Quality of life has fallen off a cliff, a generation has been priced out of a stable home, freedom of expression is in peril - and our elites plow ahead, oblivious
I am not familiar with Canadian politics, but I find it odd that the article ends with a "warning" that unless the left wakes up, Poilievre could win. Sounds like that is just what Canada needs.
In the US the MSM has succeeded in labeling all conservatives "fascists"....I hope that doesn't happen in Canada.
Populism unto itself is not scary, however a Trump style populism is. He talked about solving working class problems and convinced average people that he was for them, his legacy was of course the opposite where the rich got richer etc. Bernie Sanders left-wing populism is another story...
I certainly don’t think the concept of populism involves criminality, and I, for one, believe that Trump committed criminal acts even before he came to office. Think of the way he swindled people through the so-called Trump University, and then settled in court as soon as he became president, for something like 25 million. But also, there’s another side in the liberal media trying to shut him down and discredit his every move, thus fueling his appeal to many to this day. Responsibiliy goes both ways.
But what does that other story of Bernie Sanders’ left-wing populism look like, I wonder? Would he be hot to trot on restricting freedom of speech like Jacinda Ardern. Simply suppress any views that disagree with her and slander it as “disinformation.” The arrogance of these woke politicians is something to behold.
Thank you for writing this. One of the big issues of our time, is that "populism" has been seeded to those with "right leanings", and the "left" does not question anything. If I want to point out the insanity of our foreign policy, I have lots of gun toting libertarians who will listen to me, but no one on the left is in any way anti-war. If I want to talk about a realistic green agenda (I have actually done things to preserve the environment) I have lots in common with right wingers, while people on the left seem engage in magical thinking. (I have a BSC in Engineering, I understand energy)
Unless the "left" joins the reality based community, they will loose most Canadians who know that what they are being told by our media is not true
How would you describe the kid who screamed that the emperor had no pants? Was he a negative pot stirrer like Horgan describes Pierre? (I can’t spell his last name...)Or was he just saying the truth?
Increasingly looks like Trudeau is just gaslighting us, tinkering at the edges, afraid of doing anything substantive. He has been lucky to get this far riding on the coattails of a good economy. As Buffet says when the tide goes out you see who is swimming without trunks on. As interest rates go up Trudeau is just full of platitudes.
It’s liberal fear mongering to warn that Pierre’s tone is whipping up the masses. Let’s whip them up! We need passion not soporifics. Passion drives change.
I keep saying to every politician I meet that there will be a reckoning for disinherting generations of young Canadians. What we are experiencing is the logical outcome of Neo Liberalism, which is also starting to fall apart. So of course the political class and media are doubling down on it ( hello Lizz Truss). The system is perfectly designed to create the outcomes we are experiencing.
Yes, but it’s not just disheartening young people, as tragic as that is. It is all ages, myself in my 70’s included, as much as this article and the general sentiments try to portray older adults as all sitting rosy. Neo-liberal globalism has failed and the backlash is coming on strong - thus the movements worldwide towards more “traditional” ways of living - usually portrayed as right-wing extremism by woke politicians and unscrupulous corporatists.
"If a “negative chaos mentality” exists, it is because there is negative chaos. And because, during the past two years, this has become impossible to ignore. "
We need to understand that cultural liberals, in general, are cursed with a profound lack of both comprehensive perspectives and self-awareness. They are emotive-driven creatures and will eat that diet before accepting a course of healthy objectivity and pragmatism. They are also afflicted with social status and ego pursuit cravings. It really matters to them what other "good" people think of them. Their self-confidence is more tenuous and they rage over feelings of rejection.
And for reasons that I don't quite understand but see clearly, this condition is more often owned by females. Females dominate the cultural left. They dominate the Democrat party. There is something to be analyzed there.
But understanding these things, I think, helps frame the real challenge in front of us. Because they, the left bots of cultural and political elitism, actually believe the things they write and say. They believe them at a level of faith that is emotionally-based and hence impossible to debate. They believe that there is a threat of growing violent white supremacy fascism... even though there is scant evidence that any real threat exists. They believe that racist cops and white males in general are eager to push society back to the 1950s where (ironically mostly Democrats) kept women and minorities subjugated and outside of the elite economic and power structures... even though white males have seen their social and economic status punched down, while females and minorities have experienced tremendous advancements.
