[Loop of Hell] The Entrenchment of Neoliberal Policy in Canada

Photo Caption: Heil Harper?

I just read an excellent article by Bryan Evans regarding the Harper government's 2008 Budget, and how this is a tool to consolidate neoliberal economic policies in Canada. I highly recommend that you read this if you have any interest in understanding the basics of how neoliberal governments gut social spending and pave the way for the economic elite to consolidate their power, which leaves the poor with nothing but their own devices to survive.

Check out Canada's Budget 2008: Taxes and the Forward March of Neoliberalism

In my opinion, what emerges from neoliberal policy is what I call a "loop of hell", where a cycle of spending cuts and tax cuts begin to feed off each other. Worst of all, the loop is reinforced by the coerced support of the masses. This is how it works: Cutting taxes tends to be a "popular" move, because nobody likes paying taxes. But, the lost government revenue over the next decade (which in this case amounts to $60 Billion) will mean that any government over the next 10 years has NO CHOICE but to cut spending. As a result, the non-profit sector and the welfare apparatus suffer, the corporate sector is reinforces, non-unionized jobs with no job security nor benefits are favoured over decent working conditions, and everyday Canadians get poorer and as a result, the idea of paying taxes becomes even more unattractive to them. SO then when a progressive government gets elected (yeah right) and says "OK, we're going to put money back into social programs, the welfare state and the non-profit/charitable sector..." the only real way to do it is by a) increasing taxes again (which in our society is a move that is equated with the devil), or b) nationalizing wealth-producing industries (like oil) and transferring profits into the public realm (which is the kind of thing that prompts the CIA to launch coups d'etat and impose American loving conservative governments).

So you see, the loop of hell is a downward spiral, it's a cycle of societal death. This is why it is more important than ever to vote against these kinds of neoliberal budgets NOW, before it's too late. And yet the stupid Liberal party is so afraid of being seen as forcing an election that they don't vote against any of this stuff. It's time people see that it's the CONSERVATIVES that are trying to force elections, they're the idiots who are putting ridiculous legislation on the table - they are to blame here, for the destruction of the few semblances of social consciousness that existed in Canada up until the turn of the millennium, and for enacting legislation that is lining their crony's coffers with cash.