Dear Senators of the Parliament of Canada,
Milton Friedman stated in Capitalism and Freedom:
The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. He will ask rather “What can I and my compatriots do through government” to help us discharge our individuals responsibilities, to achieve our several goals and purposes, and above all, to protect our freedom? And he will accompany this question with another: How can we keep the government we create from becoming a Frankenstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to project? Freedom is a rate and delicate plant. Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great treat to freedom is the concentration of power. Government is necessary to preserve our freedom, it is an instrument through with we can exercise our freedom; yet by concentrating power in political hands, it is power initially be for good will an even thought they be not corrupted by the power they exercise, the power will both attract and form men of different stamp.
The role of government is to empower its constituent by providing opportunities: opportunities for life (via hospitals and healthcare system), for education (with schools), and movement (by building highways and airports).
Providing a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income may seems a noble pursuit with good intentions, but a blanket approach to social welfare measure will lead to perverse effects in our economies. Any social welfare approach needs to be targeted to the intended audience with measurable benefits. If not, it will disincentivize capital endeavors and innovations.
We, the people of Canada, know that our government is overburdening with debts and obligations. We know that the government have no intention of paying back those debts and incapable of meeting their future obligations. We know the government is looking a way to substitute social securities (e.g. old-age pension) with a blanket solution, while stealthily defaulting themselves on their own obligations. We also know that after establishing a dependence on this program, access will be tie to social conditions. We know those conditions will be gradual at first (e.g. filling taxes), but will rapidly evolve to a wide range of conditions from adopting a digital ID to performing community services, and ultimately a social credit system - a Frankenstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to project.
There is an alternative solution to this conundrum: Martin Armstrong, world renown economist and trading advisor, propose to convert government’s bonds into perpetual bonds with an annuity and rein-in government spending (i.e. smaller government). But such solution requires the courage to choose the hard road, not the easy road of good intentions.
Regards,
The Loonie Report