Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Another year is done and we’re heading into 2025. For people of my age, it is startling to think that we are a quarter way through the twenty-first century. I can clearly remember as a kid thinking that the year 2000 was a long time away and by then I would be an old man in my middle forties. How our standards change! Those times are long past and seem a place of youth.

I sense a general feeling of pessimism coming into the new year. The world seems to have tilted precariously to the right. Next month the United States will welcome back a convicted sex offender and chronic liar to leadership of the country. In four years, our neighbour to the south will be a different place. The new leaders have made it clear that they want to dismantle anything that protects them from environmental degradation or abuse of the poor.

Billionaires will thrive. They always do, but in the new climate their wealth and power will accelerate.

As Canadians we might be tempted to sit back and wonder how Americans could possibly allow themselves to get into this situation. But we don’t need to look any farther than the leader of our most popular political party to see reflections of the south. The Conservative party under their present leader would like to see Canada move in the same direction as the States.

If the Conservatives come to power here, there will be changes. The CBC may cease to exist, environmental rules will loosen and funding for the arts may be at risk.

A common rant of the right is that we are in danger of being run by socialists. Most people who subscribe to this rhetoric have no idea what socialism is. But I think they do have a point.

The difference between the left and right in politics is partly about whether we should be concerned about ourselves or society as a whole. The political right believes in the primacy of individual rights. Government should be small and let people get on with their lives.

The left believes that we need to work together and those more fortunate need to help those who have less. This is the basic idea of socialism. In economic terms socialism suggests that major industries should be owned by workers rather than private individuals.

Socialism is about shared wealth and mutual responsibility. Whether we see it or not, there are many examples of socialist thinking in Canadian and American society. The roads across both countries are owned by the people. The police and firefighters are hired by government and government is by definition, the people.

There are right wing thinkers who believe that everything should be privatized or owned by individuals. The disadvantage of this system is that everything is more expensive to maximize profits. The advantage is that the owners can get very rich.

The easiest way to compare the two systems is to look at American and Canadian health care. Hospitals in the States are owned by individuals or corporations. In Canada most are owned by the state. If you are very wealthy, the American system is wonderful. Not only can you get the best medicine that can be bought, you can also be an owner of the system and rake in huge profits. In Canada everyone has access to health care. We may complain about wait times, but no one in this country goes bankrupt because of illness. The same can’t be said south of the border.

So that’s my rant about what is coming up next year. There is worrisome change coming, but the world is a pendulum, and all of this will pass. Have a great 2025!