Auto Maker Merger and the Unified Left

If those two can get it together, why can't the liberal left. I mean really...

General Motors and Chrysler are talking about a merger that will create a monumental change in the North American auto industry. There is discussion about eliminating a large number of their car lines, including the perennial favourites Pontiac and Buick.

This is of course in response to the lazy and arrogant way that the Big 3 North American auto makers have been acting since...well since Henry Ford let you have one colour on your Model-T. Even though they saw international auto makers Toyota, Honda etc. moving up fast to overtake the market, they just kept pumping out cars that no one really wanted. When the world was going into the realization phase of the climate change crisis we are gripped with today, and other car makers were going to improved fuel efficiency and hybrid cars, the Big 3 were pumping out Hummers, bigger and bigger trucks, and muscle cars from the glory years.

GM and Chrysler realize that their competition is no longer within the Big 3, but now on an international stage. In Canada, particularly southern Ontario, we see the auto working jobs dominated by Toyota and Honda, and we can no longer say that we need to buy North American -- Buy From Your Neighbours -- because our neighbours are making Toyotas.

To survive these companies have to get leaner, meaner and more responsive to the market. They can't rely on the loyalty of past generations, when it is the real world marketplace that is driving decision-making. I buy Pontiacs because that is what my brother-in-law sells, but I like to look at the Nissans.

So, if these foes of ages past can get together and realize that they are more alike than enemies, why can't the parties of the Canadian left get it together and offer us a unified voice? This would require that a lot of egos disappear and that the parties, and their peons, get out of the way and allow Canada to become the number one goal.

The last election proves that although they have the reigns of power, the Conservatives are not the party of choice for the majority of Canadians. Stephan Harper was never going to have a better opportunity than the 2008 federal election to win a majority, and he couldn't pull it off. Now, it might be that he is as arrogant a leader as this county has ever produced, and Canadians saw right through him, but it was more likely that people just didn't buy into their platform...wait, hold on, they didn't have a platform did they...hmmm, maybe that contributed to this....either way, the Conservatives couldn't pull it off.

I am not scared of socialism, I don't have the Cold War perspective on the evils of the Godless Commies and their socialist values. I can see the value in socialized medicine, and I will fight to the end to maintain what the rich elite what to take away from the average Canadians. It's funny, but when you hear the most vicious of the anti-socialist crowd, the old white male, blathering on about how bad the socialist Liberals are, "Particularly under that damn Trudeau," one can't help but laugh. These are the same guys who want an end to socialism, unless of course it means having to pay the real cost for all those drugs that decrease the size of their prostates and lets them pee.

I do not subscribe to an unrealistic approach to running government on the level of the NDP, but I realize that a little socialism is a good thing. I saw John McCain accusing Barack Obama of being a socialist recently, and then when challenged about his support for the multi-billion dollar bank bailouts and nationalization of banks and mortgage companies, he said, (and I'm paraphrasing) "Yeah, but, that was because there was a crisis."

The philosophy being, when in a crisis, go socialist. Socialism is a boogie man and one that we need to gain some perspective on.

The Liberal Party, the NDP and the Green Party of Canada need to get together and create a unified voice which will be the voice of the majority of Canadians. It will require the parties to go out into membership and ask what is important to them -- not how do we win -- but rather, what is important to you, and to the future for your families.

It is time for a change, and the change requires a unified left.

Ah, The Invisible Hand

"Whew, thank God that election is over."

"Election, we had an election?"

"Yeah, where have you been?"

"Right here. Huh. I guess that is why all those talking heads were floating around my television screen."

"How could you not know about the election?"

"Hey, I thought we weren't suppose to have an election until next year. Wasn't that what the guy with the robot eyes promised in the last election I didn't pay any attention to?"

"Well, yes...that is what he promised, he even made it law, but it there was this world economic crisis looming and they knew they had to get an election in before..."

"...before the crisis happened and their chances at a majority were in crisis, right?"

"I guess so yes."

"Now, about this world economic crisis, what is that all about?"

"Where have you been for the last months?"

"Buddy, you know I lost my job at the plant, I've been too busy trying to find a job, keep the lights on and feed my children."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. I know no one cares about us, and I know we are on our own. It's funny though, we must be the cutting edge of this world economic crisis you are speaking about, because, people seem scared of me when they learn I'm out of work. It's like a disease they don't want to catch."

"People don't act like that, do they?"

"Are you kidding? When it was just a few thousand of us it didn't really matter to most people because we were just a 'market correction' or something, but when the specter of economic woe creeps up on their doorsteps, well...look out, wear a mask so you don't catch the unemployment."

"That makes me sad."

"Think about how it makes me feel."

"Oh right, sorry."

"No reason to be sorry. Explain the crisis to me."

