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Sep 28

Beyond Left & Right Politics

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Change of Mind, Political Opinion
When I was part of the Green Party, we kept telling ourselves that we were beyond Left & Right politics. In fact we said, we are neither Left or Right but out in front. We told everyone that we were thinking forward. In its own way, it made sense. The Greens have helped expand the political debate which has illustrated the inadequacy of the Right vs Left dichotomy. I believe that the entire Right vs Left political spectrum is so archaic it should be completely thrown away. Its history stretches all the way back to the 18th Century which may indicate why it no longer is relevant to modern times. The Right vs Left spectrum was born during the French Revolutionary era, where the Right and Left political positions refers to the seating arrangements in the various legislative bodies of France. At that time, the aristocracy sat on the right of the Speaker while the commoners sat on the left. “The Right” was made up aristocratic or royal interests, including the church, while “the Left” was represented mainly the interests of the bourgeoisie and early capitalists. At that time, support for free market capitalism were issues promoted by the Left […]

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Aug 25

An Ecology of Taxpayers

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Human Condition, Political Opinion
In Canada and other western nations, government provides allot of services to its citizens. All of this is funded by taxpayers. The biggest problem is that governments and its agencies spend the taxpayers’ money in ways that ends up creating further obligations on the taxpayer. The Canadian Taxpayers Association tirelessly works to make government more accountable and while they can be too ideological and short sighted in their criticism of all taxes, I do agree with their general view that governments are bigger than they should be. Taxpayers are the source for all government income yet not all taxpayers are created equal and like any ecological system, some species are more critical than others. I see there being four different kinds of taxpayers, each distinguished by their importance to the healthy functioning of the tax and government systems. Essential Taxpayers – Individuals and corporations that work in private industry. In addition to consumption taxes, they also pay high personal income taxes. These guys are the main funders of the tax system and without them no system is sustainable. Productivity Taxpayers – Individuals and corporations that work in the private industry but do not earn much money or profit. Instead their […]

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Aug 08

Book Review: The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Meta History, Political Opinion, Western Ascendance
A controversial book that created a storm of derision and disbelief when it came out following the collapse of communism in 1992. Fukuyama argues how the West’s liberal capitalist democratic model of governance has become the epitome of human civilization. The West represents the final step in mankind’s political evolution. Fukuyama says that there are no other political models to truly challenge liberalism. Authoritarian regimes of both the right and left political wings will rise but eventually fall. Globalization is just the latest incarnation of the Western model being embraced by most of the world community. It is too deeply rooted to ever see a major reversal. Liberalism, capitalism, and democracy have won and the ideological conflict of the past 20th century is over. Fukuyama named his book in part because he believes that Hegel’s view that human society would evolve into rationale governance has arrived and history has ended. Following 9-11 many considered this book to be irrelevant. Despite its title, Fukuyama did not predict an end to conflict between the West and other ideologies. Some countries or regions might fall under the sway of religious fundamentalism (Middle East) or cultural co-opting of capitalism (Asia), but these will not […]

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Jul 30

A World Beyond Political Parties?

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Political Opinion, Poltical Party Corruption
In my previous post I listed a ranking of political parties from the frivolous to the functional. Despite their ideological and practical differences, they all function for the same purpose: To gain power and to use this power to make the world a better place according to their principles. My experience in the Green Party which I consider to be the most egalitarian and sensitive political party is that the very nature of party politics brings out the worst in people. The people in the Green party believe that they are being inclusive, sensitive, and egalitarian. In fact, they use those concepts in as ideological weapons to silence those who do not agree with them. Inclusiveness becomes pandering to special interest groups, sensitivity becomes political correctness, and egalitarianism becomes communism. The problem is that the Greens share the same corrupt social structure as the other parties. They are held together by ideology which is used in the worst way to silence those who do not agree with those in power. In my earlier blog Ideology vs Philosophy, the biggest problem in politics is the abdication of personal responsibility to blindly follow party ideology. So what’s the solution? In doing a […]
Jul 27

A Listing of Political Party Relevancy

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Political Opinion
I was cleaning up some of my files and I came across a hierarchy list that I created when I was involved in politics. I was thinking about how political parties range from the perennial governing party such as the Liberal Party of Canada to others who are a party in name only, but actually do not contest any elections. The listing ranges from the practical purpose of governing to the social purpose of providing an outlet for the politically and socially isolated. Government Parties – broad-based coalition parties that form government after every election. (Liberal Party, Conservative Party) Parliamentary Parties – movement or regionally based parties that usually win seats after every election. (New Democratic Party, Reform Party, Bloc Quebecois, Social Credit Party, National Progressive Party) Ideological Parties – fundamental ideological or issue parties that contest elections but rarely win seats. (Green Party, Christian Heritage Party, Communist Party, etc.) Concept Parties – small, idea parties that are somewhat organized but rarely contest elections. (Rainbow Coalition Party, Collective Group Party, Canadian Party for Renewal, etc.) Wilderness Parties – minor parties that are unable to contest elections but try to influence citizens to support their platform. Many of them are established […]
May 25

Why Socialism Does Not Work

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 2 comments tags: Change of Mind, Human Condition, Political Opinion
I used to be a socialist. My parents were once members of the New Democratic Party and I was indoctrinated in its principles when I attended University. My professors in Political Studies, Labour Studies, and Social Work routinely criticized our privately-owned capitalist market system talking about how exploitation was at its root. As a student I believed that to fix the world we needed to change the system and that Socialism was the solution. Yet, in my exposure to Rudolf Bahro, I realized that Socialism was fundamentally a materialistic philosophy. It did not recognize our relationship with the planet or between each other. According to Socialism, the purpose of life was for each of us to share as equally as possible the material wealth of the planet. I rejected Socialism by helping establish the Green Party in Manitoba since I was attracted to the Green philosophy that all things are interconnected. Despite the rise of green thinking Socialism remains a constant force in Canadian society. Canadians and Manitobans are proud of their publicly funded health care system, which demonstrates that the majority believes in Socialism to a limited extent since health care is easily our most socialistic program. I have […]
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