Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
The system is mind-meltingly complex. The number of interconnected variables, actors, and economies are staggering. Demographics, fiscal policy, supply chains, markets, tariffs, taxes, interest rates, deficits - brilliant people can spend decades in school and still only understand part of how the system works.
Nobody is in charge of all of it - even in totalitarian countries like China. And the people who do have power and goodwill often get it wrong. We’re experience the worst inflation in decades because central bankers were overwhelmed by complexity and circumstances. There are so many variables and murky tradeoffs in a modern, globalized economy that they pulled the wrong levers.
People are fine with change. But no, most people IRL don’t believe our system is broken. Most Canadians recognize we live in an uncommonly prosperous, peaceful, fair society. We have lots of examples of genuinely broken societies to compare ourselves with.
That’s not true. Most people recognize there’s no way to ensure everyone is materially equal. And most Canadians willingly pay taxes to try to ensure a basic standard of living is available to all.
Self-interest does enter into it, yes. But that’s true of everyone. If you polled Albertans about implementing a 5 per cent PST (which I favour, btw), you’d find as much opposition among those who earn under $50k as those who earn over.
To implement a UBI, the federal government would have to more than double its budget. Where would the money come from? And how would we keep a lid on inflation?
And licking the boots of the rich? Really? You’re not in the students’ union bar trying to impress other undergrads anymore.
|
Honestly I agree with both you an Pepsi. I'm with Pepsi that mass change is possible as the system (specifically the global monetary system) IS a human construction that can be fixed in a variety of theoretical, possibly even extreme, ways.
I also agree with you that individual selfishness (an economic assumption) at its face will come up against radical change. And also agree with your view on the general attitude of Canadians and social responsibility. I think because we consume so much American media, we assume our problems to be the same. They are not. However, the American system IS the basis for the global monetary system, and what it does still affects what everyone else does. So it is a point to be made that change needs to happen there in order to happen everywhere.
As for the bolded: Give corporations a choice - a mandated percentage of profit reinvested into it's base labour force (non-management). OR a (relatively small) tax that funds the UBI. Problem is, as a small market economy, we don't have the market force to incentivize companies to stay here through those types of things. They will just outsource head offices and employment to places without the tax/legal burden. Which is why the (unfortunately) the US has to be leaders on that type of thing. And really a loop back to Pepsi's point that the system itself is broken if we can't correct this crazy inequal wealth distribution.
It will break on it's own eventually. What's happening is unsustainable. When people can't afford to participate in economies outside of basic needs (food and shelter, can't afford new cars, new appliances, new clothes, and especially homes etc...) the system will collapse. We can control how that happens, or just let it happen. But letting it happen results in things like increased crime, homelessness, food insecurity, which all results in violence and death and eventually some type of mass revolutionary change anyways. Do we want to face that? Or maybe just make an attempt at something different first?