Opinion
What is Libertarianism?
Libertarianism has developed over the course of many centuries. It is a deep and rich philosophy that cannot be fully described in one short article. Rather than delving into history, I want to share some of the key concepts of Libertarianism, some questions to consider and how I think the concepts apply in 2021.
Individualism
Key Concept: Only individuals make choices and therefore should be responsible for those decisions.
Questions to Consider: Should government start mandating one hour of exercise per day? Should government ban alcohol and tobacco? Should vehicles be removed from the road as they can lead to injury and death? Should government be given authority to remove all risk from our lives regardless of the resulting consequences of a zero-risk strategy?
How it applies in 2021: Health decisions should be the responsibility of each individual based on their own risk assessment. This applies in all situations and under all conditions.
Individual Rights
Key Concept: Individuals have the right to be secure in their life, liberty and property. Government is not the grantor of rights, rather the protector of said rights.
Questions to Consider: Should government be able to suspend individual rights indefinitely whenever a “public health crisis” presents itself? Should government pursue “climate lockdowns” in an effort to meet emissions targets?
How it applies in 2021: There is no justification for government to suspend the lives of its citizens, their freedoms or their ability to earn a living and provide for their families.
Spontaneous Order
Key Concept: The actions of millions of people working together in order to achieve their individual objectives is the origin of a civil society. Central government is not required for the development of languages, law, markets or other complex institutions.
Questions to Consider: Governments across the world were given unfettered power in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, were they able to effectively navigate this complex situation? Given government’s track record on the pandemic and other major issues, what is the outlook for a government led economic relaunch, post-COVID? If climate change is an existential threat, is government the best mechanism to address it?
How it applies in 2021: Big government policies result in inefficiencies, cronyism and corruption. Individuals working together to overcome common challenges is the most effective way to advance civil society.
The Rule of Law
Key Concept: Individuals are free to pursue their own dreams as long as they respect the equal rights of others. Laws should protect individual liberty rather than pursue a particular outcome.
Questions to Consider: Should the federal government, specifically the Prime Minister, be able to appoint judges in Canada? Should there be greater separation between the three branches of government in order to ensure impartiality?
How it applies in 2021: Recently, Trudeau appointed four Liberal Party donors as judges. It is reasonable to consider that these appointments will lead to future bias as can be seen in the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the federal carbon tax. Judges must make decisions based on the law, not personal bias or political pressure.
Limited Government
Key Concept: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” – Lord Acton. Throughout history, those countries with limited central authority have resulted in greater individual liberty, economic success and better standards of living.
Questions to Consider: Will governments willingly relinquish the power that they have acquired in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
How it applies in 2021: Despite comprehensive data showing that lockdowns and other non-pharmaceutical measures had little to no impact on the transmission of COVID-19, many provinces in Canada still enforce public health orders. Certain US states which pursued a response based on individual liberty have seen similar direct COVID-19 health impacts, but have faired significantly better in their economic recovery and saw reduced mental health impacts.
Free Markets
Key Concept: Property rights and free markets enable individuals to succeed. Less government intervention in the market, leads to greater prosperity for the individual.
Questions to Consider: What are the short and long term consequences of governments paying some Canadians to sit at home for 16+ months? If an individual is willing to accept the risks within the marketplace to create opportunities for him/herself, their family and their community, should the government be able to step in and say no?
How it applies in 2021: Over the past 16+ months, unprecedented government intervention in the marketplace has led to the largest transfer of wealth from the low and middle class to the wealthy in human history. Property rights and individual liberty must never be restricted in this way again as the measures put in place by governments harmed the very people they were intended to protect.
Virtue of Production
Key Concept: There is dignity in work. Libertarians believe that individuals should keep what they earn, rather than a central authority redistributing wealth through taxation.
Questions to Consider: What has been the impact of 16+ months of lockdowns on Canadians mental health? Were government subsidy programs effective in delivering funds from one taxpayer to another?
How it applies in 2021: Government programs, however well intentioned, never deliver the results that they initially intend to produce. If Canadians were afforded the ability to work throughout the pandemic, to maintain their employer/private health insurance and keep their hard earned money in their pockets, they would have been a much better position to fight a virus than if they transmitted the virus while unemployed, isolated and poor.
