Jim Bennett has some advice for the incoming Canadian Prime Minister:
…the Prime Minister’s office is a pretty good bully pulpit, and he would be smart to use it to start deconstructing the Trudeavean deconstruction of the old Canada. He should make sure the Canadian troops in Afghanistan are decorated in a visible and public ceremony, exactly what has been denied to them to date. He should make a show of honoring the Canadian WWII veterans conspicuously and repeatedly, and having a substantial ceremony on every one of the big Canadian military anniversaries: Vimy, Dieppe, D-Day, etc. He might bring back the Red Ensign in a historical context — ordering it flown as a “veteran’s memorial flag” on select days like D-Day, and for Canadian ships to fly the Blue Ensign on a suitable day as well, maybe November 11th. It would be very hard for people to criticize him for remembering the veterans more conspicuously. And perhaps he might even consider a surprise visit to the forces in Afghanistan.
In foreign policy, he and his external affairs minister can do a lot to change the tone without legislation. Rather than being conspicuously closer to Bush, (which the media is waiting to jump on him for) he should become buddies with John Howard of Australia and to a lesser extent Tony Blair (while inviting the new British Tory leader Cameron to Ottawa for a visit. Cameron might spend some time thinking about why his party is now the only major Anglosphere right party to be out of power.)
I’m busy writing a proposal or two, but here’s an innovative way to get to the Moon. Much lower marginal cost, and exactly the kind of things that NASA should be considering.
The Conservatives have won, though it looks like it will be a coalition government. And it looks like Belinda will keep her seat, so she may have some bargaining leverage to keep her cabinet post if she wants to ditch her new-found Liberal friends and become a Conservative again.
Also, this will give Alberta and Saskatchewan a lot more clout in Ottawa.
Arnold Kling talks about folk Marxism, and its unfortunate hold on much of the public, particularly in Europe, but also, sadly, in the US.
Under folk Marxism, the oppressed class has inherent moral superiority to the oppressor class… Class membership trumps individual character in determining moral standing. It should be no surprise that this belief could lead to tyranny and wanton murder by government. It should be no surprise that this belief has failed to improve the lot of those regarded as “oppressed.” It inverts Martin Luther King’s call to judge people by the content of their character.
Even when Marxism does not lead to tyranny, it retards economic growth, as the stagnation of continental Europe indicates. If you believe that the poor are oppressed and the rich are oppressors, then your impulse is to penalize work, risk-taking, innovation, and saving — the engines of economic progress.
Well, at least the Canadians are on the verge of throwing off their true oppressors today.
There was supposedly an old saying in the wild West: “There ain’t room in this town for the both of us.” Unfortunately, there’s not room on this planet for classical liberal western cultures and radical Islamism. This will be a battle to the death of one of those cultures, and Islam itself won’t survive without a dramatic reformation, even if some people think that’s not possible.
TSR: With all the information you’ve presented, shy of seven relatively sympathetic and understanding billionaires and an engineering group from heaven, what other missing pieces are needed for someone to develop The Rocket Company?
TSR: With all the information you’ve presented, shy of seven relatively sympathetic and understanding billionaires and an engineering group from heaven, what other missing pieces are needed for someone to develop The Rocket Company?