This was prompted by a (closed) call for public input into Canada's federal budget. The people at the top in government seem to be way in over their heads. Crucial things that affect us all seem almost entirely ignored or bungled in ways that are hard to believe. Below is a list of observations in response.
A lot of people and entities profited handsomely from our COVID pandemic. We should investigate how and why they did so. We should reverse gouging that is too outrageous, and otherwise put them on a 'naughty list'. Encourage entities that pitched in to help, rather than those who did so just for profit.
It may be impossible, but I would like to see an effort to identify and remove harmful narcissistic sociopaths from positions of power. They cannot work in our interest because they do not nearly understand our needs, nor do they care to.
Those in power that care should realize that struggling citizens do not have the time to represent their interests like lobbyists do. Discount any argument from lobbyists that takes money from us and gives it to them. Also, note that lack of trust has reduced participation by citizens.
As much as possible, the government of Canada needs to get serious about making itself beyond the reach of powerful private entities. Critical infrastructure needs to be in Canada and controlled by Canadians with security clearances.
Most of the people in the civil service want to do their absolute best job. I doubt that very many have the opportunity. Some areas should be scrapped. Others can be trimmed. Areas that do not even exist, should exist. Free the civil service to reorganize.
Entities like Google, Apple, Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon silenced the Commander in Chief of the largest military in the history of the world, partly by also shutting down a competitor (Parler). Whatever you feel about that decision, it is too much control by far.
Canada should take a leadership position to negotiate the elimination of copyrights and patents. This would instantly put enormous wealth into the Canadian economy, and fuel more growth as well. We should not be taking advice from people who profit from copyrights and patents.
As part of UBI, you need to pass legislation that makes UBI money beyond the reach of creditors. Debt should not allow creditors to take food off people's tables.
Let us work to fix the environment. We have ongoing pollution, mountains of garbage, depleted fisheries, badly misused land, toxic perils waiting to happen, and more. Instead of saying well, all the kids have a carbon tax, let us do some genuine holistic environmental research.
Start pulling some educated technical people who do not have conflicts of interest into your decision-making process. Do it early. The people at the top look like they are randomly stabbing at things, none of which they understand. We have experts. Let us use them.
Special interests will present you with flashy presentations, tempt you with career advancement, and make veiled threats that you ignore them at your peril. Recognize they promote themselves, not us. Make nice with them but take what they say with a heavy grain of salt.
Our education system is a mess. Rather than just dumping more money on the system, let us analyze what we have and how to fix it. There are massive savings there. [Broken Education System] So much human misery could be eliminated in short order.
We have a lot of 'mission critical' stuff like computers, cell phones, and network infrastructure entirely out of our control. That is a national security nightmare. Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter(!) have more control over us than the federal government. Bad.
Get a bunch of bright co-op students in from good universities like Waterloo to help you make sense of it all. They are cheaper and better than most consultants, and they genuinely want to do their best work.
Note: I say Waterloo because I have supervised students from Waterloo a few times and they have all been excellent. They have been pleasant to work with, and radically exceeded expectations. They work so fast and well it is a challenge feeding them tasks.
UBI will create ubiquitous liquidity. That alone might be enough to bump the economy enough to cancel out new inflation. If not, there are other measures that can be taken to correct it.
There are so many things that could stand improvement in Canada. It is a great country, but it could and should be so much more. We need leadership that can take initiative and lead, not reactive politicos looking only to the next election and their political career. We need real plans.
If UBI is in place, even restaurant owners who were entirely wiped out would be able to reopen without worrying about their basic needs.
COVID spread exponentially. You need someone near the top that can recognize that and understand what it means. In this case, quickly implemented hard lockdowns would have made a world of difference. I could have told you what an exponential curve means when I was in high school.
UBI should not just be on the table. It should be in effect now. Many of its beneficial effects could be had within minutes of reading this. It takes only an announcement by the PM that it is happening. Money could be in many accounts by tomorrow.
UBI -- Where will we get the money? FFS. Get somebody who understands fiat currency to explain MMT, so people know that this is not the issue. The feds do not get their money from taxes. They create it from nothing. The issue is inflation/devaluation.
Say I am a baker. The government gives me $1 for ingredients to make a $2 donut. When there is a buyer for that donut, I have taken a dollar from the economy and made $2 for a net of $1. The government can create wealth from nothing by supplying the $1.
We gave away our industrial infrastructure. It is a done deal. We need to get the capability back. We should review what fundamentals need to be in place to support manufacturing and get busy putting them back in place.
We have an opportunity in that since we no longer effectively have a legacy industrial infrastructure, we can start over with the most advanced equipment to build the new infrastructure. Canadian goods could be and should be the finest in the world.
Manufacturers of chips and chipsets control what is 'baked in'. If they 'bake in' a back door allowing them to take over your system, you are unacceptably vulnerable. You must assume this is the case. We need to be able to create our own chips.
We have all the raw materials we need to manufacture anything. We need to develop our industrial infrastructure, so it can supply everything we need on up to producing computers and networks. Canada effectively does not have national security.
We desperately need true leadership in government, not career politicians. I am alive today because Tommy Douglas was a true leader who spearheaded, proved, and pushed through public healthcare. He led this move long before it was popular. That is leadership.
As a parting shot (for now,) -- UBI is absolutely the best fix to a whole host of problems. It is a slam dunk to implement now. It will be effective. It will help NOW, when it is most needed. It will get all Canadians busy putting things right. It will make things better.
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