Re: The New Face of Culture

(re: New designs for a museum and gallery N.P. May 31)
... It is a sorry state that we might consider museums and galleries, interior designs, dinosaur bones and masks as our "culture".
...True culture is an essential social atmosphere of decency and respect for the person and property of each other. We live in a society where culture has become more a memory, than a guiding light in everyone's life.
...The rebuilding of our culture is the most crucial issue of our times. Absolutely everyone is involved in this restoration. No one is a spectator, or an "outsider". No one is too busy, or too young or too old.
... All our lives are linked in re-establishing a respectful social environment... in our homes, in our communities, and in our world...

Re: "Tory Ads" (Martin May 30)

... The Conservative effort to bully the hapless Mr. Dion is more a transparent attempt to distract Canadians from Mr. Harper's increasingly undistinguished existence.
... We are not disappointed when we see a Paul Martin or Jean Chretien spend their public careers as compromised pragmatists. They entered politics without the limiting liability of personal principles, so we expect nothing of them.
... However, it is inexcusable to see someone as Mr. Harper, who spent his private life passionately working towards clearly defined political values, only to immediately abandon them upon attainment of public office.

Liberals and Foreign Investment

... The Liberal proposal to control foreign investment is not so much an economic effort, as a political one. The Liberals, once again finding themselves without a position of their own, cleverly scoop the inevitable NDP initiative.
... Ahhh... the nervous Liberal dance, desperately hoping that Canadians do not begin to notice that the party stands for nothing... having become merely a rusty, old barge tossed about on the waves of daily polls...

Culture vs. Guns

(Re: Blame urban culture- N.P. Gunter May 28
... "Gangsta" culture is not a culture, but the inevitable, increasingly de-humanised product of a neglected civilisation- a failure to sustain collective values which nurture a cheerful, constructive, considerate character.
... Gangsta "culture" is only able to exist as a parasite on a true culture. The result of such a lifestyle/philosophy, without the western culture host, would be a short-lived, degraded barbarian existence... unable to create it's own guns, drugs, music, food, clothes, cars, etc.
...And handguns... let's start with a minimum ten years hard labour for mere possession. That should clean up things over-night...

Re: Rent Controls N.P. Corcoran May25

... As always, there is only one clear consideration to the question of rent controls... is it right for the state to interfere in the commerce of the nation?
... In Marxist left-wing philosophy, the role of the state is to manipulate and control the marketplace by denying the liberty of the citizens to freely set the conditions of offered goods and services.
... The true Right defends the liberty of individuals to participate freely in the economic life of the nation.
... The difficulty is that we have learned to view our economy in a communist context- our medical "system", education "system", housing "system", etc.
... This is because, over the years, the NDP has done an admirable job of openly promoting their Marxist agenda, whereas the Conservatives have been mostly deadwood drifting downstream...

Re: " The OSC" N.P. Corcoran May 24

... As always, the question remains, is it right for the state to intervene in the commerce of the nation? This principle remains true whether the business is Nortel or a lemonade stand.
... The error is to consider these businesses as public companies. They are not. They are privately owned companies- whether by one owner, or many shareholders.
... It is the shareholders responsibility if they foolishly invest in a crooked company... it is not rightly the collective responsibility and expense of other citizens...

Re: "Canada Post?" Coyne May 23

... There is only one issue in the decision to end the government monopoly of postal services- is it right for the government to force it's intervention in the commerce and exchange of goods in our nation?
... All other peripheral issues are merely distracting- "fairness" in rates, efficiency of service, precedents of privatisation in other countries, etc.
... As always, we must learn to choose between the Marxist interventionist role of the state in the marketplace, or the role of the state defending the liberty and private property of the citizens.
... Unfortunately, it is unlikely that our prime minister will have the courage to end this government monopoly, as we have yet to see any conservative economic initiatives thus far..

Re: "Election?" editorial N.P.

... The editorial is an interesting, if somewhat illogical, attempt to link issues to our minority government situation.
... Unfortunately, an election at this point will return another Conservative minority government.
... However, no matter what the outcome, the Conservatives must call an election soon, as they are no longer able to govern against the unofficial coalition of the opposition parties. Also, Canadians deserve an election because Mr. Harper has mis-represented himself as a fiscal conservative, having clearly proven himself to be as irresponsible as the previous Liberal government.
... Of course, summer is the nicest time for the predictable barricades and strikes, organised by the usual non-representative goons- who, unable to conceive of any constructive contributions to our society, instead delight in disruption and disorder. To attribute the timing of these group's "actions" to anything other than the weather, is to wildly over-estimate their capacity for anything beyond the most crude calculations.
... So, we find ourselves in the odd situation of requiring an election which will resolve nothing...

