But our governments don't even try. Actually, Mike, I think the goal is to run up provincial and federal debts and maintain as high an unemployment figure as possible. Capitalists are in trouble today, and what they need, and what they want, Mike, is a lot of public debt in order to charge us usurous rates of interest on as we pay it back over several generations. And public debt is premium quality debt today. Afterall, there are 33 million co-signers. We're good for it, and they know it. Capitalists don't want to invest in green economy. Not really. They want taxpayer handouts same as usual before they venture into anything new. Take this "public benefit" charge we're seeing on our light bills today. Who benefits? Is it you and I, or is it McGuinty's rich friends getting in on this green energy giveaway by the Liberals in Toronto? Public benefit charges to cover green energy projects that will mainly benefit private enterprise. If that sounds Orwellian, Mike, it's because it probably is.[url=http://ontariondp.com/en/new-report-backs-ndp-call-for-early-coal-phase-... report backs NDP call for early coal phase-out[/url]
It's easy to phase people out of work - not so easy to phase them back into the job market. While coal needs to be phased out asap - equally there needs to be an employment strategy to place these people in skilled, high-paying secure jobs.
Yes we have a massive infrastructure deficit across the country, for sure. And their answer is to let private enterprise borrow the money at "market rates" - then they will build it - and then Canadian taxpayers can foot the bills for cost overruns. The way capitalism really works is that taxpayers get the end of the cow that needs feeding. And we both know who gets the money-making end of the beastie, don't we. Just saying we'll create a green economy is not good enough. What is needed is a direct transfer program of employees from one workspace to another... When people leave all that infrastructure goes to waste and new infrastructure has to be built elsewhere where the influx is being had.
It's a capitalist system afterall. And the way social democrats in Nordic countries approach the problem of unemployment and "destructive creativity"(and sometimes even creative destruction) of the "dynamic" capitalist market place is to provide well trained and educated workers at every business downturn and up-tick according to the manic moodswings of the capitalist business cycle. That takes money though. What a concept! That in a capitalist system we actually have to invest in people in order to realize returns on investments. Nobel prize winning economists from Chicago(before the Friedmanites) stated as much. And the Nordic countries have no choice, because in most Nordics and Northern European countries there is little oil and fossil fuels to give away to the Yanks for a song. Much of their natural resource wealth was depleted long ago by marauding capitalists who extracted resources and profits and are now long gone from the party with money in hand. Yes, and there are many ghost towns across Canada where similar things have happened over the last 140 years. Natural resource economies are the way of the past, and we know now that with fossil fuel export based economies there tends to be corruption in high places. I think Canadian governments were corrupted long ago. We need a modern and competitive electoral system if we want dynamic and competitive workforces and modern and green economies Nordic style. We won't get there by voting for thundering nitwits like McGuinty and Harper though. By raising labour questions - will I again be accused of delaying environmental goals? Or will labour hold more weight compared to the health concerns of a few rural communities.