As I stated in my previous post, there are three topics which we are generally told to avoid when conversing with others: religion, politics and money. I figured it was time to complete the trifecta and discuss money or I guess more accurately economics.
First off I again wish to state that I am a historian and not an economist, however that should never stop anyone from positing an opinion. Of course some opinions are more informed than others, I guess you can be the judge concerning mine.
Sorry but I begin with a bit of a digression. When I first told a friend of mine that I was going to go to university, he was at first encouraging and then hesitant. He observed that I was somewhat rigid in my views concerning the world and especially concerning religion. He believed that university could be a good experience but often people with my disposition either gave up or had a meltdown as we are unable to deal with challenges to our world view, more specifically our religious views. I am happy to announce that I believe that my experience in university has strengthened and deepened my religious experience, however it did trully shake my view of the world in many other ways.
I was the type of person who George W. Bush would have loved. Swallowed what ever shit was put in front of me, never questioned where it came from or why it was there and always gave the powers that be (human institutions) the benefit of the doubt. Prime example: I remember clearly sitting with a friend discussing the potential of the U.S. invading Iraq. I said that there is no way that they would do it without good cause. Boy, was I proved wrong! Studying history has taught me to search for information, to ask questions and to seek answers. Once I began doing this in my life in addition to my school work things really began to change for me.
Okay, here goes. If I was to claim affinity with any given economic system that system would be SOCIALISM. Now I do not mean Communism, Stalinism or Leninism, but socialism. Now of course I don't think that socialism has all the answers but I think it would be better for humanity than the capitalist system that we are presently ruled by.
As the world spirals towards the innevitablity that is globalization, I would like to point out a few things. First is the fact that (especially in the western world) huge multi-national corporations are able to dictate to sovereign nations when their profitability is infringed upon. For instance, if Canada passed a law for the betterment of its citizens which hurt the business practices (and therefore their profitability) of a particular foreign coporation, the corporation in question can take the sovereign government of Canada to court to get the law repealed, regardless of what the citizens of Canada might think or wish. This is only going to get worse. We are racing to put the worlds finite wealth in the hands of a relatively few corporations who will then have control over the masses.
In this climate of mega-mergers and multi-national corporations no nation is safe. Recently (I believe it was the G8) a number of wealthy western nations got together and put forward a plan to help out the struggling nations of Africa. Very ultruistic right? Unfortunately not, as a clause in the agreement allows these western nations to begin controlling the economic infratructure of these countries. Sure they are gonna open their borders to increased agricultural trade from African nations, but in return they will control the money that those nations earn. All done in the name of humanity I am sure.
Here is another example why capitalism and corporations fail humanity in our societies. According to the CIA World Fact Book Canada is a net exporter of oil. While we are able to produce 2.7 million barrels of oil per day, we only consume 1.7 million barrels of oil per day (please don't get me started on the negative environmental impact that this has, I'm discussing economics). Given this it seems quite reasonable to assume that Canada does not need to import any oil, but in fact can supply enough for its citizens and still make some money. Did you know that in Iraq before the U.S. invasion that Iraqis were paying $0.02 for a litre of gas. They were able to do this because they produce enough oil for themselves, they don't need to pay the inflated OPEC costs (recently when oil prices dropped below $48U.S. per barrel OPEC stated that they were cutting production so that oil prices would rise above $50 per barrel so that they could make more money). Canada meanwhile was paying roughly $0.75 per litre. Why? Sure there are taxes here that they don't have to pay in Iraq, but the main reason is the fact that the oil that is produced here in Canada is sold by corporations (Shell for one) to foreign markets which forces people to import oil at the inflated price. Canada (and when I say Canada I mean corporations which control Canada's oil resources) exports 2 million barrels per day while importing 1 million barrels per day. The money that is made in all of this goes to foreign corporations.
Just imagine if the government controled Canada's oil resources. The 2.7 million barrels produced each day could be used in three ways. The first would be to meet the nation's oil demands. That would account for 1.7 million barrels, leaving 1 million barrels. The second way would be to put some aside for a rainy day, lets say 250 thousand barrels a day (this would put 9.125 million barrels in reserve each year). Thirdly we could sell the rest. At $45U.S. per barrel the government could produce (750 thousand times $45) $33 750 000 U.S. per day! Thats $12 318 750 000 per year! THATS OVER TWELVE TRILLION DOLLARS (U.S or 16 trillion Canadian) PER YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you say no more health care funding problems?
But no, we screw over our citizens, not only with expensive gas but in tremendous amounts of lost revenue, so that foreign corporations can make the money which will not have anywhere near the same impact upon Canada's citizens. That is one example. At $16 trillion thats $533 333.33 for every man, woman and child in the country each year!
Instead we spend money on developing better DVD players, photo capable cell phones and higher quality tv's. The U.S. spends billions of dollars each year on NASA. I am fascinated by space and its exploration but I think that in the realm of human existance it doesn't rate that high on the priority list. This is at the heart of socialism as far as I am concerned. Democraticaly elected governments could have incredible amounts of wealth at its disposal to look after its citizens first, and then begin to tackle the extraneous portions of our society, the luxuries. I work with homeless people, teenagers in fact. What society in its right mind allows a 16 year old to live on the street so that a corporation can make a few more bucks?
Personally, and I admit that this is something of a radical idea but, I think that everone in our society who had far too much wealth (Donald Trump for instance) should have to visit a cancer victim, an AIDS victim or any number of people in our society who are suffering from potentially curable diseases and thank them. They should thank them for their wealth and explain to the person dying and their family that their having a gold toilet seat is far more important than their life. Each year we are inundated with requests for money from numerous worthy charities because they need money. Money to do research into cancer, AIDS, heart disease, alzhymers disease, etc., money which our society has but would rather put in the hands of a few than in the lives of many.
Our priorities are completely screwed up. Its all about money and how to get more. Obviously not everyone operates this way but our society doesn't care because it has placed the power over its citizens in the hands of those who do, namely faceless corporations whose only goal is to stripmine humanity for as much money as they can get. In the end it will get them nothing. As I said in my previous post, I am a Christian and I have to agree with Jesus when He says that the root of all kinds of evil is money. The money is available to solve many of our society's problems and to dramatically impact people's lives for the good. Rather the few want everything for themselves so many have to die painful deaths be it in a hospital bed or a gutter.
Its all about priorities. Whats yours, your fellow man or money?
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Just a belated note (Jan. 20, 2005). Due to the NAFTA agreement that our beloved Prime Minister Brian Mulroney signed we have to export our oil to the U.S. If for some reason we chose to reduce our exports to the U.S. we have to reduce our own internal production. What this means is that we have to sell the U.S. as much oil as we keep for ourselves. Lovely thing NAFTA. Mexico of course, had the foresight and refused to sign a similar clause in their free trade agreement with the U.S. They were unwilling give over control of their natural resources to a foreign country.
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