Progressivism or Unionism?

Elections say what citizens want from their governments, or do they? What if they actually show how large and politically influential special interest groups have become to capture “democracy”?

The Progressive Left speaks for Kitchener Centre. The election results seems to tell the story about a Socialist city that loves living under the thumb of authoritarian taxation and regulations.

Perhaps there is another element to the story that speaks to the success of organized labour within government workplaces. In either case, Karl Marx would the proud.

My analysis of the KC election results.

GREEN + NDP + LIBERAL = ~82% of the total votes which represent the Left.

CONSERVATIVE + NEW BLUE + LIBERTARIAN = ~13% the middle-Right

Libertarians are considered by most people to represent the Right end of the political spectrum. Actually, we want much less government and if this is considered by the misinformed to be “Right wing”, then the shoe fits.

It is not entirely clear if Conservatives want to expand or reduce the size, cost and scope of government authority. The sitting Ford administration seems to like power and wants more of it.

The New Blue appears to be sympathetic to many of the Libertarian principles and goals, but the details are sketchy. I suspect that their leader, Jim Karahalios, might think of himself as a Classical Liberal who wants a more accountable version on Conservatism with a marginally smaller footprint.

The Kitchener Centre results don’t surprise me.

The greater Kitchener-Waterloo metropolitan area boasts several universities and colleges within its reach. Like most cities, many inhabitants either work for one of the three levels of government, or work in professions and businesses that rely heavily on government operations to earn incomes and/or revenues.

Consider the following:

• About 75% of government employees are required to be members of a public sector union. During elections, these unions rally their membership to vote for the party that benefits their “union community” the most. If union members vote at the rate of 80% while nonunion workers vote at the rate of 40%, it doesn’t take a genius to predict the election outcome. In the KC election, only 27% of eligible voters actually voted. It wouldn’t surprise me if the vast majority of these were union members.

• Some professions exist solely as agents of government who enforce their policies. Lawyers and Accountants, for example, depend on complex laws and regulations to attract paying customers who are helpless without expert support. Politicians, such as Libertarians, who advocate for less government, offer exactly the opposite of what these professionals want. More government complexity and control over citizen choices is always good for their businesses.

• Government suppliers benefit from big governments, not smaller ones. When a vendor of products or services wins a government contract, it is time to break out the champagne. The expected revenues from taxpayers’ dollars are a bonanza to the business owners and their employees, and government growth is always welcome.

Public-Private Partnership is a “no lose” proposition.

The formula for transforming a nation that began as a democracy in which Producers and Consumers were the dominant economic actors to become a fascist state (one in which Big Business colludes with Big Government for mutual gain) is simple…

… feed the nation’s citizens with dreams of security provided by G-Men (government workers) until the day comes when the G-Men outnumber the citizens.

Elections will continue to provide the illusion of democracy, but everyone will know the truth. Only those who benefit directly from government money/debt and legislation will go to the polls to keep their gravy train running.

As long as powerful public sector labour unions, and other “pigs at the trough”, are able to determine election outcomes successfully, we will continue to see more election results like that in KC and every other urban area with high levels of public sector employment and other forms of government dependency.

The evidence is clear.

Canada’s #1 problem is Too Much Government.

Repealing all labour legislation and regulations that enable labour unions to exist in all public sector institutions is a good place to start to reclaim Canada’s democracy. However, the real work will be in tackling all unnecessary laws and regulations at every level of government.

Complex tax laws do not benefit Canadians citizens. Preparing personal tax returns should not require the services of accountants.

Defending one’s self with a legal defence should not depend entirely on a monopoly legal system that controls every facet of that defence within government institutions. Our courts are a nightmare on so many levels that it’s hard to know where to begin addressing the problems.

Awaking the sleepwalkers.

My aunt Teresa died a few years ago at age 100. She told a story of my dad, her younger brother, as a teenager who she met on the street around 1 AM walking in his pajamas on the way to the local pharmacy. She realized he was sleepwalking and told him go back to bed which he did dutifully while still asleep.

How many of us sleepwalk through life, blissfully unaware of our social and political surroundings?

Prior to 2007, I followed “the news” by reading newspapers like the National Post and magazines like the Economist, listening to mainstream radio stations and watching TV. From these sources, I considered myself well informed. Today, none of these are on my “news menu”, replaced entirely by the Internet’s amazingly diverse sources of information that offers both “mainstream” and “alternative” viewpoints.

I greatly prefer the “compare & contrast” opportunities these provide over the carefully-curated propaganda that today’s “legacy” sources disseminate. To consider this diversity of views with a critical eye is what it takes to be “well informed” in 2023.

To be “awake” is not enough.

In mid 2022, I attended a convention of Ontario’s “freedom groups” that was organized by one called Elevate Community. Representatives from over 60 groups attended to hear speakers and network with others interested in creating a “parallel” economy. They seek to build communities of like-minded citizens who wish to escape the many global corporations and autocratic institutions that blanket their daily living.

While attendees could eloquently discuss the problems with this blanket, solutions were generally feeble to nonexistent because the scope of the problems is so very vast. I consider the KC election results on November 30 to be a proxy for the extent to which Canada’s “democracy” has been captured by those individuals and organizations who have no intention of giving up their Big Government privileges.

Meanwhile, we have entered the “age of global boiling” according to Antonio Guterrez, I will finish this essay to take a photo of my yard which, I suspect, is boiling out of control LOL.