The Evolution of Democracy, Episode #1 *** Defund subsidized media ***

Previously, I wrote 10 Substack episodes, “Digital Direct Democracy”, to update the Amazon Kindle ebook published in early 2023. This post begins a series of potential DDD applications.

Pay ONLY for value received.

I receive no value from the CBC, CTV, Global, City TV, the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, Toronto Sun, National Post or any other legacy broadcaster because I never consume their content. Yet…

I am forced to “subscribe” to their services through taxation. Why?

If the Citizen’s Preferences Database (CPD) [the heart of the Digital Direct Democracy proposal] were available today, I could exercise my Freedom of Informed Choice regarding government policies and programs. From an online user interface, I would register my decision to OPT OUT of all tax payments that fund the CBC and every other media organization that has accepted payments from the $595 million “media bailout fund” enacted by Trudeau in 2018.

To OPT OUT of these tax obligations is equivalent to cancelling subscriptions for which I never agreed and do not want or need.

Anyone who wants to continue subscribing to those services are free to do at their own expense.

By wary of the fine print.

Strings are always attached to government subsidies. Throughout Covid there was ample evidence that those media subsidy payments were actually disguised bribes to “encourage” the journalism sector to be “friendly” to Justin’s regime.

The corporate media sector stopped holding government officials to account for their unpopular policies and scandals.

This proposal may not produce big tax saving on its own, but when combined with other OPT OUT opportunities that this Substack series will identify, the savings will increase. You will also gain the personal satisfaction that you are systematically “tuning” your family budget to eliminate all wasteful spending.

Lobbying will stop?

Another less noticeable advantage to every Canadian taxpayer is that DDD will begin to weaken the efforts of lobbyists. If lobbyists learn that politicians and senior government officials have no way to stop Canadians from exercising their right to OPT OUT of certain tax obligations like the ‘forced media subscription payments’, they their lobbying efforts will fail. This will be particularly frustrating to the globalist NGO lobby groups for Climate Change, for example.

Besides, if I could OPT OUT of funding the CBC today, I wouldn’t have to wait for the next election to see if a new Conservative government would “Defund the CBC” as promised. Elections are just another opportunity for political “lobbying by special interest groups” who exert great influence on election outcomes.

I prefer an OPT OUT “sure thing” today rather than an election “crap shoot” in 2025.

Start talking.

I hope that forthcoming posts like this will get people talking and lobbying others to push for more Digital Direct Democracy applications like this. The possibilities are many and the impacts of transparency and accountability in the public sector are substantial.

The Digital Revolution is here and continually unfolding.

Canadians can leverage it to their advantage.

Grounded in the Statement of Principles, a widespread understanding of these DDD ideas can lead to a nationwide push towards implementing a beneficial next stage in the Evolution of Democacy.