Harmony of Interests
Key Concept: One individual’s plans for employment, business or otherwise may conflict with someone else’s. In a free society, these individuals work together to find a solution that works for all parties. When government intervenes, political pressure leads to handouts and favours to small groups to the determent of others.
Questions to Consider: Aside from war times, has there ever been a period in history that resulted in as much lobbying activity as over the past 16+ months during the pandemic? Did the numerous handouts and favours help the average Canadian or connected insiders? Who ultimately pays for the handouts given to connected insiders?
How it applies in 2021: There have been a number of examples of private industry taken the initiative to create solutions to significant problems over the past 16+ months. One such example would be the COVID-19 testing program at the Calgary International Airport. This allowed the safe and free flow of people who wished to travel internationally. Instead of allowing the private sector to continue this program, the Federal Liberal government enacted the quarantine hotel program which led to division, inefficiencies and sexual harassment within the facilities. Which outcome is preferable for Canadians? I think the answer is quite obvious.
Peace
Key Concept: Free individuals have the right to defend their families, communities and property from foreign and domestic threats. The act of war however, leads to death and destruction and results in more power being transferred to the government.
Questions to Consider: Has the government fulfilled one of its basic duties in protecting Canadians from foreign threats, this one in the form of a virus? Why was the only acceptable solution for protecting Canadians against the virus to lock them up for 16+ months? Is the cure worse than the disease?
How it applies in 2021: War in the tradition description has not been seen by the Western world for a significant period of time now. Instead, we are directly involved in a war of ideologies. This is fought in the media, the classrooms, in businesses and in government. In order to preserve their Charter Rights, Canadians must be able to maintain freedom of speech, the most important Charter Right. The introduction of Bill C-10 and Bill C-36 by the Federal Liberal government strikes a significant blow to Canadians ability to speak freely. Government should be protecting our Charter Rights, not actively stripping them away.
Whatever the question is, liberty is the answer.
Sincerely,
Jared Pilon
Libertarian Party Candidate for Red Deer – Mountain View, AB
https://www.jaredpilon.com/
Energy
What does a Trump presidency means for Canadian energy?
From Resource Works
Heather-Exner Pirot of the Business Council of Canada and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute spoke with Resource Works about the transition to Donald Trump’s energy policy, hopes for Keystone XL’s revival, EVs, and more.
Do you think it is accurate to say that Trump’s energy policy will be the complete opposite of Joe Biden’s? Or will it be more nuanced than that?
It’s more nuanced than that. US oil and gas production did grow under Biden, as it did under Obama. It’s actually at record levels right now. The US is producing the most oil and gas per day that any nation has ever produced in the history of the world.
That said, the federal government in the US has imposed relatively little control over production. In the absence of restrictive emissions and climate policies that we have in Canada, most of the oil production decisions have been made based on market forces. With prices where they’re at currently, there’s not a lot of shareholder appetite to grow that significantly.
The few areas you can expect change: leasing more federal lands and off shore areas for oil and gas development; rescinding the pause in LNG export permits; eliminating the new methane fee; and removing Biden’s ambitious vehicle fuel efficiency standards, which would subsequently maintain gas demand.
I would say on nuclear energy, there won’t be a reversal, as that file has earned bipartisan support. If anything, a Trump Admin would push regulators to approve SMRs models and projects faster. They want more of all kinds of energy.
Is Keystone XL a dead letter, or is there enough planning and infrastructure still in-place to restart that project?
I haven’t heard any appetite in the private sector to restart that in the short term. I know Alberta is pushing it. I do think it makes sense for North American energy security – energy dominance, as the Trump Admin calls – and I believe there is a market for more Canadian oil in the USA; it makes economic sense. But it’s still looked at as too politically risky for investors.
To have it move forward I think you would need some government support to derisk it. A TMX model, even. And clear evidence of social license and bipartisan support so it can survive the next election on both sides of the border.
Frankly, Northern Gateway is the better project for Canada to restart, under a Conservative government.
Keystone XL was cancelled by Biden prior to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Do you think that the reshoring/friendshoring of the energy supply is a far bigger priority now?