"Ok, best as I can figure it, during the last bunch of years, there were some guys who figured out that they could package up mortgages like a stock or something, and then sell them around to banks. So, because everyone liked this kind of investment, it seemed secure I guess, they started creating more of these mortgage-rolls by getting more people to take out mortgages."

"Ah, I see, so then they cut the rates, and anyone with job and a smile could get a mortgage on any size house they wanted."

"That's right, and of course they couldn't keep it up, so they started to default and the foreclosures happened."

"And all these secure funds, are now worthless, or parts of them are worthless, and no one is really sure which parts."

"Right, then the largest mortgage companies in the US take the hit and go bankrupt."

"Sending the mortgage, and banking system into crisis."

"Yup, and it's world wide. Every country is having to prop up their banks, because everyone was hot to trot on these funds."

"Is it me or does this sound like the Michael Milken junk bond fiasco of the Reagan era. Remember that, greed is good?"

"Yeah it does, doesn't it. So, a handful of super rich guys, propped up by greedy politicians and banks have now caused the biggest economic crisis since the depression."

"And of course no one is going to go to jail right?"

"It's the free market man, they not only get away with it, they will get away with the gazillions of dollars they milked from the system in salaries, options and bonuses.''

"Ah, the invisible hand."

"Yes the invisible hand."

"That invisible hand picked me up by the scruff of the neck, so the invisible foot could give me a kick to my very real ass."

'I'm so sorry man."

"No reason to be sorry. It's not your fault."

The Election and No One Wins

What happens if you hold an election and no one wins? Election 2008.

$250,000,000 to give King Stephen a slightly increased minority. This is as limp a leader as we have seen...well, not as limp as Stephane Dion, but as far as Prime Ministers go, Stephen Harper makes Joe Clark look like Churchill. Take the hint King Stephan, you couldn't fake your way into the hearts of Canadians, you don't have what it takes. Give it up.

Jack Layton just couldn't produce, he went back to the tried and true and nothing came from it. The Liberals should now elect Bob Rae who, as a former NDPer, should have the best shot at forming a coalition on the left -- a national party of the left. Then he would promptly take his transport truck full off baggage into the next election and lose again.

Stephane Dion should be gone by Christmas. If he is not, if he chooses to stay on, expect the Liberal party to fold by the end of 2009.

Way to go Elizabeth May...now run in a safe seat would you please. We want to hear your voice in Ottawa.

Election Day 2008 Vote Vote Vote

Today is election day 2008. I will vote, as I always do and as everyone is responsible to do, but I will vote with much concern over the leadership of our country.

This election has demonstrated the depths to which the election process in Canada has sunk. We are in the grips of negative, win at any costs, campaigning. In the post-literate society the average voter is educated either through spoon-feeding from the mass media, or unfiltered through exposure to internet. Either we eat the pablum that feeds our fears and preconceived notions, or we find someone who will support what we want to believe in the finest detail.

Election 2008 should prove to be a waste, meaning a minority government who knew that there were troubling times ahead on the economic front and world stage, decided that it was time to capitalize on its well-funded popularity and hold an early election. Let us not forget that we are in the era of the fixed election date, a law established by this minority Conservative government, and a law broken by the same government at the first chance it had. This should have been the first sign that this election was more about winning then establishing an vision and direction for Canada.

What we learned during this election campaign is that Elizabeth May is the only leader who has the intelligence, personality and conviction to be an effective leader. I don't think for a second that The Green party will win, but I hope that they are able to elect one candidate (Ms May preferably) to the House of Commons. The other leaders showed, in varying degrees, how they are the forgotten men of another age.

When the analysis of Election 2008 is completed, I would hope that this is recognized as a turning point in Canadian politics. My dream is that Canadians realize that we deserve strong, intelligent, charismatic leaders, and these leaders are responsible to us to provide vision, a strong work ethic, and strength of character to lead this country in the early years of the the 21st century.

After this election I believe that there are four party leaders, whose leadership should be up for review. King Stephen has not been able to deliver the mandates that Brian Mulroney successfully manufactured, and he has proven that he is a minority Prime Minister -- King Stephen the Minor. The Conservatives are very good at eating their own, and King Stephen's control freakishness will wear thin on his Ministers and back-benchers who want to rule with an iron glove -- all King Stephen can deliver is an icy mitt. Harper's leadership should be up for review, and he should consider how to move on gracefully and within a reasonable time frame.

Stephane Dion is the interim leader for the Liberal Party, and they would do well to convince him to move on to greener pastures immediately after the campaign. Dion might crow about his success in the campaign, how he brought the election back from the brink of a majority, but the truth is, King Stephan did this all by himself. His own miscalculations were the ruin of this party in this campaign; Mr Dion cannot claim anything more than holding the line. He has been there long enough, and he has had no success at all. Unable to raise his profile or the war-chest necessary before the last election, his leadership will be marked as a puddle of mud.

