Liberal “race to the right”?

​​Image from: Robert Went on Twitter


Liberal “race to the right”?

Not really; they're already there.

Have just read a very interesting article written prior to the 2015 Canadian election suggesting that the Trudeau Liberals are basically Harperites in disguise:

ForgettheBox: Liberal Party of Canada: Liberal or Neo-Liberal?

• From their virulent support for the Keystone XL pipeline and support of the Nexen take-over, to their silence concerning the cuts to CBC, Employment Insurance, Post Canada or their refusal to show support for a higher corporate tax rate. The LPC has done everything to prove themselves the worthy heirs of the Conservative agenda which has held power in Ottawa for the past 10 years.
• The LPC isn’t Liberal anymore, rather it has decided to shed that skin and embrace a new neo-liberal gown.

It isn't as if we weren't warned.  All the signs were there that it would be business as usual, Canada being basically ruled by corporations and threats, such as from SNC-Lavalin, to move offshore if the government messes with them. Tellingly, Lavalin was already heavily involved in offshore activities.

So in 2015 Canada got the government it voted for - essentially no different from the previous one.  The same thing happened in France when Macron created a whole new party (in name only) that promised a better deal, and the French fell for it  -- and they still imagine that they can influence him by marching in the streets.

Nobody, apparently, stopped to consider that Macron himself was parachuted into power by stinking rich bankers, since he himself was one of them.

Similarly: Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, is a filthy rich son and grandson of beneficiaries of the oil industry and hasn't a clue about the life of the average Canadian citizen.

I don't have an opinion on pipelines per se, but it does seem that control of Canada's oil production is slipping out of Canadian hands.  The Nexen takeover seems certainly to be a harbinger of that.

It seems that Earth itself is on its way to becoming one big corporation, and people will only be useful so long as they can help keep the monster fed.

Here's a thought: if instead of railing impotently against the government, if every Canadian had always bought Canadian products only, and if every Canadian corporation had been content (or compelled) to sell locally only, and if Canadians had been willing to do without certain items if not produced by our own workers, what kind of impact do you think that would have had on the way our governments are behaving now?

It may not be completely too late:

If Canadian corporations move offshore to avoid paying Canadian taxes, stop buying their products.  If a WalMart moves in to negate Canadian entrepreneurship, don't shop there!

Look around your home; you probably don't need a quarter of the imported crap that's accumulated there. Realize, also, that there's a reason why "imported" has always been snobbishly touted as superior and high class, except when it comes from some sneered-at country, like China.

Complaining about prices when your problem is that you're a shopoholic or brainwashed into thinking you have to keep up with the latest in gadgets, merely contributes to the very situation we rail against.

We do not live in a democracy. We have a few rights, and one of them (so far) is a choice in how we are going to spend our money.  We can give less (or no) business to the credit card companies; spend only what we actually have in the bank; avoid going into deep hock for a house or a car, and if you can afford to buy a house, think about who's going to profit from your purchase because a lot of our real estate is now foreign-owned solely for the purposes of speculation.

If we had any kind of government that cared about the voters themselves, would foreign ownership of their housing be allowed?  Would mega-corporations even be allowed? There was a time when there were restrictions on conglomerates; whatever happened to that?

There's nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with or demeaning about apartment living and the use of public transportation - especially as populations grow larger.  Live closer to where you work, and then maybe you can improve your health by walking there instead of clogging up the roads at rush hour, wasting gas as your car idles, polluting the air as well.

One way to foil compulsory electric car use is to use and support public transportation.

Instead of running around like angry children on weekends waving signs and wearing costumes, Canadians could be activists every day of the week just by how they choose to live their lives.

Trust me; after 9/11, when I was in my 60's, I was heavily involved in activism. For eight years, I marched, photographed and blogged about activist events in Ottawa, Montreal and Montebello (where the 3 amigos, Liberal Paul Martin, Conservative George W. Bush and former Mexican president Fox  met to conspire on behalf of the SPP -- which the Canadian union-based organizers later insisted they had killed, yet it still exists) while at the same time working to support myself.

And the wars happened anyway, and Israel is still making the lives of Palestinians miserable; there is more manufacturing pollution than ever before, and the Security Certificate, put into effect immediately after 9/11 -- in concert with the American Patriot Act that was already planned and written before 9/11 happened -- is still in force, a draconian law that does not have to reveal the actual evidence against the person charged.

Thereafter, the so-called liberal organizers (many of them union reps) gave carte blanche to Obama and Clinton because he was Black and she was female and that made America appear liberal and therefore untouchable.

And then there's George Soros, close friend of Chrystia Freeland who wants to get rid of the party system in Europe. He believes the EU should prevail and that the party system is getting in the way, so he supports local uprisings in Europe -- colour revolutions -- to create instability, a total loss of faith in government and eventually the sole rule of the EU.

So, three guesses what the SPP (or the hotly denied North American Union - NAU) is all about here in the West, and why protest only leads to more frustration.  These entities are all about international corporatism with the United States being the dominant factor.

The only way to protest against megacorps is, of course, to only buy products manufactured on home soil. And if you can't find the groovey product you saw advertised, then do without it unless it's a matter of life and death. Citizens everywhere have to inconvenience the corporations instead of mindlessly supporting their greed.

If you don't want G5, for instance, wire your computer to a Canadian cable outlet.  Right now, every Canadian should do that - cancel your Bell Fibe because it's taking us to corporate hell.  Don't wait until it's too late.

I don't pay any attention to Halloween, Christmas or Easter anymore because they are all pollutants of the environment and a push to buy, buy, buy. Think about why the fear of the dead became the childish expectation of massive amounts of candy treats, or why the birth of Jesus and the omnipotence of Santa were combined, or why the death of Jesus is observed with chocolate Easter Bunnies and other expensive goodies.

It's no wonder politicians think they can get away with almost anything.  We've proved how thick we are just by the things we buy, the ideas we buy into, the sales pitches we get sucked into:

TheConversation: Must end soon! But not too soon! The catch in time-limited sales tactics

• Time needs to be limited to deter you from searching elsewhere for a better deal. But paradoxically you also need enough time to convince yourself that buying is the best decision.

Thank goodness there's still time to seriously listen to people like Chris Hedges - YouTube - 
who, as far back as 2011, foretold the death of true liberalism:

• Hedges argues that there are five pillars of the liberal establishment - the press, liberal religious institutions, labor unions, universities and the Democratic Party - but that these institutions have failed the constituents they purport to represent.

Yes, even the labour unions that have dragged people out into the streets in France are operating in their own best interests, and not necessarily that of the people.  Even powerful elements within Christianity (Hedges was ordained as a cleric and is in a position to know) have become a danger to democracy.

In 2018, Hedges continued to speak what activists used to call "truth to power" - YouTube.

Hedges admits to being of a Keynesian mind-bent where economics are concerned. So do I.

What Is Keynesian Economics?

One doesn't have to agree with Hedges' complete take on societal problems, especially his concerns about "climate", but with regard to governments in general, he is well-worth a listen.

Further reading on Neoliberalism:

• Brexit, the rise of extreme right-wing nationalism and anti-globalization, the Euro crisis, austerity, consumer debt and economic anxiety are all arguably byproducts of neoliberalism's ideology.

And it may well be time to revisit an amazingly predictive documentary well worth reviewing: The Corporation 2003 - YouTube.

Related on YYC: Something Wicked This Way Comes