It absolutely is a bigger priority. But it’s also a smaller threat. You need to appreciate that North America has become much more energy independent and secure than it has ever been. Both US and Canada are producing at record levels. Combined, we now produce more than the Middle East (41 million boe/d vs 38 million boe/d). And Canada has taken a growing share of US imports (now 60%) even as their import levels have declined.
But there are two risks on the horizon: the first is that oil is a non renewable resource and the US is expected to reach a peak in shale oil production in the next few years. No one wants to go back to the days when OPEC + had dominant market power. I think there will be a lot of demand for Canadian oil to fill the gap left by any decline in US oil production. And Norway’s production is expected to peak imminently as well.
The second is the need from our allies for LNG. Europe is still dependent on Russia for natural gas, energy demand is growing in Asia, and high industrial energy costs are weighing on both. More and cheaper LNG from North America is highly important for the energy security of our allies, and thus the western alliance as it faces a challenge from Russia, China and Iran.
Canada has little choice but to follow the US lead on many issues such as EVs and tariffs on China. Regarding energy policy, does Canada’s relative strength in the oil and gas sector give it a stronger hand when it comes to having an independent energy policy?
I don’t think we want an independent energy policy. I would argue we both benefit from alignment and interdependence. And we’ve built up that interdependence on the infrastructure side over decades: pipelines, refineries, transmission, everything.
That interdependence gives us a stronger hand in other areas of the economy. Any tariffs on Canadian energy would absolutely not be in American’s interests in terms of their energy dominance agenda. Trump wants to drop energy costs, not hike them.
I think we can leverage tariff exemptions in energy to other sectors, such as manufacturing, which is more vulnerable. But you have to make the case for why that makes sense for US, not just Canada. And that’s because we need as much industrial capacity in the west as we can muster to counter China and Russia. America First is fine, but this is not the time for America Alone.
Do you see provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan being more on-side with the US than the federal government when it comes to energy?
Of course. The North American capital that is threatening their economic interests is not Washington DC; it’s Ottawa.
I think you are seeing some recognition – much belated and fast on the heels of an emissions cap that could shut in over 2 million boe of production! – that what makes Canada important to the United States and in the world is our oil and gas and uranium and critical minerals and agricultural products.
We’ve spent almost a decade constraining those sectors. There is no doubt a Trump Admin will be complicated, but at the very least it’s clarified how important those sectors are to our soft and hard power.
It’s not too late for Canada to flex its muscles on the world stage and use its resources to advance our national interests, and our allies’ interests. In fact, it’s absolutely critical that we do so.
conflict
US and UK authorize missile strikes into Russia, but are we really in danger of World War III?
From LifeSiteNews
By Frank Wright
Hopefully a world war appears unlikely, but the decision to allow Ukraine to shoot U.S. and U.K.-provided missiles into Russia once again reveals the lengths to which the ‘neocon globalists’ will go to throw a lifeline to their failing business model.
News that the lame duck President Joe Biden has authorized long-range strikes into Russia using NATO systems was announced with the alarming warning that he had “started World War III.”
The following day, U.S.-supplied and operated ATACMS missiles were fired into Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the authorized strikes as an “escalation” showing that the West wants war.
“The fact that ATACMS were used repeatedly in the Bryansk region overnight is, of course, a signal that they want escalation,” he said, according to Reuters.
Lavrov continued: “Without the Americans, it is impossible to use these high-tech missiles, as Putin has repeatedly said.”
Why would the U.S. president finally give the green light to use NATO systems to attack Russia? German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to follow suit and supply German-made Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine – because he does not want to see Germany drawn into a direct war with Russia.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded by suggesting it is only a matter of time before U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles strike deep into Russian territory.
Today – Wednesday, November 20 – the Guardian reported that it has already happened.
The U.K. government has been behind a long campaign to escalate the war in Ukraine, a move seen as an attempt to secure continued U.S. commitments in Europe. The Trump camp has long signaled its desire to draw down its security provision to leave a “dormant NATO.”
In an indication of the dangers of the U.K.-backed move by Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an alarming amendment of the Russian nuclear doctrine.