I wouldn't allow Jack Layton to sit at my kitchen table if he brought the meal; not that his ego would allow his head to fit around the average sized kitchen table. Layton is an intellectual lightweight, and has taken the NDP to the position of the status quo. Unfortunately, it is not the status quo of 2008, but rather 1988, and he has not provided one original idea or value that would make the NDP relevant again in Canadian political discourse. We need one voice on the left of the spectrum to speak for the average Canadian, and the NDP either needs to honour that future or get out of the way.

If changes are not made to our political system, and soon, I see us evolving into a country so divided by regionalism that we will waste most of our time and energy fighting amongst ourselves rather than moving the country forward. This is the desire of King Stephan -- divide and conquer -- but we don't have to accept this.

Vote, vote early, vote often.

Vote your conscience.

The Environment vs The Economy

This should have been the climate change election. Instead we have entrenched the idea that the economy and the environment are mutually exclusive -- enemies of each other -- and support for the environment is support for economic ruin. This is thinking that belongs in the era of the caveman rather than in the 21st century -- environmental troglodytes...wait, the environment was pristine back then....hmmmm... I know, This thinking belongs to the era of the industrial revolution robber baron rather than the 21st century -- environmental robber barons.

Canada, as a country, is mature enough to begin honest discussion about the need to change our consumption patterns and societal behaviours, and work to repair our planet. I am past the point of arguing whether climate change is a fact, anyone who does not believe the mountains (and cataclysmic deluges) of evidence is not only a fool, but a fool of historic proportions. There are no ands, ifs or buts about it; and the historic fools are lead by the king of all fools, the person who argues against climate change, "because someone needs to be the devil's advocate." Jackass. Go sit in the corner, we'll let you out when we can all breath again.

This election wasn't about climate change and the environment, it wasn't really about anything, and it certainly didn't have any impact on where Canada needs to go with regard to our planetary obligations to be better world citizens.

Sure the Green Party is all about climate change, and Elizabeth May offered the most rousing leadership performance of this election, but they really aren't in the position of forming a government - or really even electing an MP.

The NDP, talk about being Green, but we all know that when it comes down to jobs vs planet, they will always support the jobs and pay lip-service to the planet. It really struck me this election how out of date the NDP has become. They are nothing more than a place for those on the left to park their votes if they don't want to vote Liberal. Too bad too, because with Jack Layton's massive ego, there will be no rationalization of the left.

The Bloc...whatever.

The Liberals became bogged down when they took an intelligent and progressive idea for taxing pollution and decreasing our taxes as an offset, and turned it into a political platform. The platform was not well received by "we wanna win" candidates, and was then unenthusiastically sold to the public. Unfortunately, this very good idea, will fall by the wayside because of political manipulation.

The Conservatives...well what can we say? They have sold out the environment at every step of their mandate, while undermining Canada's clean and fresh image on the world stage. The Conservatives, along with their buddies the Republicans, lead the campaign of the ignorant by blocking every attempt by world leaders to initiate change. King Stephen and Jittery John Baird, were pathetic in their defense of their obstruction, saying they were looking for more concrete targets. No one believes you, no one believes you care about the environment. King Stephen only cares about grasping and holding power...my precious.

For some strange reason I was watching the US presidential debate moderated by Tom Brokaw, when all of a sudden Tom asked a question that was both simplistic and staggering in it's scope. "To affect advancement in climate change through new technologies, should the US undertake an initiative on the scale of the Manhattan Project or fund thousands of garage entrepreneurs?" This is of course in reference to the national undertaking during World War II that created the atom bomb, and the invention of the personal computer by a couple of college students in Bill Gates parent's garage. Neither candidate actually answered the question, because neither one had actually considered what it will take to change the world, outside of their being elected and being carried to the office of President on the shoulders of glowing angels from heaven.

I was in Germany two years ago and was involved in a eye opening presentation about advances in solar technology. What was most interesting, is how matter of factly this private company was in discussing their investments and their desire to capture the market. There was no hand wringing about whether the technology would work, it was about how fast they could get it into production and whether they could beat the competition to market. In North America we still think about the solar technology of the 1980's, while criticizing the current technology based on our experiences without outdoor solar lamps bought at Canadian Tire for $29.99..."See how cool my solar lamps are. Really adds something to the garden, dontcha think?"

The leadership I would like to have seen this election, would have been a plan to initiate an environmental Manhattan Project, and to offer assistance to the entrepreneur to make a difference. At the same time the government would embark on a program of behaviour modification for the public through education, incentives, and tax relief. Is that too much to ask for? HA! OK, it is, but I can still dream.

