The prosperity and freedom generated by the sacrifice, diligence and commitment of the generations that fathered Millennials and their offspring, has persisted for too long; leading to the entitlement mentality and financial ignorance that permeates most of the electorate who are either electing those that presently govern Canada, or who themselves will be providing such alleged leadership in the future.
Unfortunately it may take a Depression (not a recession) and/or a war to shake these generations out of their fantasy world before they self-immolate.
Canada, as geographically the second largest country in the world, but with a population less than the state of California, and spread across the breadth of the country like a string with widely separated urban knots, has only one type of economic base that is of practical and redeeming value; that of natural resources. Even the most adamant of anti-natural resources activists should check every item of their assets owned. In doing so, they would find that not one item did not have its derivation from some sort of natural resource.
Underlying our present social and economic state is of course another important factor; perhaps the single most relevant aspect of the fractured society that is Canada; namely that we are a confederation of separate interests and not a unified country in any way whatsoever.
Whether Quebec is governed by an official socialist government or not, it regards itself as an autonomous entity possessing special interests that are over and above those of the other sectors of the country.
The Maritime provinces, physically cut off from the rest of the country by Quebec, possess such limited influence that their role in Canada is largely of little interest to federal governments; bolstered from time to time by the odd government maritime contract.
Re: Newfoundland and its oil-dependent economy being destroyed by federal government policies; where’s Newfoundland?
Ontario for the most part regards itself as being Canada and has little time for the rest of the country. The frequent satirical reference to Ontario being COTU (Centre of The Universe) is seemingly carried with pride by a major component of its citizenry.
While the geographical location of British Columbia has it being on the “left coast”, that phrase when capitalized frames a sardonic reference to not only its present socialist government but to the long history of socialist and anti-natural resource leaning liberal governments.
The three northern territories, while bathed in the beauty of northern lights, could in all probability not be properly named by the majority of the population, and for all intents and purposes may as well not exist (except of course for global warming activists embracing with gratitude, the minutest of ice cap melting).
That leaves central Canada, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to contribute a disproportionately large amount of natural resource based funding to the national economy; the latter now bent on somehow miraculously maintaining this flow while destroying its source.
It does not take a kindergarten graduate with a Ph.D. to predict where is heading both the social and economic future of the present geographical entity named Canada. Since a society must inevitably be funded by a functioning and productive economy, and not by debt underlain by not even the vaguest of security, the various political, social and economic entities that presently describe Canada may become irrelevant.
That a new country consisting of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and possibly Manitoba would have the potential to achieve economic and social prosperity in a financially stable fashion is beyond doubt. Unfortunately, under the present reality, the result would be a land-locked entity in which the export of its natural resources to the wider world would face similar if differently sourced impediments to those existing at present.
A plethora of maritime outlets of course exist in British Columbia. Consequently, the only solution to the port problem might be to in some fashion to inject brain cells into the electorate of that province.
Mission impossible?
Perhaps on a broader scale as it encompasses Canada as part of the democratic world, might be an examination of where the latter is located on the “cycle of democracy.”
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From the COVID-19 pandemic to racial unrest in America to major political unrest in various other regions of the world, the year 2020 will be a noteworthy addition to the history of mankind; notwithstanding the year is not yet half over. Canada, while of insignificance as a notable component of the world’s population, although not as an important supplier of vital natural resources to the industrial world, is also undergoing a major political divide and economic threat, that being its federal government and a number of provincial counterparts bent on destroying the only viable economy the country possesses that can build a comfortable and prosperous middle class society; namely that of exploiting our prodigious natural resources in a responsible manner reflective of modern standards.
So will 2020 be politically and socially pivotal, as well as notable for Canada and the rest of the world? Perhaps for those living within a democracy as well as those shut out from such, a look at the cycle of democracy may if not answer that question, at least give us pause to reflect. The “Cycle of Democracy” is a formulation that has been attributed to Scottish Professor of History Alexander Tyler in 1770; although this attribution apparently remains doubtful in the minds of many. Various alternative attributions remain still under debate. Nonetheless in a 2020 environment of major biological, political and social unrest, no matter what its true attribution, be it singular or collective, it remains an interesting and provocative concept and a challenge to identify where in the cycle present democracy might reside.
The concept of the “Cycle of Democracy” rests on the following unattributed premise: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
“Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again to bondage.”
When considering the pandemic-related social adjustments imposed on democracies to one degree or the other by governments, including non-parliamentary “government” by Canada’s federal politicians, will these adjustments be temporary or permanent?
Thus might several questions be posed as to where in the cycle of democracy were we through 2019; where might we be in a post 2020 environment, and is the postulated 200 year cycle of democracy a valid one?
An examination of the cycle of democracy as it pertains to Canada might disturbingly conclude that the latter’s natural resource economy is being strangled by the collective factors of selfishness, complacency and apathy, that when combined may quickly find the entity known as Canada, if still existing in its present form, in a state of extended dependence and federal bondage.
As Albertans, we say: “Enough is Enough”. That’s why we’ve launched this website “Action Alberta” and a newsletter to inform, educate, and motivate Canadians to stand up, speak out and take action to address the inequality and s rel=“ubstandard treatment of Alberta and its citizens by our Federal Government. Our goal is to change how we are treated by our Federal Government.