The policy change, announced in September and published following Biden’s announcement, says “an attack from a non-nuclear state, if backed by a nuclear power, will be treated as a joint assault on Russia,” according to the BBC.
Russian nuclear doctrine has long included the use of low-yield “tactical” nuclear weapons in “conventional” warfare – a significantly lower threshold than that of NATO.
While Russian officials urged Western leaders to consult the text, Foreign Minister Lavrov stressed that “we strongly are in favor of doing everything to not allow nuclear war to happen.”
As Reuters reported, this latest provocation is “unlikely to be a gamechanger.” Western media outlets have moved from a narrative of Ukrainian victory to mulling how or even if the state of Ukraine can survive its “inevitable” defeat.
Yet it is not only Ukraine which faces an uncertain future with a Russian victory. The entire globalist order faces a significant blow should the war conclude. Statements from figures such as George Soros, U.S. General Mark Milley, E.U. chief Ursula von der Leyen, and the former head of NATO stressed that their liberal-globalist regime is threatened by defeat in Ukraine.
Biden’s decision has been seen as an attempt to frustrate Donald Trump’s declared agenda – to clear out the “deep state globalists” whose “neocons seeking confrontation … such as Victoria Nuland” have led the U.S. into endless wars since that in Iraq.
An escalation to all-out war with Russia would not only be a disastrous precursor to nuclear escalation, but would also preserve the dominance of the same “neocon globalists” whose “forever wars” Trump has pledged to end.
Arch-neocon Robert Kagan said Americans who support ending wars are “intolerant.” He went on to author two articles which Hitlerized Trump and appeared to incite the assassination of a man who promised in his 2024 victory speech, “I’m not going to start wars. I’m going to stop wars.”
This follows a long series of claims in the same vein.
“I will end the war in Ukraine,” Trump declared in February 2023, saying he would also end “the chaos in the Middle East” and “stop World War III.”
This move by Biden has no military significance in improving Ukraine’s chances of victory. Russia claimed to have shot down seven of eight ATACMS fired into its Bryansk region. Yet prolonging or even escalating this war has enormous political significance.
Since the publication of the RAND Corporation’s 2019 paper “Overextending and Unbalancing Russia,” a strategy of bleeding Russia on the battlefield to collapse its government has been clear. Russia’s near-limitless mineral wealth would provide an obvious boon to a Western system self-sabotaged by sanctions and the destruction of the Nordstream gas supply.
The enormous significance of the war is found in its use as an attempt to extend and consolidate the power of the same system of neocon “globalism” which Trump has vowed to end.
This context explains why the U.K. government has consistently pressed for escalation since the 2022 intervention of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to have sabotaged peace in favor of an all-or-nothing gamble towards “regime change” in Russia.
Since then, the U.K. government has urged the authorization of long-range strikes into Russia, and it has supplied cruise missiles to attack Russian over-the-horizon nuclear radar warning systems, which play no role in the Ukraine war.
Reports have confirmed “terrorist operations” in Russia, including attacks on the Kerch Bridge leading to Crimea were U.K.-led. A recent expose by The Grayzone revealed that the British state appears to be training Ukrainians to fight a guerilla war, extending hostilities even beyond any ceasefire.
Ukraine’s recent and failed offensive into Russia’s Kursk region appears to have also been a British operation – to secure the kind of “morale boost” which Alastair Crooke says is the only significant war-fighting contribution of the authorization of “wonder weapons” like ATACMS.
The ATACMS authorization was heralded as a turning point in the war by Foreign Affairs. Yet the suspicion of Responsible Statecraft that it was a “sideshow that may become a tragedy” appears to have been confirmed.
The grim reality of this war is underscored by the fact that measures taken which will result in even more needless loss of human life are done so to legitimize useful propaganda headlines. This is undertaken to sell a war which has long been predicted to end as it now seems certain to do so: with a victory on Russian terms.
Though it appears unlikely that a world war will result from this latest reckless move, what has been demonstrated once more is the lengths to which the “neocon globalists” will go to throw a lifeline to their failing business model.
That lifeline is perpetual war, and when they end – so do the careers of so many whose livelihoods and reputations depend on keeping them going.
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