Just Right… with Bob Metz and Robert Vaughan

016 – Global Warming: Ad Hominem Assault

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Aug 022007

Maximum Speed 100

On a sweltering August day in London, Ontario, the heat outside mirrors the heated debates that dominate public discourse. Letters to the editor reveal a disturbing trend: instead of engaging ideas, critics launch personal attacks. In the global warming controversy, skeptics face accusations of being industry shills or non-scientists, while proponents escape scrutiny altogether. Consensus gets mistaken for science, yet history shows that truth often emerges from lone voices challenging the majority.

Marijuana use in Canada draws similar irrational responses. Statistics highlight higher consumption here than in decriminalized nations, yet the real issue remains one of principle. Government lacks the moral authority to punish peaceful choices that harm no one else. Criminalization fails to deter, while freedom respects individual sovereignty.

Photo radar and speed limits expose another myth. Evidence from jurisdictions shows that automated enforcement slows traffic but increases rear-end collisions and fatalities. Higher, naturally observed speeds reduce congestion and time on the road, lowering accident risk. Germany’s Autobahn demonstrates that well-engineered highways with unrestricted sections achieve superior safety records.

Fears of World War III and debates over the monarchy remind listeners that freedom requires eternal vigilance. Personal liberty erodes gradually, often under the guise of noble causes. Defending it demands reason, not emotion or consensus—and that defense is just right.

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015 – Sweden: Socialist Paradise or Illusion? | Paul Lambert

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Jul 262007

Paul Lambert

Paul Lambert, Just Right’s Euro-correspondent and a native Londoner who has lived and worked in Sweden for years, joins us for a candid conversation that challenges popular myths about the so-called socialist paradise. Statistics often paint Sweden as prosperous, with higher per capita income than Canada, yet Paul reveals a different reality shaped by crushing taxes, limited choices, and everyday frustrations.

High fuel prices barely spark debate there, while costs for goods and services drain incomes far more than numbers suggest. Shoppers encounter abrupt service, a stark contrast to the helpful attitudes Paul encounters back in Canada. Even driving feels polite and patient here compared to the norm abroad.

In schools, discipline has eroded to the point where disruptive students challenge teachers without consequence, turning education into bureaucracy rather than learning. Socialized dentistry and healthcare, often praised as models, prove prohibitively expensive or inaccessible for average citizens—Paul flies to Canada for cheaper appointments. Inequalities persist, with quality care reserved for the wealthy or foreigners, while taxes subsidize a system that delivers long waits and uneven results.

Crime has escalated, work ethic has declined, and cultural cynicism resists innovation. Immigration strains resources, yet open discussion remains taboo. Sweden drifts from the high-tax welfare state many admire, exposing the gaps between ideology and lived experience.

Contrasts like these remind us why individual freedom and responsibility matter—and why the right balance in society is just right.

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014 – All Suspects Guilty at City Hall

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Jul 192007

Sicko

Municipal politics in London exposes the absurdity of government overreach. City Hall launches a half-million-dollar training program for all employees on “respect” and “woman abuse,” prompted by a 1999 incident long past. Taxpayers foot the bill while basic civility should already be expected from those hired to serve the public. Spending public money to rehabilitate offenders on the public payroll amounts to rewarding bad behavior instead of simply firing those responsible.

Garbage collection policies reveal similar nonsense. New bag limits and weight restrictions punish conscientious residents who already recycle diligently, while ignoring core service improvements. Conscientious citizens struggle under arbitrary rules imposed during extended pickup delays, yet administrators justify restrictions by citing other cities—hardly a principled argument.

Global warming debates shift to economics, where carbon taxes emerge as the latest forced intervention. Proponents promise revenue-neutral shifts that somehow fund everything without consequences, but reality demonstrates otherwise. Artificially hiking energy prices shrinks economies and lowers living standards; no free lunch exists when governments manipulate markets through coercion disguised as “pricing signals.”

Healthcare discussions highlight dangers of single-payer systems. Private insurance faces legitimate criticism for claim denials, yet replacing it with government as both provider and referee guarantees even less accountability. Countries experimenting with fully socialized models now move toward privatization, while advocates here push in the opposite direction. Dental care proposals follow the same flawed logic—promising “free” services that inevitably ration access and inflate costs.

Marijuana prohibition persists as one of the most irrational policies on the books. Canadians consume at rates far exceeding global averages, even surpassing nations where the drug is tolerated. Criminalization creates black markets and inflated prices for a plant that grows virtually anywhere, while legalization with reasonable taxation offers a far more rational approach.

These issues all connect through one common thread: governments assuming control over individual choices, always with unintended consequences that justify yet more control. Recognizing this pattern remains just right.

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013 – Disarming Citizens Empowers Tyrants | Jim Montag

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Jul 122007

Gun ownership remains a fundamental right that no law-abiding citizen should ever surrender. In conversation with Jim Montag, operator of Great Lakes Guns and Knives shows, the evidence clearly demonstrates that gun control fails to reduce crime while disarmament invites tyranny.

Statistics reveal the stark reality. Britain’s near-total handgun ban in the late 1990s nearly doubled gun crimes within a decade, while violent crime now leads Western nations. London surpasses even New York in brutality, despite citizens being defenseless. Meanwhile, American states expanding concealed carry rights see crime drop, as criminals fear armed victims far more than distant police.

