The time immediately after World War II was a time of tremendous transition. The American billionaire, Rick Dallio claims that we are at another such inflection point. Will we transition, or will we sink into our same old ways? Glen Pearson writes that, after the war, Canada followed the lead of Franklin Roosevelt:
To deal with the gaps, or holes, in Canadian society, they followed the lead set by Franklin Roosevelt years earlier and invested in Canadians themselves just as much as the country’s natural resources. They shifted policies and shaped taxes to create a more advanced, and prosperous, citizenship. They invested in companies that invested in workers. Leave a gap untended long enough and you’ll have revolution on your hands. The likes of Louis St. Laurent, Lester Pearson and John Diefenbaker, with help from the likes of Tommy Douglas, understood that possibility and set about to put the country on a different, more equitable, course. They understood that the old paths had ultimately led to dysfunction and disaster and sought to forge a new path of shared prosperity.
A much different man than Roosevelt now sits in the White House. He's Roosevelt's polar opposite. Following Donald Trump's example will lead to oblivion:
If Ray Dalio is right, most countries in the world will make a fundamental mistake should they follow normal procedure afer every recession – downsizing, austerity, cutbacks. They must see it as post-World War Two leaders perceived it: a time of transition planning, not recession paring. Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio in the mid-1990s was 63.8%. Today, even in the midst of a crippling pandemic, it is 53.8%, but rising. Canada entered the Covid-19 crisis with the lowest central government debt-to-GDP ratio of the Group of Seven economies. In the 1990s, we were sixth.
The opportunity is now present, where the Canadian economy can be regenerated from the ground up, in a fashion that empowers Canadians instead of isolating them. We have done it before in worse conditions. It’s this distinction between recession thinking and transition planning that will determine this country’s future in a more troubled world.
The choice is ours. The question is: Are we smart enough to make the right choice?
Image: wwwbigchoicebrewing.com
8 comments:
I wonder if Dalio is willing to accept the post-World War Two marginal tax rates that made the recovery possible? How else do we reverse a situation where the eight richest men own more wealth than half the human race? During the pandemic Jeff Bezos alone is adding $13 billion a day to his stash! Wealth like that takes choice out of our hands. As Euripides noted in the fifth century BCE, "Against the talking power of money eloquence is of no avail."
Cap
An excellent point, Cap. The transition worked because the tax system supported it. The tax structures we have now mitigate against transition.
I know I sound like a broken record, Owen, but I think the system worked in post WWII because our priorities in those days were primarily based on needs rather than wants. We also had people that lived through those awful years (financially) of the dirty 30's and looked to electing politicians who saw their role as improving the lives of all Canadians, rather than leave them indentured for the rest of their working lives, and so they created new jobs.
Ontario led the country in solid manufacturing jobs that could support a family - those are all gone since the proliferating "free trade" agreements pushed by successive right wing politicians were instituted. Farmers organized co-ops so that they could achieve a reasonable financial return on all the investment (both money and labour) they expended growing food to feed the rest of us. In BC, a province gifted with a number of natural resources, was able to attract investment to create a value-added component which included jobs that supported families.
And, as you say, the tax system helped this transition enormously. I really do tire of the continuous whining of the current crop of right wing pols and would like them to clarify what they would do to get us back on track. So, far, the only action that sticks out is that Harper chose to prorogue Parliament when he had a minority government but no answers, and one only has to look at Jason, the wonder-boy, in Alberta to see what his intents are.
No, I will stick with any party that at least starts in the middle and hope there is someone in Ottawa who has the same tenacity of a Tommy Douglas that can and did encourage the moderate politicians to take that leap and create some social programs that enhance the lives of those who will never attain that vaunted status called a "1 percenter".
The idea of equal taxes for all regardless of the amount of employees one has should be in place. A flat tax is a good way to start. In Hong kong, where they have always had more than their fare share of tycoons have always had such a system. It is why periodically when there is a surplus it is given back to every citizen. The idea of competing on a world stage for profit while Canadians live in poverty is insane. We don't need China because we are way better at what we do.
Harper made such a political renaissance nigh impossible, Owen. Shifty Steve's triumph had less to do with the Conservative Party and much more to how he moved Canada's political keel to the right, starboard. We watched as first the Liberals and then the Layton-era NDP slipped their moorings and followed in Harper's wake. The final vestiges of progressivism were purged from the Liberals as they transformed to Conservative-Lite even as the NDP positioned themselves as Latter Day Liberals. The left flank was abandoned and those constituents were forced to look out for themselves.
The NDP under first Layton and then Mulcair abandoned the left as they chased the goal of forming government. They even supported Harper as a way to subvert the Liberals and take second place. For a while it worked. In the end they just came up short.
Ignatieff steered the party centre-right. Just as Harper wanted to mould the Conservatives in the image of Republicans, Iggie seemed to want the Libs to mirror the Democrats. His ideas for a "muscular foreign policy" were a giveaway. That's why, when an election rolled around, Iggy had no real platform to reveal and instead recycled old saws such as funding for the arts and daycare when the country was in the throes of global upheaval.
I thought Trudeau might use his majority to right Canada's political keel, to bring the Libs back to the centre-left. No such luck. We're not seeing a reversion to Harper conservatism but we're also not seeing a restoration in the Liberal party either. Until the party embraces the fundamental tenets of progressivism there'll be no epiphany.
Tommy Douglas and others like him believed in community and collective action, Lulymay. These days, the cult of the individual is at the centre of our culture and our politics. Its acceptance has become as natural as breathing. And we are paying the price for breathing in all that bad air.
If by equal you mean fair, zoombats, I agree. Some people are luckier than others. And the tax system should recognize that. Income generated by labour is one way to create wealth. Inheriting it is something else again.
I agree, Mound. There's real progressivism and faux progressivism. These days, progressivism is given lip-service. But the real deal is nowhere to be found.
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