American Madness - The Banking Crisis

We're being rocked by a global economic melt down...and we never seem to learn.

This meltdown is a crisis created by greed and weak regulation. Rich corporations run by rich people trying to get richer; and to make it more fun to analyze, the basis of this credit crisis is the middle class trying to act rich. So here we are, banks folding, investors panicking, governments over-reacting and the average consumer delaying that big ticket item purchase.

There is going to be pain on a monumental scale, but nothing as silly as economic pain or pain to national pride, this is real pain. The pain of people losing their jobs, losing their houses, trying to figure out how to feed their kids, and the whole time trying to keep it together while not to appear as a disappointment in their children's eyes. There will be thousands of people who will be affected, they will leave their hometowns, fall victim to addictions of all types, and marriages and families will fall apart.

These people will not be featured in the news at 6:00 and 11:00 other than a patronizing "The Faces of Pain" segment, designed to make the viewing public think that the media cares about them...well, cares about them until the story airs and they move on to the next "Face of Pain."

The current crisis is being portrayed as the "next depression" and the bank instability seems to offer parallels easily drawn. In 1932 Frank Capra directed, and Robert Riskin wrote a movie called American Madness. The story is about a simple event that turns into a panic and then a run on a bank. The characters must act to hold it all together.

There are two particular clips from that movie that have particular relevance today. The first is a beautifully crafted piece of movie-making that establishes the ferocity with which economic crisis can spread.



The second clip is a fine piece of speech-making that sums up what we should have learned in the 1930's. We failed to learn, and, as happens with all foolish societies, we are about to suffer the same consequences. Warning: this clip smacks of socialism. For the extreme right-wingers in the crowd this might cause rashes or depravity. You were warned.

We the Disenfranchised Wish to be Heard

We are totally disconnected from our leaders.

One of the key components of leadership is the need to have followers willing to follow. In the current federal political structure each party has it's built-in followers -- party workers, wannabes, hangers-on, multi-generational party in-breds -- lots of followers. But in the end, the percentage of those willing to follow is small, static or decreasing. These people will always be there. They are the lemming followers; not sure why, just know with all the moral certainty of the cosmos that they are right in their choice.

For the average voter, it isn't as easy as knowing they are right. There are a growing number of people who no longer have a connection to one of the traditional parties, and they don't really care. The demographics will show us that particular groups will vote for particular parties; old white men, traditionally the most scared demographic group in society, will vote for the party that focuses their need to fear and makes them feel secure in their narrow-mindedness. These old white men, will vote Conservative because the Conservatives, like the Republicans in the USA, know how to make you feel insecure, and then present themselves as the best choice to manage. Now don't get me wrong, I hope to be an old white man later in my life...just not that particular closed-minded, scaredy-cat version.

The other day, I was standing in a hockey arena with a group of individuals who I am sure are also aspiring to be old white men. I hate political discussions, mostly because having been in government and seen it work, I have little patience for those who bad mouth democracy because they are too lazy to learn. This discussion was different, and the difference was interesting.

There was general agreement that this election is unnecessary and nothing more than a ruling party trying to get a majority before the wheels fell off the economy. Interesting. The other interesting thing was total agreement that the quality of leader of the political parties is less than it should be. This was not a "back in my day," or "it was better in my father's day" kind of discussion, this was an inability to connect with any of the leaders seen in the recent English Language debate.

"The NDP sound exactly as they did back when I was a kid. There is nothing new, and Jack Layton looks more like a high school gym teacher then he does a Prime Minister," said one.

"Dion just strikes me as a guy who is warming the seat for someone else. I have always voted Liberal, but this time I think I am voting Green -- The Green Shift to vote Green," said another.

"Stephan Harper can't even pretend he cares about the middle class. He doesn't care. He's never been middle class -- really middle class -- not just middle class for the photographers," said a third person.

"I just don't feel comfortable voting for any of them. There are no plans, hell, the Conservatives didn't even think to present a platform, there is no idea where we are going," said yet another.

"Afghanistan, the economy, climate change these guys all just think that it's about getting elected and they don't have any vision past the end of their next minority -- because that is what it is going to be," said the last.

While the leaders and their parties scurry around to gather votes, they might be missing the fact that they are squandering their futures. In the rush to get elected, and the techniques they have been using of late, have so disenfranchised the average voter, that when they turn around while leading they will see that no one is following. I doubt they really care whether anyone follows or whether anything gets accomplished during their term. It is about getting power, and making sure the other guy doesn't get power.

Perhaps a string of minority governments will finally let the leaders and their parties, that they are bordering on the brink of irrelevance. They can then take a step back, and instead of placing a bet on every square to ensure that they don't appear the loser, they can place their bet on Canada's future and give us something to believe in -- and a leader to follow.