Category: Economics | Page 9 | Just Right Media

562 – Still getting it wrong about Left and Right

Jun 282018

If any proof is still needed that the popular notions of the political ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ are completely erroneous, one need only hear those attempting to use those incorrect frames of reference in a political debate or discussion. If not so tragic, it would be humorous. The conversation will invariably disintegrate into a subjective morass of contradictory and meaningless labels that define nothing and resolve nothing.

That’s exactly what happened at the May 18th Munk Debate, featuring participants Jordan Peterson, Stephen Fry, Michael Dyson and Michelle Goldberg on a resolution about ‘political correctness.’ It also happened at the May 5th Society of Academic Freedom and Scholarship’s (SAFS) event featuring speakers David Haskell, Lindsay Shepherd, and Frances Widdowson during their discussion of free speech on campus.

The confusion arises in failing to recognize that the terms ‘Left’ and ‘Right,’ objectively defined, represent polar opposites, just like ‘north’ and ‘south.’

Unfortunately, the popular and accepted scale of Left and Right place ‘communism’ on the Left and ‘fascism’ on the Right, even though both communism and fascism are not opposites and explicitly sit on the Left. Nowhere on this scale is there a place for individual freedom or capitalism, despite beliefs that they exist on some imaginary ‘center.’ That scale looks like this: Continue reading »

561 – Trump trade tirade

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Jun 212018

It’s too bad that the substance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement at the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec on June 9 was utterly lost on the general public. His message needed to be heard.

The media tirades against Trump’s policy on trade serve a purpose and it is not to enlighten. Their purpose is to create confusion about where Trump stands on free trade, to hide corrupt trade practices like ‘Supply Management’ in Canada, and to express their hatred about the reality that U.S. President Donald Trump holds all the cards – and Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau holds none.

Both the mainstream media and Leftist political interests portray Trump’s threats of tariffs and trade barriers as a threat to the status quo trade that exists now. None want to acknowledge Trump’s strategy as a means to push other nations to drop their own tariffs, barriers, and subsidies – which is exactly what Donald Trump has been telling them he’s doing all along.

“No tariffs. No barriers. No subsidies. That’s the way it should be,” Trump stressed at the G7 Summit, but few have even heard these words, and continue to believe that Trump is against ‘free trade.’ Continue reading »

560 – Ontario’s majority mandate for socialism

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Jun 142018

On the heels of Ontario’s newly elected Progressive Conservative majority government under Doug Ford, expectations of ‘change’ – for the better – are high. It would be difficult to imagine anything worse than what Ontarians endured under the ousted Wynne Liberal Party, which no longer holds official party ‘standing’ in the legislature.

However, it must be recognized that the conditions under which Ontario currently suffers are a consequence of the cumulative actions and directions taken by all of the parties in the legislature. Kathleen Wynne and her government merely continued in the political direction (Leftward) already established and entrenched by previous governments – including those of the Progressive Conservatives.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict or evaluate what the PCs may do under Ford, since the party won its majority mandate under a single objective: getting rid of Kathleen Wynne.

In the absence of any substantive or credible commitment to actually ‘change’ the Leftward direction in which Ontario is heading, Ford and his PCs have left us little to speculate about. After all, how does one reconcile a promise “to increase government spending, reduce taxes, and balance the budget?”

What we do know about the PC party is its history and tradition. Continue reading »

559 – Guest: Amir Farahi – City Blights

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Jun 072018

Since last joining us on Just Right, Amir Farahi of the London Institute has become the Chair of London’s Transportation Committee, been appointed to the Municipal Advisory Committee for Rapid Transit, and has become project manager of a $20 million development plan called Venture London.

Over the same period, Amir’s views have become less accessible to the London community. He no longer appears on the weekly Wednesday CJBKam1290 round-table with Ken Eastwood and Lisa Brandt or on Andy Oudman’s Live Drive, which has been dropped by the same station. And because of the recent folding of a London community newspaper, Our London, Amir’s regular and insightful columns about municipal issues are also no longer available there.

So it should be no surprise that Amir now plans to provide a fresh media platform for people who have “lost the opportunity to be a voice for reason” in the London community. Stay tuned for further developments on this front as we delve into the controversies that have driven all of these changes and developments.

As examples of the municipal themes Amir is now dealing with in an official capacity are those discussed on today’s show: the traffic problem, the drug problem and the political problem – issues facing municipalities everywhere. Continue reading »

558 – Ontario’s Progressive Conservative identity crisis – Who’s Right and why

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May 312018

As the last broadcast before next week’s Ontario provincial election, there is a sense of urgency in our sounding one last pre-election alarm about Ontario’s very alarming state of affairs. It is a situation not unlike that in many other jurisdictions around the globe.

What’s at stake is freedom itself, and freedom has no voice in the Ontario legislature, and a very limited voice in the current Ontario election as heard only through representatives of the Freedom Party of Ontario.

For those on the Right, Ontario’s political crisis boils down to one of IDENTITY. If ever there was a need to place ‘identity politics’ in a valid context, it is with regard to political parties. In particular, it is the failure to properly IDENTIFY Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party as being on the Left, even as the party continues to be intentionally associated with values of the ‘Right’ by both the media and many ‘conservatives’ alike.

This is significant, because individual freedom itself IS a value of the Right, but the philosophy necessary to achieve individual freedom is not being either preached or practiced by any other party besides Freedom Party. Continue reading »

552 – Guest: Salim Mansur – Free speech to free trade

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Apr 192018

In attempting to live up to the ideals of free speech and free trade, the complexity of achieving each soon becomes apparent. That’s because in practice, neither of these ideals literally exists – even in the Western nations that rightly hold them as high virtues.

Given the best of intentions, it is highly doubtful that Mark Zuckerberg’s recent grilling before a US Senate hearing committee will actually pave the way towards any guarantee of ‘free speech’ on Facebook. His hauntingly welcome acceptance of government regulation on ‘privacy’ issues that would affect how he runs his Facebook business model may well open the barn door to the entrenchment of regulated speech – by government.

Said Zuckerberg: “Our position is not that regulation is bad. I think the Internet is so important in people’s lives and it’s getting more important, the expectations on Internet companies and technology companies overall are growing. And I think the real question is ‘What is the right framework for this?’ not ‘Should there be one?’” Continue reading »

548 – Inconvenient truths about Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party

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Mar 222018

Driven a Ford lately? Most Fords are capable of being driven in any direction, but the Ford being driven by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party (PC) is only capable of steering Left.

Doug Ford is a likable character to many on the right, but the party driving him has a clear and consistent history of making Left turns only. The very crisis that conservatives blame on Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne’s ruling Liberal Party was in fact created and continues to be fueled by Ontario’s PC party. Under the PC banner, Doug Ford can now be counted upon to continue this Progressive tradition.

For example, within the span of but a single day following his election as PC leader, on the issue of the upcoming legalization of cannabis in Ontario, Ford switched from saying ‘Let markets dictate’ to ‘Let’s dictate the market.’

Making it clear that he himself does not support the legalization of cannabis, Ford later attempted to reconcile all of his contradictory statements with his pledge to “Start off in our controlled market, eventually I believe in the free market.” Continue reading »