There is no benefit to debating them on these things with respect. Because you cannot reason with emotions. You cannot reason with people over their beliefs that are faith. It does not matter if they get to the top of the mountain, because their self-confidence will continue to be tenuous... their fear of rejection so strong that they will shift to totalitarian authoritarianism only to hold their position. We already see this.
The key is to reach down into the victim groups that THEY subjugate with their emotive politics, and to help more of them see the light over the cause of their misery. It seems to me that there is a tide turning this way. I am reading about more young people shifting against the establishment of western governance that has been dominated by this left-emotive creature who have connected to the business and political elite. I see more minorities jumping off the Democrat ship as the political captains appear more and more insane with identity politics and wokeism. I don't think their continued claims of fascist white supremacist threat will work. They have cried way too much wolf... and the people are finally waking up to the understanding that mental and emotional health problems permeate the left political machine.
But the last beachhead in this war is the education system. We need to get that toxic critical theory stuff removed. It is fake scholarship and should never have been allowed to creep into the text and teaching of our kids.
You can add in some of the research coming out about the effects of the ubiquitous MBA. Research is showing the main effects of so many MBAs is the proliferation of Friedman's thinking that maximizing shareholder value is paramount to everything else. This has divorced the business community from participation in communities, and turned back the workplace clock to the time of Dickens. When you have C-suites inhabited by people who can't even identify a moral transgression (findings of the research) let alone demonstrate leadership (another finding of the research) yet given so much power over influencing government policy through deep-pocketed lobbying, we shouldn't be surprised that so many Canadians feel helpless. Their workplaces are patently unfair, and their governments lip-synch to the words of their corporate masters. This whole lot of self-promoting wankers needs to be tossed out on their asses.
Great post Tara. I have a lot of thoughts about all the great points in this article and I want to take the time to write more than the following, but for now, regarding Poilievre: I do think elements of his past social media behavior have been very problematic and 100% aligned with the techniques used by social media manipulators to divide us even more, but there is now zero chance I will vote for the Liberal party here in Canada (despite doing it twice in 2016 and 2019). The reason: The capture of the left by all manner of religious fervor including social justice that just does not at all reflect my experience as a Canadian, climate justice and climate propaganda that is getting laughably illogical and just achieving absolutely nothing , pointless and useless vaccine mandates, horrific attempts to censor anyone going against the COVID messaging and the capture of "science" by politics and on and on. So yes elements of Poilievre have been rather poisonous....but from my perspective his brand of poison is 10x less damaging than the poison of the censorious left and as represented by the Liberal party. Justin truly must go and I hope it is soon.
The inability to provide appropriate and affordable shelter seems a more serious challenge than ownership. Canadian ownership appears to have peaked at about 69% in 2010...with Canadian renter-ship then at about 31%. European renter-ship averages about 30% but Germany renters exceed 55%. Clearly government policies, culture and population expectations dominate.
Home ownership is no kind of "right". It is the tangible result of work ethic, education, government policy and deferred expectations. You are able to see all of this at work in the "immigrant enclaves" now so evident. Toronto's "Little Italy" of the '50's/'60's was one such example.
A portion of today's challenge is the almost-universally recognized expectation of home ownership. It just ain't so.
It's more that people expect home ownership to be a realistic/attainable "tangible result of work ethic, education, government policy and deferred expectations"
When a starter home costs $800k, no amount of work ethic is gonna get you there.
Miles, 33% of Brampton ON is East Indian. "Current Brampton MLS® stats indicate an average [Brampton] house price of $995,236". Making a reasonable assumption about the power of "work ethic, education and deferred expectations"...I think you are incorrect.
Keep up the good work. Not saying this will happen but if J.Powell sticks to his guns on fighting inflation which they are clearly messaging and doesn't pivot , they could crack the housing market making owning a home much more affoardable
What a breath of fresh air this piece is. Thanks for your frank analysis of the situation in Canada, where the state media merely parrots the government talking points. It is unfortunate that there is not equal footing for the alternative point of view.
This is the finest essay on the current situation in Canada that I have read. I agree with everything, except that I echo the comment by yelnan above that the last line comes across as a bit odd. Bring on PP and the Conservatives. I don't think they'll be able to rescue the situation, but just seeing the Liberals go down would be a small step toward recovery.
I am not familiar with Canadian politics, but I find it odd that the article ends with a "warning" that unless the left wakes up, Poilievre could win. Sounds like that is just what Canada needs.
In the US the MSM has succeeded in labeling all conservatives "fascists"....I hope that doesn't happen in Canada.
