Canada’s Vapid Progressivism

~ Clarissa

I’m subscribed to several progressive Canadian websites and the more I read them the clearer it becomes that Canada’s progressives are so deep in denial that it is destroying all hope for the country’s more liberal future.

I dislike Harper as much as the next person but one can’t discuss Canadian politics and forget to mention that the country was almost untouched by the global economic crisis. Compared to what’s been happening in the US and Europe, Canada has been doing incredibly well.

Many people associate this success with Harper and his Conservatives. And they will continue to do so for as long as Harper’s political opponents studiously avoid mentioning the crisis.

It seems to me that Canada’s progressives live in a bubble that always prevents them from abandoning a narrowly parochial point of view.

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Published by Clarissa

7 thoughts on “Canada’s Vapid Progressivism”

  1. Like Canada, Israel has been “almost untouched by the global economic crisis,” and many (most?) associate this success with Natanyahu and his party, Likud. So Bibi has gotten the most votes in several recent elections.

    I think there is a (significant?) degree of truth in the association of Israelis, since the Left party leader (a woman, btw) has insane economic ideas, which would badly hurt Israeli economy.

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      1. May be I exaggerated, but she sounded too uncareful on TV several times: unlarging badget to a *significant* degree by rising taxes on rich people and companies doesn’t sound realistic. Her party has a site in English:
        http://www.shelly.org.il/node/2011

        1. “The Labor Party will work to increase the participation of populations excluded from the labor market (such as ultra-orthodox men, Arab women, and special-needs individuals).”
        2. “Guaranteed income as an incentive to work”

        The combination of the two above sounds strange. Ultra-orthodox men aren’t “excluded” :

        Like much of the ultra-Orthodox community, their husbands don’t work and these women are the primary breadwinners for their large families with an average of 8 children. In the ultra-Orthodox world, the highest value is based on full-time study of Jewish texts. Unlike in the US, where most ultra-Orthodox men work at least part-time, in Israel only about 25 percent of ultra-Orthodox men are part of the labor force.
        http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Israeli-Ultra-Orthodox-women-join-workforce-men-stay-home-and-study-318329

        As long as Jewish Orthodox and Arab sectors (partly choose to, f.e. by having many children and/or choosing not to work) stay the poorest in Israeli society, more secular Jewish population wouldn’t be eager to subsidize them even more by increasing welfare state. Social safety net is a great thing imo, but if large % chooses not to work, it isn’t fair to others.

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  2. Same thing on a provincial level in Canada. The New Democrats of BC got their ass handed to them in the last election because they fastidiously avoided any mention of the economy and didn’t make the disastrous management of BC’s economy by the BC Liberals a central point of their platform. After their catastrophic loss, a bunch of commentary on the issue appeared in BC on the results, and one theme emerged again and again: “It’s the economy, stupid!”
    So people grow more and more resentful of the BC Liberals, the economy continues to spiral down the toilet, but there doesn’t appear to be a challenger who’s willing to call them out on doing a terrible job and leaving people jobless.

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