Corruption

First a superficial topic, then a philosophical one, now a current event.

For those of you who are not keeping up with news from Canada, here is a brief update. A decade ago, the province of Quebec held a referendum to separate from the rest of Canada. It lost by 0.6 percentage points. The government either before or after set up an campaign to promote the Canadian identity in Quebec. Currently there is an investigation into corruption in the campaign involving the dominant political party (the liberals) funneling money back into their coffers. All of this has raised the issues of another election. They had one just last summer. It works differently here. Only the prime minister or the parliment can call for an election and they can do it whenever they want. It has also raised the topic of Quebec separating from Canada again. FYI, the two major political parties in Canada are the Liberals and the Conservatives, then there are two smaller parties, the New Democratic Party and the Quebec Block, then the Green party is very small but growing.

I'll talk about the separation idea later. Corruption is everywhere in our society at all levels. Of course, with large amounts of money it is more tempting. In the US, large corporations is where the money and the power is, so the corruption is there. It filters into government like George W and the Halliburton thing. Big business as government. Here the government holds more power and money because of the socialist system. So it is not surprising that there is corruption there. Now of course corruption also happens in US government and Canadian businesses. My view is that since the corruption here falls inside the government, the people will be held more accountable for their actions. I feel there is corruption in large US businesses that is accepted or is not caught. And don't get me started on the travesty that CEO are making millions while requiring their workers to earn less than the poverty level at minimum wage.

These last two posts have ranted a bit against US capitalism, but after seeing George W last night provide all the PC answers to all the questions kinda got me worked up.

Socialism

A fundamental aspect of society here that reaches into almost every other aspect is the socialist government. I bring this up because I have grown in favor of it since moving here partly as a reaction against capitalism and consumerism. This is because I feel that nobody needs to be earning more than a million a year, much less a quarter of that. Really anything over 50K and you are becoming a major consumer. At the other end, no one who works a full work week should be making less than the poverty level. If you are working, you should be able to provide for your family. Also, those who are at a disadvantage and for legitimate reasons cannot contribute to society (orphans, handicapped, injured, retired) should be provided for by those who have been fortunate to not have suffered any of those. Now, I would not go as far as communism which allows for no rewards for hard work. I think the best option is a government that regulates incomes through taxes so that people fall within a certain range. Yes, everyone would love to be rich, but does a person earning a million a year do work that is twenty times more valuable than what I do? Do they work twenty times harder than I do? Do they use the talents they have been given twenty times more than myself? Do they really need that extra 950K? I feel that consumerism in the US has gotten out of control. The distance between rich and the working class is headed back towards the middle ages of lords and servants. Only now the servants are better off and feel better about themselves because they have things. By bringing these two extremes closer together, people will feel more equal, there will be less animosity, and everyone will feel part of a society. These are aspects I have noticed since coming here and it has been a very nice change.

Beautiful People - Part II

Another long delay between posts. Hopefully that will change.

Anyhow, since posting the previous post, I have had time to think it over further. I do now think the French influence has major role in the people looking better here. In general, I am comparing the people in the center city (Lincoln Park vs. Plateau Mont Royal). Trendy areas with alot of young people. This is because I lived in LP and now drive everyday through PMR.

Now onto less superficial topics.