Unfortunately, it is happening in Canada. I’ve asked before and I ask again, what is so scary about populism? Can it be worse than what we have?
Populism unto itself is not scary, however a Trump style populism is. He talked about solving working class problems and convinced average people that he was for them, his legacy was of course the opposite where the rich got richer etc. Bernie Sanders left-wing populism is another story...
I certainly don’t think the concept of populism involves criminality, and I, for one, believe that Trump committed criminal acts even before he came to office. Think of the way he swindled people through the so-called Trump University, and then settled in court as soon as he became president, for something like 25 million. But also, there’s another side in the liberal media trying to shut him down and discredit his every move, thus fueling his appeal to many to this day. Responsibiliy goes both ways.
But what does that other story of Bernie Sanders’ left-wing populism look like, I wonder? Would he be hot to trot on restricting freedom of speech like Jacinda Ardern. Simply suppress any views that disagree with her and slander it as “disinformation.” The arrogance of these woke politicians is something to behold.
Thank you for writing this. One of the big issues of our time, is that "populism" has been seeded to those with "right leanings", and the "left" does not question anything. If I want to point out the insanity of our foreign policy, I have lots of gun toting libertarians who will listen to me, but no one on the left is in any way anti-war. If I want to talk about a realistic green agenda (I have actually done things to preserve the environment) I have lots in common with right wingers, while people on the left seem engage in magical thinking. (I have a BSC in Engineering, I understand energy)
Unless the "left" joins the reality based community, they will loose most Canadians who know that what they are being told by our media is not true
How would you describe the kid who screamed that the emperor had no pants? Was he a negative pot stirrer like Horgan describes Pierre? (I can’t spell his last name...)Or was he just saying the truth?
Increasingly looks like Trudeau is just gaslighting us, tinkering at the edges, afraid of doing anything substantive. He has been lucky to get this far riding on the coattails of a good economy. As Buffet says when the tide goes out you see who is swimming without trunks on. As interest rates go up Trudeau is just full of platitudes.
It’s liberal fear mongering to warn that Pierre’s tone is whipping up the masses. Let’s whip them up! We need passion not soporifics. Passion drives change.
I keep saying to every politician I meet that there will be a reckoning for disinherting generations of young Canadians. What we are experiencing is the logical outcome of Neo Liberalism, which is also starting to fall apart. So of course the political class and media are doubling down on it ( hello Lizz Truss). The system is perfectly designed to create the outcomes we are experiencing.
Yes, but it’s not just disheartening young people, as tragic as that is. It is all ages, myself in my 70’s included, as much as this article and the general sentiments try to portray older adults as all sitting rosy. Neo-liberal globalism has failed and the backlash is coming on strong - thus the movements worldwide towards more “traditional” ways of living - usually portrayed as right-wing extremism by woke politicians and unscrupulous corporatists.
Perhaps you could add a bit of explanation about 'the logical outcome of Neo Liberalism'.
"If a “negative chaos mentality” exists, it is because there is negative chaos. And because, during the past two years, this has become impossible to ignore. "
We need to understand that cultural liberals, in general, are cursed with a profound lack of both comprehensive perspectives and self-awareness. They are emotive-driven creatures and will eat that diet before accepting a course of healthy objectivity and pragmatism. They are also afflicted with social status and ego pursuit cravings. It really matters to them what other "good" people think of them. Their self-confidence is more tenuous and they rage over feelings of rejection.
And for reasons that I don't quite understand but see clearly, this condition is more often owned by females. Females dominate the cultural left. They dominate the Democrat party. There is something to be analyzed there.
But understanding these things, I think, helps frame the real challenge in front of us. Because they, the left bots of cultural and political elitism, actually believe the things they write and say. They believe them at a level of faith that is emotionally-based and hence impossible to debate. They believe that there is a threat of growing violent white supremacy fascism... even though there is scant evidence that any real threat exists. They believe that racist cops and white males in general are eager to push society back to the 1950s where (ironically mostly Democrats) kept women and minorities subjugated and outside of the elite economic and power structures... even though white males have seen their social and economic status punched down, while females and minorities have experienced tremendous advancements.
There is no benefit to debating them on these things with respect. Because you cannot reason with emotions. You cannot reason with people over their beliefs that are faith. It does not matter if they get to the top of the mountain, because their self-confidence will continue to be tenuous... their fear of rejection so strong that they will shift to totalitarian authoritarianism only to hold their position. We already see this.
