foolish, or misled. ! is that Canadian slang for being intelligent and informed ?
On Dec 8, 9:33 am, margareth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Harper, unlike Bush, has not been allowed a long leash. The economic > update, blatantly dishonoured the collective agreement with the > government's own employees, and removed the right to strike. It > sought to eliminate the tibunal which governed job and pay equity for > women. And he also challenged the opposition with the removal of a > subsidy to all the parties for election expenses. He forced the hand > of the Opposition, and thus at least has temporarily united them. > What has also become apparant is that Harper believes his own spin. > That when the issues are presented to Canadians, they will all agree > with them. Hah! > Some of the material that seems to come from the neo cons starts to > make sense, in an unwelcome sort of way. They have come to believe > that they have all the answers. and if the press and the citizenry > don't see it that way, they are either foolish, or misled. > > On Dec 8, 9:06 am, Liberal mike 532 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine Got Shot Down in > > Canadahttp://www.alternet.org/democracy/110809/ > > Canada's Bush-imitating prime minister gets a political smackdown for > > trying to ram through radical policies. > > Kim Elliott: As you outline so well in your book and in various > > interviews in the U.S. media, the current financial crisis holds the > > possibility of being one of those moments when the shock doctrine can > > best be applied. Can you comment on both the Harper government's > > economic and fiscal statement introduced last week, and on the > > Opposition's response to that -- that is, the formation of a > > coalition > > -- in the context of the shock doctrine? > > > Naomi Klein: Yes, absolutely. What I think we are seeing is a clear > > example of the shock doctrine in the way the Harper government has > > used the economic crisis to push through a much more radical agenda > > than they won a mandate to do. > > > At the same time we are seeing an example of what I call in the book > > a > > "shock resistance," where this tactic has been so overused around the > > world and also in Canada that we are becoming more resistant to the > > tactic -- we are on to them -- and Harper is not getting away with > > it. > > > What I think is really amazing about this moment is whatever happens > > next -- whether we end up with this coalition or not, we will have an > > extremely chastened Harper. So the attempted shock doctrine has > > failed. I think we can say that decisively. > > > Just to be clear, what I mean by the shock doctrine, as you know, is > > the use of crisis to push through unpopular pro-corporate policies. > > This bundling of a whole package of policies: denying the right of > > public sector workers to strike, the attack on public financing of > > political parties, with the economic program -- that is what failed, > > and people were offended by the opportunism of it. > > > This is what so many of us were worried about during the election -- > > the context of a Tory victory in an economic crisis, because we know > > that there is this pattern of using an economic crisis to push > > through > > policies that were nowhere during the campaign. > > > KE: This coalition gives us lots of opportunities, but it also poses > > some risks if it is successful. I'd like to ask you about that. In an > > interview you had on Democracy Now!, you said that part of the reason > > that Obama was appointing a host of neo-liberal economists was > > because > > there was a lack of "intellectual honesty" among progressives about > > the real legacy of the Clinton years. Does the Canadian left, in a > > Liberal-led coalition, risk losing our understanding of the neo- > > liberal legacy of the Liberals, who during those same Clinton years > > were ripping up Canada's welfare state, cutting social spending etc? > > > NK: I think it is really important to remember, and I've written > > about > > this in the book, and Linda McQuaig has written about it extensively, > > that it is the Liberals who actually implemented what I'm describing > > in Canada. > > > They were elected on an economic stimulus platform in 1993, with a > > huge mandate. The Tories were wiped out in those historic elections. > > And then they caved to pressure from Bay Street, from the corporate > > media and from the right-wing think tanks in the face of the debt > > crisis. They turned around and broke their election promises when it > > came to NAFTA, when it came to job creation, and the famous 1995 Paul > > Martin budget came down which did so much damage to unemployment > > insurances (which makes it particularly interesting that a key piece > > of the agreement for the coalition is about strengthening > > unemployment > > insurance). So we need to have long memories about the Liberals, > > because they have done exactly what Harper has just done, in terms of > > using an economic crisis for a neo-liberal about turn. > > > That said, what I find most exciting about what is going on right now > > -- beyond just getting rid of Harper, which is exciting in and of > > itself -- is that we have this opportunity to show what proportional > > representation (PR) would look like, because all of this talk that > > this is a coup is a joke. > > > What is being proposed by this coalition is much closer to > > representative democracy than what we have right now, which is a > > government that has [slightly more than] 35 per cent of the popular > > vote in a turnout that was historically low, of 59 per cent of > > Canadian voters, which means that even though the Tories won more > > seats they had fewer actual votes than in the last election. > > > 123Next page »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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