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On Cardboard Politicians And Financially Dooming Accursed Millennials

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by Sean Orr | Same old same old, via the Globe & Mail: Liberals defer major tax pledge in 2017 federal budget.

“U.S. President Donald Trump was not mentioned by name, but Mr. Morneau’s budget highlighted the sizable amount of uncertainty facing the Canadian economy largely because of outside factors. On Wednesday, Ottawa chose to hold off on a campaign pledge to raise billions in new revenue by closing tax loopholes that benefit high-income Canadians”.

Using fear to leverage favours to the 1% and to jettison even more promises at the expense of the working class. It’s a fucking sad state of affairs when a person like Rona Ambrose starts making sense:

“The Prime Minister has decided to get rid of the benefit for public-transit passes, which of course are used by most low-income Canadians – particularly young people and students,” she said. “He’s also going to tax your beer. … [The budget] even taxes Uber and it clearly demonstrates that the Prime Minister is completely out of step with the challenges that regular ordinary people have when they’re trying to pay for the cost of living.”

MP Peter Julian makes even more sense:

“The Liberals boast about childcare investments, but without a single cent of new money budgeted this year. Clean energy investments are systematically pushed to 2018, and they’re cutting $1.2 billion from the Pan-Canadian Framework on climate change. And the ‘big’ housing budget? Only $20 million will be spent this year in the midst of a full-blown housing crisis. To top it off – no plan to deal with precarious work, nor create full-time jobs, lip service on tax evasion, no action to end tuition fees, and most appallingly, still no money to end racial discrimination in welfare services against First Nations kids. Same old, same old”.

And while there was an injection of cash for transit infrastructure, it looks like the provincial government won’t match Ottawa. I hope all the No voters in the transit referendum are happy.

So while the big winner in the budget was liberal feminism, it’s on the backs of the poor. Remember, equality isn’t enough. We want equity. We want liberation. We want justice: Federal Government’s Message To Homeless People: Get A Good Tarp, A Sleeping Bag, And Prepare To Die Young.

But hey, it’s not all bad news: Budget lowers millennial retirement age to 135 years. And we laughed and laughed:

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced yesterday that the retirement age for young people born less than 30 years ago would be brought back down to 135, reversing the Conservatives’ increase to 137. “It is the goal of our budget to ensure that young Canadians will be able to afford to upload their consciousness into an android vessel before their emaciated bodies totally fail, just like their parents did.”

Related:

True story: without Canada Savings Bonds I wouldn’t have made it all the way to my third year of geography at UBC before dropping out.

A copy of a copy: Cut out the cardboard cut-outs of Trudeau, Canadian diplomats told. This is the single greatest metaphor for the Liberal government in existence.

Runner Up: Actor Matthew Perry says he ‘beat up’ Justin Trudeau in grade school. Hmm, spoiled rich kid exacting his revenge on the hoi polloi?

Meanwhile: Justin Trudeau’s trip to Aga Khan’s Bahamas island cost more than $127K

Is it any wonder then, that Populist Anger is real and Canada had better wake up. Preferably before the budget was passed…

But left wing economics will defeat it, in spite of what this Vox article says, because Vox is wrong:

The left does not want to discard identity politics in favor of a purely economic message. It is asking for a more coherent identity politics, one that realizes that Trump has tapped into a specific combination of racism and economic grievance.

Richard Florida also attributes the rise to cultural phenomenon, as though they are completely divorced from economics: What Is Really Behind the Populist Surge?

While populist parties get somewhat more support from the white working class, they do not draw much from other hard-hit groups, especially those in urban areas. Indeed, support for populism is much stronger among relatively more affluent and educated groups, particularly the petite bourgeoisie of small business owners

Which, of course, is an economic factor itself. And any cultural considerations – mistrust of immigrants, gay rights, abortion, etc. – are scapegoats manipulated by the far right to distract from said economic conditions.

Related: Good news! That friend you don’t want to hang out with anymore just shared a Rebel Media article.

What to do with all those holocaust-denying Taiga fleeces in your closet? Nathan Fielder donates $150,000 to Holocaust education and opens first Summit Ice store in Vancouver. “Greater Vancouver residents are encouraged to come down and trade in any Taiga jacket they have in exchange for a free Summit Ice soft-shell jacket and “Deny Nothing” pin”. Or, if you don’t have any, visit your local thrift store! Special shout out to “Vancouver’s historic outdoor apparel district”.

Art of the day: Photographer Jackie Dives’s images create personal story about anxiety.

There is 1 comment

  1. Summit Ice are Palestinian deniers, so it would even out, except one atrocity was 75 yrs ago, the other is happening right now.

    And no one deserves the Key to the City when they publish their request for it. That’s just greed.

On Ken Sim’s So-Called “Swagger” and ABC’S Class War

Sean Orr is back from his hiatus with a rundown of the local headlines that have been running on a ticker tape through his mind over the past six months...

On Post-Election Recuperation, Platform Paradoxes and Refund Communities

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds irony in "safety, affordability, and sustainability", and shouts out a bunch of amazing local organizations working on the frontlines.

On Running for City Council, Playing Whack-a-Mole with Homelessness, and the Public Washroom Deficit

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds a park ranger with a grudge, a gross misuse of air quotes and Tripadvisor slander.

On Living in a City Preoccupied with Street Cleaning, Chandeliers, and Campaigns Against the Homeless

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr hones in on the recent Langley shootings, and the ongoing criminalizing and dehumanizing of the homeless population.