The key is to reach down into the victim groups that THEY subjugate with their emotive politics, and to help more of them see the light over the cause of their misery. It seems to me that there is a tide turning this way. I am reading about more young people shifting against the establishment of western governance that has been dominated by this left-emotive creature who have connected to the business and political elite. I see more minorities jumping off the Democrat ship as the political captains appear more and more insane with identity politics and wokeism. I don't think their continued claims of fascist white supremacist threat will work. They have cried way too much wolf... and the people are finally waking up to the understanding that mental and emotional health problems permeate the left political machine.
But the last beachhead in this war is the education system. We need to get that toxic critical theory stuff removed. It is fake scholarship and should never have been allowed to creep into the text and teaching of our kids.
"What we are living through is a collapse of life as we knew it in Canada." Precisely.
You can add in some of the research coming out about the effects of the ubiquitous MBA. Research is showing the main effects of so many MBAs is the proliferation of Friedman's thinking that maximizing shareholder value is paramount to everything else. This has divorced the business community from participation in communities, and turned back the workplace clock to the time of Dickens. When you have C-suites inhabited by people who can't even identify a moral transgression (findings of the research) let alone demonstrate leadership (another finding of the research) yet given so much power over influencing government policy through deep-pocketed lobbying, we shouldn't be surprised that so many Canadians feel helpless. Their workplaces are patently unfair, and their governments lip-synch to the words of their corporate masters. This whole lot of self-promoting wankers needs to be tossed out on their asses.
Great post Tara. I have a lot of thoughts about all the great points in this article and I want to take the time to write more than the following, but for now, regarding Poilievre: I do think elements of his past social media behavior have been very problematic and 100% aligned with the techniques used by social media manipulators to divide us even more, but there is now zero chance I will vote for the Liberal party here in Canada (despite doing it twice in 2016 and 2019). The reason: The capture of the left by all manner of religious fervor including social justice that just does not at all reflect my experience as a Canadian, climate justice and climate propaganda that is getting laughably illogical and just achieving absolutely nothing , pointless and useless vaccine mandates, horrific attempts to censor anyone going against the COVID messaging and the capture of "science" by politics and on and on. So yes elements of Poilievre have been rather poisonous....but from my perspective his brand of poison is 10x less damaging than the poison of the censorious left and as represented by the Liberal party. Justin truly must go and I hope it is soon.
The inability to provide appropriate and affordable shelter seems a more serious challenge than ownership. Canadian ownership appears to have peaked at about 69% in 2010...with Canadian renter-ship then at about 31%. European renter-ship averages about 30% but Germany renters exceed 55%. Clearly government policies, culture and population expectations dominate.
Home ownership is no kind of "right". It is the tangible result of work ethic, education, government policy and deferred expectations. You are able to see all of this at work in the "immigrant enclaves" now so evident. Toronto's "Little Italy" of the '50's/'60's was one such example.
A portion of today's challenge is the almost-universally recognized expectation of home ownership. It just ain't so.
It's more that people expect home ownership to be a realistic/attainable "tangible result of work ethic, education, government policy and deferred expectations"
When a starter home costs $800k, no amount of work ethic is gonna get you there.
Miles, 33% of Brampton ON is East Indian. "Current Brampton MLS® stats indicate an average [Brampton] house price of $995,236". Making a reasonable assumption about the power of "work ethic, education and deferred expectations"...I think you are incorrect.
Keep up the good work. Not saying this will happen but if J.Powell sticks to his guns on fighting inflation which they are clearly messaging and doesn't pivot , they could crack the housing market making owning a home much more affoardable
What a breath of fresh air this piece is. Thanks for your frank analysis of the situation in Canada, where the state media merely parrots the government talking points. It is unfortunate that there is not equal footing for the alternative point of view.
Credentialed urbanites are the plague.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/14/f9/f5/14f9f52c6db6f137feea1101ca9be28d.jpg
Just some typos/corrections:
The crisis *is* housing affordability is unsustainable.
We need people *to be able to be able to* afford to live and work in our cities
This is the finest essay on the current situation in Canada that I have read. I agree with everything, except that I echo the comment by yelnan above that the last line comes across as a bit odd. Bring on PP and the Conservatives. I don't think they'll be able to rescue the situation, but just seeing the Liberals go down would be a small step toward recovery.
Music is the silence between the notes