History offers no exceptions: every totalitarian regime first disarms its population to prevent resistance. Canada treads this dangerous path with ever-tighter restrictions that render self-defense nearly impossible—locked guns, separate ammunition, and proposals to flee one’s own home during invasion. Such laws protect criminals, not citizens.

Lawful gun owners prove overwhelmingly responsible, supporting harsh penalties for violent offenders while opposing registries that burden the innocent. The real solution targets criminals through mandatory sentencing, not disarming the peaceful.

Defending the individual right to bear arms stands just right against both street thugs and state overreach.

Note: Jim Montag passed away on March 24, 2008.

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012 – Gas Subsidies Ignite Rage In Iran

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Jul 052007

Iranian Gas

We continue our examination of economic interventions and their unintended consequences, beginning with Iran’s fuel crisis. Despite being the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, Iran imposes gasoline rationing because decades of subsidies have distorted markets, discouraged domestic refining, and fueled massive imports. When authorities recently raised prices and limited supply, citizens responded by setting gas stations ablaze—an entirely predictable reaction to artificial scarcity created by government controls. We warned months ago that similar price-notification schemes would provoke panic buying; Iran’s experience confirms that intervening in markets only exacerbates shortages and unrest.

We also highlight former chess champion Gary Kasparov’s warnings about Vladimir Putin. Kasparov rightly observes that Western leaders grant democratic legitimacy to authoritarian regimes through incremental concessions. True freedom erodes step by step, just as it does when citizens accept minor encroachments on their rights.

Closer to home, we scrutinize Ontario’s upcoming referendum on electoral reform. The proposed mixed-member proportional system promises “fairer” results and greater choice, yet it merely dilutes individual votes by introducing party lists and expanding the legislature. Citizens trade direct influence over local representatives for partial sway over appointed list members—a classic shell game that weakens accountability while entrenching party power.

Finally, we reflect on the deeper peril of government “doing good.” As Isabel Paterson observed, most harm arises from well-intentioned people pursuing virtuous ends through coercive means. Genuine charity requires voluntary action; when government confiscates resources to redistribute them, it replaces benevolence with force, impoverishing both donor and recipient.

These examples demonstrate why individual freedom and market principles remain essential for prosperity and justice—a perspective that is just right.

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011 – Junk Science Kills Conservatism

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Jun 282007

We delve into the pervasive clutter that fills our minds today—junk science and junk politics—drawing from recent discussions and insights that challenge the status quo. Following up on our previous guests, such as Anthony Verberkmos from Indy Media, we examine how anti-globalism and anti-war sentiments often align with the mainstream rather than true radicalism, revealing biases against America and Israel that ignore moral distinctions in conflicts. We highlight articles from the London Free Press, where Licia Corbella praises Israel as a beacon in the Middle East, and Michael Coren exposes the fault lines in blaming the West for Palestinian ills.

Turning to history, we explore how right makes might, as exemplified by the Roman Republic’s principles of representation and voluntary contributions that built its empire, contrasting with today’s moral relativism. We also address Ontario’s coal-fired plants, noting Tom Harris‘s warnings against Premier Dalton McGuinty’s closure plans, as government data shows air pollutants declining while ozone remains steady—proving coal can be clean and efficient.

The death of conservatism looms large, with columnists like Ian Urquhart and Andrew Coyne critiquing John Tory’s vague platform that mirrors liberal spending without real cuts. We recall Ayn Rand‘s 1960 obituary for conservatism, which dares not defend capitalism, the true system empowering individuals over politicians.

In our focus on junk science, we feature Terence Corcoran‘s anecdotes from Junk Science Week, debunking distorted studies and exaggerated risks. Timothy Patterson‘s research on sunspots correlates with climate cycles, showing the sun brighter now than in 8,000 years, shattering CO2 myths. Václav Klaus urges resistance to environmental hysteria that threatens freedom through global planning.

As we confront these deceptions, we advocate for objective truth in a way that is just right.

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010 – Anti-idling / Freedom and risk / War – What is it good for? | Anthony Verberkmoes

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Jun 212007

In this edition of Just Right, we delved into the perennial surrender of freedom in exchange for an illusion of security, exposing how easily people trade their liberties for empty promises of safety. From London’s absurd anti-idling bylaws—designed to “educate” drivers with fines while exempting the very conditions where pollution matters most—to Canada’s no-fly list and post-9/11 restrictions that inconvenience innocents while achieving little against real threats, the pattern is clear: government overreach thrives on misplaced fears and misjudged risks.

We then turned to the Ontario provincial election circus, where Liberals and Progressive Conservatives alike peddle massive spending sprees—subsidies for “energy-efficient big cars,” billions for transit boondoggles, and John Tory’s push to fund religious schools at taxpayer expense—all while robbing Peter to pay Paul under the guise of compassion and progress. Add in school boards conjuring surpluses through creative accounting to avoid accountability for declining enrollments, and the fiscal irresponsibility becomes undeniable.

Guest Anthony Verberckmoes of Indymedia joined us to promote the Regional Social Forum, sparking a spirited debate on war, terrorism, and Western interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq—where one side sees self-defense against tyrannical regimes, and the other views imperial hypocrisy driven by oil and power.

Understanding these connections between personal freedom, government intrusion, electoral vote-buying, and the justifications for war is Just Right.

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