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Dec 28

Leadership Through Insight

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 2 comments
About four weeks ago, I was invited to a private dinner party with some old political associates and friends I made during my years with the Green Party. The guest of honor was former Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, Frank de Jong. Also present was former and present Green Party of Manitoba Leaders, Markus Buchart and James Beddome. The dinner and discussion was enjoyable. I have not had the opportunity for many years to interface with others related to politics and economics. I came away impressed with my discussions with Frank de Jong. Talking with Frank, one is immediately impressed with a person who is smart, friendly, speaks with integrity, and humble. He talked about his decision to resign as GPO leader because he saw the need to bring in fresh blood and perspective. The GPO suffered a loss of votes under the new leaders but Frank feels it has more to do with particular election contest than about any personal issues with the existing leadership. I personally disagree with him, because leadership and personality is how voters relate to most political parties but I appreciated his humility. One of the questions that he answered was something that […]

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May 08

Subtle Observations About the 2011 Federal Election

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments
So in following up on the obvious and newsworthy events arising out of the 2011 Federal Election, I am following up with a list of more subtle, interesting, or amusing events. First, despite all of the pro-democracy people talking about how the people have spoken I will think of it as a bit of a sham. It is not rule by the people. It is rule by a minority of the people. We can see this thanks to the Historical Voter Turnout report by Andrew Heard. It appears that Canadians turned out in greater numbers this election reversing a downward trend. This demonstrates a desire for change and an appeal to a positive image by NDP Leader Jack Layton, but I will be surprised if this reversal is permanent and we see rising voter turnout. Elections Canada has bent over backwards to make voting more accessible to people, but tweaking the mechanics of voting will not fix the fundamentals of what we are voting for. Unless political parties change their purpose, Canadians will continue to stay away from voting in greater numbers. Canadians do not vote because of the steady predominance of parties and policies over leaders and inspired action. […]

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May 03

New Endings in 2011: A Historical Federal Election

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 1 comments
The 2011 Election was worthy of note because it created so many new endings. Lots changed on May 2. Yet, some things didn’t. Despite the best polling and computer simulations, nobody predicted that Stephen Harper would end up with a Majority Government. Early on in the CTV Election Coverage, their computer statistics expert claimed that there was only a 10% chance the Conservatives would win a majority government. They were wrong and its because they make a fundamental mistake in understanding our electoral system. Each electoral district is its own election. We vote at the same time, but we don’t vote together. So that’s why it does not really matter whether there are national trends because those trends don’t carry over to each riding perfectly. In each riding there is a unique dynamic of vote splitting, strategic voting, and democratic culture that cannot be easily predicted. This is what allowed the Conservatives to win a majority despite winning less than 40% of the popular vote. Its how our system works. It appears to be unfair, yet I think those who complain about it are not going to find any satisfaction soon. This election marked the end of fair vote movement […]

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Dec 05

Why Economics Trumps Democracy

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 2 comments
There is talk that the Euro will become obsolete because the European Union is close to becoming insolvent. Well, I don’t think that will happen since governments can just print more money to keep afloat and deal with inflation by implementing price controls. This creates other problems and only delays the inevitable problem of a massive trade deficit and declining productivity since investors and job seekers will begin to flee. We are seeing the debt tragedy unfold first with Greece, now Ireland, and soon to be Portugal and Spain. All will need other European governments to bail them out because they have spent more money than they bring in. How can so much short-sighted behavior take place in countries as diverse as Ireland, Greece, and the Iberian Peninsula? The terrible answer is that this was done over decades and perpetuated by both conservative and socialist governments. Perhaps the conservatives spent a bit less than the socialists, but nobody ever rectified the fundamental deficit. Basically all governments regardless of ideology gave the voters what they wanted: A bloated social and corporate welfare system that ignored debt and fundamental productivity. Democracy worked and now voters have ended up financially bankrupt. Social Democracy […]

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Mar 20

Book Review: The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel Huntington

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 1 comments
In many ways The Clash of Civilizations is a rebuttal against Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History. Instead of arguing that the liberal democratic values endorsed in the West are the natural pinnacle of human civilization, Huntington says that The West’s values will be attacked by competing civilizations. Huntington does not believe that nation states are the basic building blocks of human society. He argues that it is Civilizations, which represent a shared human experience influenced by culture, religion, language, and philosophy which are now the most important players on the human stage. Huntington says that at present (1990s to now) there exists at least nine different Civilizations, each possessing different values that puts them in potential and actual conflict with each other. It is not about nations fighting over land or resources, but about the fundamental clash of values between Civilizations. Huntington’s use of Civilizations does provide a fresh way to look at historical and current events. His paradigm of human development and conflict becomes epic which inspired the imagination of his most ardent supporters who see Huntington as nothing less than a prophet. He is seen as accurately foretelling the current conflict that is taking place between the […]

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Dec 12

Jack, the Beanstalk, and Market Intervention

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments
The year end is fast approaching and it appears that the global financial crisis has being contained. Governments around the world stepped in to nationalize banks and insurance companies and invested heavily into their economies to keep them from collapsing. They played the role of the hero, just like Jack in the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk. The response of the government has been the same as a wise parent would have with misbehaving children. When highly-paid and highly-educated bank executives act as stupid as they have been, it appears completely rational to? provide oversight and limitations on their behavior. We are told that free market capitalism has been wholly discredited. Governments need to cut the roots of the problem, just like how Jack cut down the beanstalk in the fairytale. Governments see themselves as having a role to protect citizens from harm including protecting the integrity of the economic system. They have a duty to the businesses and citizens who were hapless victims to the financial crisis just like how Jack had to defeat the evil Giant by by cutting down the beanstalk. So we see an interesting parallel between the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale and what took […]
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