Standing up for Canada
I just read that Bolivia has nationalized it's oil and gas industry, forcibly lowering the price of gasoline to $0.03 per litre in the process. Bolivians can't afford water, milk or bread -- but they can rest easy knowing they have the cheapest gas in the world.
This has made me realize that I live in a really lame country.
Before you call Stephen Harper's thought police hotline and accuse me of seditious behaviour, let me be clear about one thing: Canada has much to be proud of. I'd much rather be living in this country than most others. But what grates me is a gradual realization that our society and leadership are utterly incapable of taking a stand, of doing something meaningful, of being about something.
In Bolivia's case, newly-elected president Evo Morales decided that his impoverished yet oil-rich nation would no longer be beholden to the multinational oil industry. Following the lead of Venezuelan hothead former army general-turned-president Hugo "sure I attempted a coup but that was YEARS ago" Chavez, Morales sent troops out to secure foreign oil and gas installations, ensuring that the lucrative profits would no longer flow into foreign bank accounts, but instead would flow into his.
A cynical view, perhaps? One could argue that he is standing up for the poor Bolivian guy trying to earn a decent wage. Conversely, one could argue that one corruption has superceded another. Yet regardless of whether or not Morales is trying to make an international statement, or a quick buck, Bolivia's interests are ostensibly being looked after. And you have to admire the guy, standing up to the boys from Houston with the big cowboy hats, stogies and cadillacs. Someone is supposedly standing up for Bolivia.
So who exactly is standing up for Canada?
Today's federal budget tabled by the Conservative government certainly does not breed optimism. Stephen Harper has the unmitigated gall to simultaneously cut corporate tax rates, and -- AND!! -- RAISE the tax rate by half a percentage point for the LOWEST INCOME Canadians. Rich tycoons pay less, poor Canadians pay more. And they've cancelled the creation of a national childcare program, opting for taxable tax credits instead. But it's all okay, since they also won't be bothered paying to establish or enforce environmental emission standards, either.
So please tell me -- who are the crooks here?
When I ask "who will stand up for Canada" -- I mean, who will look beyond their short mandate to govern and try to build our society from within? Who is willing to put their big hairy balls on the line and come up with free, universal childcare -- so that single mothers and struggling families can work without worrying about their children? Who has guts enough to establish free university tuition, so that inner-city kids can have a future apart from gang life? Who will undertake the difficult task of examining why people become criminals, instead of just doubling the jail time for offenders? And who has the werewithal to maintain a fair and healthy tax level in order to pay for it, instead of reducing taxes for corporations?
These are questions all Canadians need to ask themselves. Evo Morales understands that if you include the marginalized peoples into society, then society as a whole is made stronger. We as a people need to learn a lesson from this. We need to invest in our poor, our children, and our environment. And the Conservatives sure as hell won't be the ones to do it. Neither will the Liberals of course; they're just useless. But the Conservatives are dangerous.
Something to think about next time you bitch about the price of gas.
This has made me realize that I live in a really lame country.
Before you call Stephen Harper's thought police hotline and accuse me of seditious behaviour, let me be clear about one thing: Canada has much to be proud of. I'd much rather be living in this country than most others. But what grates me is a gradual realization that our society and leadership are utterly incapable of taking a stand, of doing something meaningful, of being about something.
In Bolivia's case, newly-elected president Evo Morales decided that his impoverished yet oil-rich nation would no longer be beholden to the multinational oil industry. Following the lead of Venezuelan hothead former army general-turned-president Hugo "sure I attempted a coup but that was YEARS ago" Chavez, Morales sent troops out to secure foreign oil and gas installations, ensuring that the lucrative profits would no longer flow into foreign bank accounts, but instead would flow into his.
A cynical view, perhaps? One could argue that he is standing up for the poor Bolivian guy trying to earn a decent wage. Conversely, one could argue that one corruption has superceded another. Yet regardless of whether or not Morales is trying to make an international statement, or a quick buck, Bolivia's interests are ostensibly being looked after. And you have to admire the guy, standing up to the boys from Houston with the big cowboy hats, stogies and cadillacs. Someone is supposedly standing up for Bolivia.
So who exactly is standing up for Canada?
Today's federal budget tabled by the Conservative government certainly does not breed optimism. Stephen Harper has the unmitigated gall to simultaneously cut corporate tax rates, and -- AND!! -- RAISE the tax rate by half a percentage point for the LOWEST INCOME Canadians. Rich tycoons pay less, poor Canadians pay more. And they've cancelled the creation of a national childcare program, opting for taxable tax credits instead. But it's all okay, since they also won't be bothered paying to establish or enforce environmental emission standards, either.
So please tell me -- who are the crooks here?
When I ask "who will stand up for Canada" -- I mean, who will look beyond their short mandate to govern and try to build our society from within? Who is willing to put their big hairy balls on the line and come up with free, universal childcare -- so that single mothers and struggling families can work without worrying about their children? Who has guts enough to establish free university tuition, so that inner-city kids can have a future apart from gang life? Who will undertake the difficult task of examining why people become criminals, instead of just doubling the jail time for offenders? And who has the werewithal to maintain a fair and healthy tax level in order to pay for it, instead of reducing taxes for corporations?
These are questions all Canadians need to ask themselves. Evo Morales understands that if you include the marginalized peoples into society, then society as a whole is made stronger. We as a people need to learn a lesson from this. We need to invest in our poor, our children, and our environment. And the Conservatives sure as hell won't be the ones to do it. Neither will the Liberals of course; they're just useless. But the Conservatives are dangerous.
Something to think about next time you bitch about the price of gas.
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