Mr. Harper's Summer Vacation

... I don't imagine that a PM really gets a summer vacation... perhaps only periods of fewer urgent demands on one's time.
... However, hopefully Mr. Harper will manage a sufficient stretch to put aside the over-whelming responsibilities of his life... a time to re-assess the current strategy of compromised conservative economics- an obviously unsuccessful attempt to gain a majority.
... It was an understandable effort. If the Conservatives had not offered everyone everything, the Liberals would have... hoping to attract the support of the adrift and indifferent- who's voting intentions change according to the issues of the day.
... As with Paul Martin, this strategy always ends with losing the respect of everyone. Mr. Harper's greatest strength at this point is the weakness of others....
... So, hopefully Mr. Harper will get a little time this summer... a chance to think about things...

There was a Time

... There was a time when individuals entered politics inspired by belief in the virtue of certain principles- values which would always guide their decisions.
... However, nowadays, politics are more about popularity... everyone desperately trying to be the prettiest girl at the party, indifferent to any obvious absence of personality... exclusively concerned with appearances.
... Politicians have become perfectly "socialised" beings... modern-day Peter Keatings... empty individuals who have abandoned all personal values, and are only interested in the approval of others.

On Anarchy

(in response to a letter on anarchism in the Post- May 15/07)
... How inspiring to experience the eclectic assortment of exclusive anarchist "ideals"- sustaining supportive communities, voluntary associations, and an end to pollution, poverty, war, crime, racism, etc...
... The question is, why would a democratically-elected government- who's role is to defend individual liberty- be considered an obstacle to freely achieving these values?
... How easily the innocent are overwhelmed by the extensive left-wing agendas. However, anarchists and communists are ultimately indistinguishable in their true, unstated goal of the Marxist abolishment of private property... including the right of the employer to freely set the conditions of offered employment.

On the Next Election

... In the next federal election, there will be very few people actually voting for the political parties.
... Mr. Harper has abandoned every conservative economic principle, but his formerly enthusiastic supporters will still vote against the Liberals.
... And, the Liberals have become more of an aimless wandering tribe, but people will still vote against the Conservatives.
... In the next election, with the Conservatives drifting lazily into the murky political middle, and the Liberals squeezing themselves into the crowded, narrowing Left margin, it will be amazing if any Canadians bother to vote at all...

On the Right and the Left

... There is a clear, timeless line behind every issue- this being the principle of private property (Locke 1690) vs. collective property (Marx 1870).
... The true Left are followers of Marx, a belief that all individual's incomes are to be considered collective property to be re-distributed by the state...thus, our communist medical "system", education "system", inter-governmental transfers, etc., etc...
... Equally, the Left is philosophically attracted to unions... considering a position of employment to be the collective property of both the employer and employee.
... We can endlessly, and fruitlessly, debate a thousand policies, but to address this central principle is to answer them all...

Tory's "Running on Vapours"

... The Tory's are running on vapours because Mr. Harper has sacrificed the conservative economic principles which have guided his life and career, in exchange for the half-hearted support of those indifferent to anything beyond their own apparent advantage.
... He knows that the Liberals are mostly a memory at this point, and that he has become a sufficiently clever, compromised player of games to remain PM for as long as he likes, but he and his supporters now realise that he will never have the courage to become the leader that he could have been...

On Christopher Hitchens

... There was a time when I too saw the world as Mr. Hitchens (author "God is not Great"), and I would have cheered his clever, cynical article... delighting in his derision of the obviously deluded.
... Yet, there came a moment, an undeserved gift from above, when I came to know that the universe was not merely an indifferent atmosphere of arbitrarily arranged chemicals and compounds.
... There will always be lost souls like Mr. Hitchens, leading people nowhere, oblivious to the milleniums of Judeo-Christianity which separates his life from being merely a club-wielding cave dweller...

On Neo- Conservatives

... Few things more clearly reveal the charmingly confused economic philosophy of the Left than their label "neo-conservative".
... As if, just when we are properly "progressing" towards the irrefutably virtuous Marxist ideal of abolished private property, along comes one last desperate wave of annoying, archaic defenders of liberty, enterprise, and initiative.
... In politics, there is nothing "neo" under the sun...

On Premier Williams

... a man who apparently feels entitled to have our cake, and eat his too...

On Collectivism

... It is quietly concerning to consider the countless centuries that the world could continue to blindly stumble along, embracing endless assortments of arbitrary and contrary economic policies, without ever questioning the value and virtue of allowing the government to force economic re-distribution between citizens...

The Conservative Slide

... The Conservative party's slide in the polls is not so much a superficially apparent reaction to recent international/environmental issues, but a sign of the inevitable erosion of the efforts, interest, and enthusiasm of Mr. Harper's original supporters, as his time in office has proven to be a disgraceful, indefensible, and obviously fruitless betrayal of conservative economic principles...

On Al Gore

... I think that it would be fair to somewhat tone down the "Gore as great crusader" rhetoric. He is obviously little more than a wooden actor reading lines from a tele-prompter. I am willing to give his intentions the benefit of the doubt, but come on folks, he makes Jed Clampett look like a genius...