsor Star's account of his anti-capitalist speech has to be this highlight reel of the chief social and environmental injustices of our time: "We consume more water per capita than anyone else on the planet. We produce more solid waste than just about anyone else on the planet. In terms of social justice, our treatment of our aboriginal communities are an absolute disgrace."
Notice anything about these crimes of "capitalism"? Right -- none of them have anything to do with the free market. Water is a resource that has long been allocated by government utilities as a public trust, is generally not covered by classical property rights and is still unpriced for many users; commoditizing it would be an excellent first step toward conservation in places like Alberta, where water is essentially commandeered without limit or unit cost by industry.
Disposal of solid waste is another government-provided service that almost no one is forced to pay a market price for. As for our aboriginal communities, you can go to any reserve and ask the locals whether they consider the Department of Indian Affairs a benign paternal institution that has done an excellent job of protecting them from the tender mercies of capitalism.
Schoolchildren of the Trudeau era-- the one in the past, not the blissful one that is assuredly just around the corner -- were taught that Canada has a "mixed economy" that steered a course between untrammelled, predatory capitalism and the excesses (if any) of the otherwise admirable socialist states of the world. Even then, the crimes and blunders of the government-controlled part of our "mixed" system were routinely ascribed to the "capitalist" element in our social fabric. But it is baffling to see the game attempted now, in a world where the environmental and ethnic horrors committed within planned economies have been chronicled in such detail. Let's hope the high schoolers in Windsor have teachers who are better informed on such matters than Mr. Trudeau. |
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=e752d0bb-e0c5-4e4e-b264-f1ab8b769d50
I like that the Post is calling his idiocy out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 4:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Ah Windsor. A big union town. They'd lap that stuff up. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 4:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
Buddy was a teacher in Montreal before this. With a dad like PT and previous work experience as a teacher in Quebec, it is surprising he didn't run for the Canadian Communist Party.
Speaking of, shouldn't he be NDP? I thought the libs were more market-friendly than this? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 5:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
PET did have a sweet house:
 
His house was just down the street from my dad's lab. I took a walk by one day and snapped these photos.
Say what you want about Trudeau, but it wasn't like even America was running on Thatcher style capitalism in the '70s. America was regulated up the whazoo. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 5:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well, not to turn this into a PT tread, but the economics aren't why I dislike him.
1) NEP (I'm from Alberta, waddya want..)
2) Multiculturalism (or, the death of Canadian culture more properly.. What was the story of Canada quickly became no story at all)
3) Official bilingualism (ensuring only people from Ont., Que., and NB find work for the Feds)
I've said my bit. Don't want to argue it.
I don't think his boy will have much of a career in politics though. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
|
| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 7:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
| BJWD wrote: |
| I don't think his boy will have much of a career in politics though. |
  Wanna bet?  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
friendofIgnatius J.
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
|
| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 6:58 pm Post subject: he is a walking female hygenic product |
|
|
I heard an interview that he did on CBC radio once. He sounded like a giant a-hole. Even to simple questions like what are your plans for the future he went off on how all Canadians need hope. Canada is great blah blah. We should have dreams. He sounded really pompous and douchey.
The scary part is that some people want him to lead the liberal party in the near future.
I am a fan of his father. Yes, he did horrible things to government's budget. But, he had balls.
| Quote: |
| 2) Multiculturalism (or, the death of Canadian culture more properly.. What was the story of Canada quickly became no story at all) |
When you say Canadian culture, you mean white culture don't you.
| Quote: |
| 3) Official bilingualism (ensuring only people from Ont., Que., and NB find work for the Feds) |
This policy doesn't screen geographically, it screens more for intelligence.
Cheers |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: he is a walking female hygenic product |
|
|
| friendofIgnatius J. wrote: |
I heard an interview that he did on CBC radio once. He sounded like a giant a-hole. Even to simple questions like what are your plans for the future he went off on how all Canadians need hope. Canada is great blah blah. We should have dreams. He sounded really pompous and douchey.
The scary part is that some people want him to lead the liberal party in the near future.
I am a fan of his father. Yes, he did horrible things to government's budget. But, he had balls.
| Quote: |
| 2) Multiculturalism (or, the death of Canadian culture more properly.. What was the story of Canada quickly became no story at all) |
When you say Canadian culture, you mean white culture don't you.
| Quote: |
| 3) Official bilingualism (ensuring only people from Ont., Que., and NB find work for the Feds) |
This policy doesn't screen geographically, it screens more for intelligence.
Cheers |
2) I suppose if you want to define the history of Canada by using "white" then sure. But I see where you are going with that.. Cynical canuck nonsense. Because Canada was founded by whites, the story must be erased. Hey, fine enough. But I think a country that puts an unarmed peace keeper on a 5-dollar bill yet doesn't really do jack and/or sh!t for international peacekeeping has an identity problem. In the Canadian case, it is this feeling that there is nothing "Canadian" other than "not-American" which is a direct result of PT and his washing of Canadian history. The point has been to make Canada a "hotel" and not a home, as was described by some award winning poet whose name I forget. PT succeeded, and all we have left is beer, hockey and smugness.
3) Intelligence eh? More cynical and bitter canuck nonsense. If you live in Vancouver, you should be learning Mandarin, not French. If you live in Alberta, even, Mandarin would be more useful. We have fully zero incentive to study for French (we, being West of Central Manitoba). But if you feel the need to massage your ego and intellectually masturbate yourself due to an ability to string together a few sentences in French then go ahead. You are still just an esl cowboy. Don't get ahead of yourself with talk of "intelligence".
Cheers. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
contrarian
Joined: 20 Jan 2007
Location: Nearly in NK
|
| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 9:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I wonder when he will give Western Canada the one finger salute like his father did?
On the other hand he could re-introduce the NEP and give Alberta separatism a boost. Why anyone would want to vot for this immature spotled rich kid |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
|
| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 1:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm from Calgary. Although I don't like Trudeau Sr much, I do agree that he had guts to push for what he believed in. However, the Junior Trudeau does come across as a spoiled brat, especially to westerners. Unfortunatly, I think voters in Ontario and Montreal may actually vote for him. Too bad those areas also make up over 50% of Canada's population.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
