Well he's dead.
I think the whole process has been a sham, and as I discovered when i took some ethical philosophy courses a few years ago, for me the ends never justify the means.
That course actually made me think a lot more about ethics and how to construct and ethical argument. One of my essays was actually on the death penalty and I actually found one of the most convincing arguments to be a utilitarian (in other words the ends justify the means, ie whatever makes the most people happy) argument against the death penalty.
In essence the argument was that in killing these people we are in effect letting them off the hook. It's a quick relatively painless process, as opposed to slaving away or sitting in a jail cell for 20 years.
Anyways that's all for now.
December 30, 2006
December 20, 2006
What the hell are the conservatives thinking?
Why should they abolish the Wheat board?
Now this isn't a subject that a whole lot of people outside of western Canada are interested in. Heck probably nowhere near a majority of western Canadians even know what the wheat board does or how it works.
My problem is not substance but the way it is being done. By threatening people, and firing them because they don't toe the line. Because they have a process to essentially undermine the organization without due process. Even if it is stated in your electoral platform there is a process. We do after all live in under a system of laws. Even the government is bound by the law.
However the government of Canada is in the process of undermining and destroying the Wheat board. Having worked with other supply managed systems, I hope they don't undergo the same process. Of betrayal of systems which have worked well for farmers (not necessarily as well for consumer let it be noted, I DID MENTION THAT) that are particularly Canadian, that are part of a regulatory culture and regime, and that at the end of the day have been effective at achieving their stated objectives.
Why destroy that for some abstract ideology? Why crucify and destroy already struggling farmers and farm communities? (This is where the term crucifixion economics comes from, it's awful stuff)
I think the wheat board is a valuable tool in protecting the interests of Canadian farmers. The reality is that small farmers are not going to have the clout of the wheat board to negotiate prices. Anybody who imagines the opposite is doing exactly that, imagining.
Now this isn't a subject that a whole lot of people outside of western Canada are interested in. Heck probably nowhere near a majority of western Canadians even know what the wheat board does or how it works.
My problem is not substance but the way it is being done. By threatening people, and firing them because they don't toe the line. Because they have a process to essentially undermine the organization without due process. Even if it is stated in your electoral platform there is a process. We do after all live in under a system of laws. Even the government is bound by the law.
However the government of Canada is in the process of undermining and destroying the Wheat board. Having worked with other supply managed systems, I hope they don't undergo the same process. Of betrayal of systems which have worked well for farmers (not necessarily as well for consumer let it be noted, I DID MENTION THAT) that are particularly Canadian, that are part of a regulatory culture and regime, and that at the end of the day have been effective at achieving their stated objectives.
Why destroy that for some abstract ideology? Why crucify and destroy already struggling farmers and farm communities? (This is where the term crucifixion economics comes from, it's awful stuff)
I think the wheat board is a valuable tool in protecting the interests of Canadian farmers. The reality is that small farmers are not going to have the clout of the wheat board to negotiate prices. Anybody who imagines the opposite is doing exactly that, imagining.
December 16, 2006
Some ammunition for those who oppose market fundamentalists
The CBC program IDEAS did a great series on Karl Polanyi and I heard some of it today and it reminded me that I should really recommend to anyone interested in economic issues, the book he wrote in the early 50s called the Great Transformation.
It's a great book, it destroys the claims that economists make. Specifically the idea that the market reflects natural behaviour. In fact he brings up one of my favorite criticisms, and I think one of the best deserved. The attempt by economists to use market based ideas when looking at the past.
In fact as Polanyi notes, the creates of a self- regulating market is a stark utopia.
No other civilization before the development of the industrial revolution promoted the values that the market dictates. All people have traded, but we are the first to try and base our civilization on the market, a mere mechanism, a tool.
The individualism, competitiveness, acquisitiveness and especially the divorce of economics from politics or the social order, are all things that no civilization has pushed as hard as we have. Not many societies have stressed individualism and competitiveness as values.Probably none before ours could afford to, for it would have destroyed them.
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of his book, and probably on of the more cited, is his idea of the double movement. That the market and society are fundamentally at odds with each other, and if the market forces itself into an area, there is a spontaneous building up of opposition to such a move. A sort of pushing and pulling between the market and society. For as he argues, the market alone would destroy any civilization.
The fact that this work is still so accessible and feels so current speaks to its applicability in an age so dominated by the assumptions of the economists, and gives voice to those who oppose the spread of market principles to everyday life. It provides well articulated cogent and strong material to do battle with the market fundamentalists.
We seem to be in a period between ages, and at such a critical juncture we can only hope the economist lose, for if they do, we all win.
It's a great book, it destroys the claims that economists make. Specifically the idea that the market reflects natural behaviour. In fact he brings up one of my favorite criticisms, and I think one of the best deserved. The attempt by economists to use market based ideas when looking at the past.
In fact as Polanyi notes, the creates of a self- regulating market is a stark utopia.
No other civilization before the development of the industrial revolution promoted the values that the market dictates. All people have traded, but we are the first to try and base our civilization on the market, a mere mechanism, a tool.
The individualism, competitiveness, acquisitiveness and especially the divorce of economics from politics or the social order, are all things that no civilization has pushed as hard as we have. Not many societies have stressed individualism and competitiveness as values.Probably none before ours could afford to, for it would have destroyed them.
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of his book, and probably on of the more cited, is his idea of the double movement. That the market and society are fundamentally at odds with each other, and if the market forces itself into an area, there is a spontaneous building up of opposition to such a move. A sort of pushing and pulling between the market and society. For as he argues, the market alone would destroy any civilization.
The fact that this work is still so accessible and feels so current speaks to its applicability in an age so dominated by the assumptions of the economists, and gives voice to those who oppose the spread of market principles to everyday life. It provides well articulated cogent and strong material to do battle with the market fundamentalists.
We seem to be in a period between ages, and at such a critical juncture we can only hope the economist lose, for if they do, we all win.
December 03, 2006
Stéphane Dion and the Liberal party
Well I had been expecting to see Bob Rae as the next liberal leader tonight, but it turns out that the Liberal leadership convention really did offer up a surprise.
Stéphane Dion won the liberal leadership. It was fascinating to watch, and I watched the coverage all day doing little else, besides a bit of homework.
It was riveting to watch the spectacle of the Liberal party choose a new leader, there was little dynamism however and I truly believe that the Liberals will lose the next election.
Because of a number of things going on recently I have been thinking about finding time to commit to doing volunteer work and becoming more engaged in the community.Although not the first thing I thought of, the action this weekend made me think about joining a political party. I have never really seriously thought about this before, and my dad had often cautioned me about thinking hard before making such a big decision, but I think the time may have come for me to at least look into it.
For me it wouldn't be so much about the partisan competition, but about becoming involved in an institution that can make a difference.
Again who knows at this point if I'll actually join one or not, but all the action this weekend certainly has got me thinking about it.
Stéphane Dion won the liberal leadership. It was fascinating to watch, and I watched the coverage all day doing little else, besides a bit of homework.
It was riveting to watch the spectacle of the Liberal party choose a new leader, there was little dynamism however and I truly believe that the Liberals will lose the next election.
Because of a number of things going on recently I have been thinking about finding time to commit to doing volunteer work and becoming more engaged in the community.Although not the first thing I thought of, the action this weekend made me think about joining a political party. I have never really seriously thought about this before, and my dad had often cautioned me about thinking hard before making such a big decision, but I think the time may have come for me to at least look into it.
For me it wouldn't be so much about the partisan competition, but about becoming involved in an institution that can make a difference.
Again who knows at this point if I'll actually join one or not, but all the action this weekend certainly has got me thinking about it.
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