- Following up on yesterday's post, the Hill Times reports that even the first set of cuts from the Harper Cons' majority looks to have a serious effect on our federal government's ability to function for itself rather than relying on self-interested corporations to make decisions:
The 46 axed positions were occupied by term employees with the Adaptation Impact Research Section, the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, the Climate Chemistry Measurements and Research and Climate Data and Analysis teams. Most of them are located in Toronto, Ont. though some are in Victoria, B.C.- Meanwhile, Derek DeCloet notes that it isn't just government that's figuring to get much less efficient thanks to the Harper Cons. Instead, even the much-vaunted oil and gas sector may itself be facing a massive gap between the perception of growth and the reality that it's serving more as a money magnet than an actual source of production - with the Cons' corporate tax slashing only serving to exacerbate the problem.
The Public Works cuts will affect the real property services division, and Auditing Services Canada. Eighty-one per cent of these jobs are located in the National Capital Region, said Mr. Gordon.
The work performed by Audit Services Canada will be contracted out to a private firm.
Mr. Gordon said he is at a loss to understand how the government thinks these cuts (which will save the government a reported $172.2-million over three years) will actually result in long-term savings.
He said that the government already contracts out 95 per cent of its work, such as construction or consulting, and that now those who oversee the contracts are being cut.
"They need expertise within government so that they understand what they need. You don't go to a company and say 'We want you to do this kind of work' without writing up a whole proposal and having people who understand precisely what it is you need," said Mr. Gordon.
- While pointing out that nobody but the peaceful protesters against Stephen Harper should be taking any pride in the Cons' G8/G20 fiasco, Gerald Caplan also laments the fact that a few violent acts managed to largely suppress their message.
- On the bright side, Charles Dobson nicely summarizes the best way to get citizens involved in our political system. And I'll add that while social media offers some additional ways to connect people, the importance of face-to-face interaction is likely no less great now than it has been in the past.
- Finally, Bruce Livesey ponders what we can expect as more and more people are left out of the gains from an increasingly inequitable economic system:
how can one suggest that capitalism is terminally ill? Especially since people have been predicting its demise since Adam Smith’s day.
I am not suggesting it’s going anywhere anytime soon.
What I am saying is that evidence is mounting that capitalism is failing the vast majority of people. It is failing to provide working people with jobs, a decent standard of living, security and stability. The Great Recession grinds on with job growth either anemic or even falling, wages are declining, personal and government debts are climbing, food and gasoline prices are soaring, and the income gap continues to worsen. With the exception of a handful of countries, Europe is an economic disaster zone, the US economy is flailing, and Japan’s economy is in deep trouble. The middle classes and unionized working classes are going the way of the dodo. And governments are about to make matters worse by imposing austerity measures and laying off millions of public servants around the world.
...
Even if the forces of socialism fail to re-emerge, capitalism is facing a period of unrelenting instability. As larger portions of the world’s population are driven into penury, you will see greater social unrest, more violence, more social problems, more despair. And that’s entirely because too many desperate people, unable to make ends meet, unable to find jobs, will turn to increasingly desperate measures – either via protests and acts of rebellion, or entering the underground economy of organized crime – in order to seek alternatives to the current order.
In the past, when capitalists have faced rebellion, they have either embraced fascistic parties and authoritarian measures to launch crack downs, or they’ve made concessions – allowed wages to rise and workers to garner more rights. But in an era of globalization and free trade, the ability of capital to give workers higher wages is limited. And cracking down on dissent and becoming more authoritarian, has its limits too, as Syria and Egypt and Libya demonstrate.
Capitalism might not be overthrown, but it will likely be facing a period where its very foundations are undermined because it continues to exclude too many people from the opportunities they want and deserve.
"Gerald Caplan also laments the fact that a few violent acts managed to largely suppress their message."
ReplyDeleteDuring the week before the G20 the coverage of the protests consisted almost entirely of looking for people who might commit violent acts and ignoring the serious discussion about the problems of the world going amoung the protestors. Even if there where no violent acts, they still would have dominated the coverage.
It seems to me the purpose of the Black Bloc is to prevoke the police into an over reaction to show the poeple that our rights and democracy are only a facade. With full cooperation from police thier mission was a complete success.