Compared to the impending onset of the Greater Depression, the election is essentially a nonevent. From Doug Casey on a guest post at theburningplatform.com:
At least on first glance, you’d think things couldn’t get much worse in Canada in general, and Alberta in particular. Commodity prices are all down—some near historic lows in real terms—and Canada is all about commodities.
Then, last year, Canadians elected Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, who can be counted on to promote absolutely every politically correct Big Government notion that crosses his mind and make the wrong decision at every opportunity. “Bold new programs” are always fun at the beginning. And since the Canadian government is in better shape than that of the U.S., it will be fun squandering whatever is in the piggy bank.
Not to be outdone, the Albertans elected the NDP for their provincial government; Canada’s NDP is best compared to the Bernie Sanders wing of the U.S. Democrats. They’re doing their best to bedevil oil, agriculture, and business in general, even trying to unionize family farms.
Before last year’s election, Alberta had, by far, Canada’s lowest taxes. It was the only province without a sales tax, which averages 7% in the other provinces. It had a flat 10% income tax; in other provinces, it averages 15% and up to 25% in Quebec. Alberta’s per-capita GDP was higher than that of the U.S., and typically 20% higher than the rest of Canada. It had the freest economy, and no provincial debt.
Now, they’re about to get a 7% sales tax, the income tax is graduated up to 15%, the province is taking on debt, and the legislature is active with lots of new regulations. And my read is that their real estate market is about to crash. Way too many people own multiple dwellings suffering negative cash flow.
Still, I suspect the average Canadian, or Albertan, is about a standard deviation better educated than his counterpart south of the border. Of course, that’s not saying much, especially when it comes to politics, which, in any event, is mainly an indicator of psychological aberration. Churchill was right when he said that the best argument against democracy was a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Why did the poor fools vote in Trudeau nationally, and the NDP provincially? The best answers I could get were things like “It seemed like a good idea at the time…” or “I guess it was time for a change.”
Maybe it’s understandable; the ruling party they evicted is called—believe it or not—the Progressive Conservatives. A name like that, which is a contradiction in terms, is proof of how degraded political discussion has become. The Progressive Conservatives should adopt this for a motto: “We’re very confused about what, if anything, we stand for.”
Anyway, I’ll wager the Albertans kick out the NDP in 2019 because the economy will be very bad. But you can be assured the new taxes and regulations will stay in place.
But whatever happens in Canada is a sideshow compared to the main event in the U.S. As you know, I’ve been on record for a year saying that Trump will win. I still think so, despite the fact that every pundit in existence rails against him daily, spewing visceral hate. They call him a racist, which is actually a lie. Racism has become such a hot “no-go” topic that no one even dares discuss what it is—forget about its pros and cons. It will be the subject of a future End Note. They call Trump a sexist, which is another lie. I’ll cover sexism in the same essay. That will also provide an opportunity to discuss immigration (perhaps more accurately called migration) policy today.
To continue reading: Why You Shouldn’t Take This Election Seriously
