Economic Instability = Ticket to Privatization

For the record:  I’m opposed to the massive wave of stimulus that’s been running across the planet.

1. It’s misdirected.
2. It’s poorly planned.
3. It fails to invest in the future.
4. It fails to invest in things that make sense.  Example:  we don’t need more roads, we need more geo-thermal infrastructure.
5. It fails to acknowledge that consumption is the problem and not the solution.
6. It’s elitist.  Most of the money is drifting straight up to the top (or the mob).

Our grand kids, assuming our planet is able to support life within the next 20 years or so, will look back at these times and wonder how we were able to tie our own shoes, let alone be stewards for the future of this planet.

Anyways, it’s not really the rant I wanted to get into, but I needed to set the tone for what follows.

I believe that these stimulus programs are only designed to do these things:  massively over-inflate our level of debt, ‘socialize’ the cost of stupidity at the big banks and auto manufacturers and ultimately, push all public authorities into a position where they only have three options:

1. Drastically reduce spending
2. Massively increase the level of taxes
3. Declare bankruptcy.

It’s unlikely that option 3 is a real option, unless you live in California or Iceland.  The powers that be simply won’t let it happen.

And for nearly a decade (for some, much longer) we’ve all heard about the ‘evils’ of taxes and how, if it were up to some people like  Steve, we wouldn’t have taxes at all (meanwhile we’d be living in a state of anarchy with no roads, fire departments, police forces, judiciary or legal system, but those are a whole other discussion).

So … as a result of questionable book-keeping, even more questionable objectives with the various ‘Action Plans’ across Canada and the globe, we’ll all hear about the need to tighten belts in the very near term.

Expect cuts to come at a trickle at first.  Little things like arts programs and day care initiatives will be eliminated, but never in a way that would create a state of mass irritation.  It’ll be the death by 1000 cuts.

And then one day:  the big bath.  We’ll be sliced, hacked, chopped and cut to ribbons before we can say ‘mother’ and projects that were once full steam ahead will stop dead in their tracks as the Cons decide the gig is up.  That will likely fall shortly after they win a majority (which will probably be next spring).

All public utilities, institutions and corporations will hit the chopping block, raising millions when they’re worth billions.  Real estate will enter the market again, depressing our housing values and depressing what cities will tax in as property tax revenue.  All public services will be privatized or greatly modified to be ‘market friendly’, despite the fact that the market can be pretty cruel to most humans.

And for what?  Because we couldn’t see the forest for the trees.  We couldn’t decide on where to spend the money best, so we just bought a patchwork quilt of roads that will need repair again in 5 years.

So what are we to do?  I honestly don’t have the answers because I don’t think we should have let our deficit balloon the way it did.  Of course, what’s frustrating about that is that it leaves me (and millions of other Canadians, I’m sure) without someone to point the finger at.

We all seemed to want it, so sooner or later, we’re all going to have to pay the price.