Legislating the end of poverty

That is a picture is of an American Food stamp, one of the myriad ways the US government has tried to end poverty. That government currently operates 122 programs which spend $15,000 for each and every individual in the US that is designated as poor. This information and much more was presented by Neil Reynolds in his most recent column this week. The American war on poverty continues, 46 years after Lyndon B. Johnson fired the first shot in 1964.
That futile war is fought in the States, in Canada, and every "well-meaning" democracy on the planet by each particular local government.
The other day a colleague of mine repeated an old aphorism that applies to this sort of futility: What's the definition of insanity? Repeatedly doing the same thing but expecting a different outcome each time. Buying the end of poverty doesn't work.

The politics of letter writing

Aside from blogging I keep the editors of the local and national newspapers busy with a regular stream of letters. My letters have appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines over the years. This week I sent my first letter to the National Post, it was published and the online version appears above. My record is more spotty with other papers, this was first-time-lucky and I appreciate the opportunity. However my letter was edited so much that my argument was altered, see if you can spot the differences.

Re: Alberta Sands praised as ‘ethical oil’. Adam McDowell, Sept. 22

To the Editor:

I think that reframing the debate by called Alberta’s Oil Sands ‘ethical oil’ is disingenuous, like putting lipstick on a pig, its still a pig. Any kind of oil exploration and production is dirty business; witness the Gulf of Mexico oil debacle.

The ethical focus should be on the producers. Are they responsible enough to clean up after themselves; are they minimizing the impact of production so that the people of Alberta are not stuck with an environmental mess for generations afterward?

Oil is an essential ingredient of modern civilization, it should be traded with as few restrictions as possible, and the market should dictate its price. Alberta should not be ashamed of its good fortune as a major player in oil production. Calling it ‘ethical’ or ‘fair trade’ oil because it comes from Canada as opposed to Saudi Arabia or Nigeria is of no consequence to me, I shop for the best price.

Danielle Smith should reconsider her support of Ezra Levant’s book; it is shortsighted thinking. If ethics dictated trade we should refrain from travel to Cuba or from purchasing Chinese manufactured goods because of human rights issues. That’s wrong, it is trade that brings about change.

If the Americans don’t want our “dirty” oil, someone else will.     


My letter was based on this article. It talks about Ezra Levant's book and how Danielle Smith of the Wildrose Alliance picked up the argument. Full disclosure: I haven't read the book, but I have read about it, this fairly positive review was in the Financial Post the day before my letter was sent.
I admire Levant and I agree with him on many issues, probably even this issue, given the provisos in my unedited letter. But the day after I wrote the letter the National Post ran a lead editorial supporting ethical oil, and not mentioning Levant or Smith. My letter appeared the following day, edited so as to make it look like it was written in response to the lead editorial. While I know the newspaper reserves the right to edit whatever it is sent, this seems fishy to me.

Government interventions create economic niches

According to George Jonas that is what governments do "create economic niches"; he goes on to say: "criminalizing conduct makes it pay"  in his recent The National Post op-ed.
The Post is running a five-part-series on the sale of "illegal" cigarettes by members of First Nations (natives) groups in Canada. Jonas points out that a black market in cigarettes does not exist....."That's the first thing to know about it. Markets are colourless. "Black market" is what the authorities call whatever segment of the free market they want to restrict for whatever reason."
I'm the last person you would expect to defend cigarette smoking or any other kind of addictive habit, but sometimes freedom means 'letting go' and allowing some behaviours to go on as long as they only affect the user. This is such a case, and Jonas's column is worthy of your time.

The race for mayor in Toronto

Municipal politics in this country is typically boring. Not this year in Toronto! The campaigning seems interminably long compared to what happens at the provincial or federal level. At those upper levels, campaigns have been legislated down to just 4 weeks or so. This way the incumbent party can't screw-up too badly and they may be able to finagle another victory.
Not in municipal politics, the Toronto campaign has been in going full-bore (no pun intended) at least three months now and there is still a month to go. In this particular year that is the best thing about it.
One unlikely candidate, Councillor Rob Ford, has emerged with a substantial lead if polls can be believed. He has almost twice the percentage in favour as his closest opponent. Even I like him, sort of.
Toronto has the reputation of voting federally for union-friendly statist politicians. Liberals or New Democrats get elected throughout most Toronto ridings. Even the last mayor and council were big government types and of course their big spending ways have created a huge debt problem for the city during a bad economic downturn.
The current Mayor Miller is known for "negotiating" juicy contracts with unions (like garbage workers), adding all sorts of annoying surcharges for the privilege living in the city and slapping red-tape on anything that looks like progress. Wisely, Miller has decided not to run again because the pendulum is swinging the other way.
The new mantra is responsible government, ('cause they have been irresponsible up until now) even so some candidates insist union jobs should be saved, tunnels should be built for cars to travel unimpeded, transit should be improved and every pot should have a chicken in it.
Ford has a better idea. He is the only one suggesting that cuts need to be made in the size of government. He's still a big government guy (and he's big too) a union-unfriendly statist politician, so I'm not that excited. But the length of the campaign has focused those voters who are paying attention on costs and size of government. That may be why Ford is popular, but it's early days yet.