A New Focus

Earlier today, I quit the NDP.

Now, this has nothing to do with the NDP per se, but with politics, parties and government in general. I am most certainly not leaving to join the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Greens or any other party. These last few months I have utterly and profoundly lost all faith that working in government and via the state can affect any real positive changes in society. Indeed, I see that it can have the exact opposite effect.

Liberals lie to get in power and stay in power. Conservatives do the same. For all its good intentions, the NDP seem to have lost its direct active and cooperative heritage and is trying to play the other parties on their terms instead of its own. I think my frustration showed through quite obviously in my last post.

No, from now on I will concentrate only on non-governmental organizations, direct action and community organizations. I now honestly believe that the only way to affect change is at the personal, local level, between individuals who want to change and take control themselves, instead of taking orders from others or relying on their 'good intentions.'

Does that mean I am no longer a 'lefty' or 'progressive'? Of course I am. I still believe that every person has dignity and is free to do anything or live anyway, so long as it causes no harm or infringes on the freedom and dignity of anyone else. I will simply have a new and different focus, a focus that does not include using the state. I will look for solutions that do not require multi-billion dollar programs or circus debates in parliament, but that small, decentralized groups of like-minded people or groups of people can do. I will look for solutions that fight corporate power, not feed it.

What do these changes make me? A left libertarian. An anarchist. Whatever other label you wish. Apart from no longer accepting the state, I hold the same principles I always have. I merely wish to work for them in a different way. I'll still post my opinions on the politics of the day as I always have, but I certainly will not be partisan about it - I don't have a dog in that fight anymore.

I will leave it to my blogging friends to decide if that's something they can live with. I genuinely like and respect everyone as I always have, if that makes a difference.

I will leave it to Rob as to whether I will still be welcome in the Blogging Dippers.

Any questions?

Time for Direct Action

It has become frustratingly clear that we cannot depend on the government to do anything about our GHG emissions or global warming. The research I did for my previous posts on the topic show this quite clearly.

The Liberals have a horrid track record of saying one thing when out of power and doing another when the get in. The Kyoto protocol and the environment is no different, just in reverse - they did nothing when in power for 4 years after Kyoto was ratified in 2002 and now are pressing a bill to force the Conservatives to do something in 60 days.

The Conservatives, for their part, spent a good part of their first year in power delaying on even bringing forward their much touted "Made in Canada Solution", while cutting and gutting the few good programs the Liberals did put in place. When we did see the "Clean Air Act" it is was a model of doing nothing for 44 years. Clearly the Conservatives only want to spin and maneuver to engineer a majority government, where we will see gawd-knows-what come out. It is clear they don't really accept that global warming is real and caused by human activities, they are using the issue to extort us for votes.

Both the Liberals and Conservatives happily continued subsidizing the Oil and Gas industry to the tune of $1.5 billion per year, totaling close to $10 billion so far. In other words, they are allowing the most profitable sector in our economy to make more profit because you an I reduce their operating costs - thus allowing them to pollute more, with our own money.

As for the NDP, clearly they mean well, but it is also clear, as Don Martin recently observed, that even when holding the balance of power, they cannot get the other parties to do anything constructive. The Greens and the Bloc are essentially, and sadly, in the position of irrelevance right now.

We simply cannot depend on the government - they will not (and indeed seem not to even want to) take care of this. They aren't answering to the people any more. We must take it upon ourselves.

So, for get the government, do this:

1) Act locally, as I stated in my previous posts.
2) Do some of those things that Robert talked about in his series of posts. Or the things Zorph has recommended at the Wingnutterer.
3) Support NGOs that help with Global Warming or GHG reductions, rather than hoping the government will do something.
4) DIY - Do It Yourself
5) Stop paying your taxes.

Yes, you read that last one correctly. Don't pay your taxes. Clearly the government is not (and has not for a while) spending our money wisely, on things that most Canadians support. We grumble and complain, we argue and yell, but every day and every year, we keep writing them a cheque to keep doing what they are doing. At the risk of sounding like a bad bank commercial, its your money, spend it as YOU want it - the government clearly isn't.

Now, I am not recommending doing something illegal, but using the tax system to your own advantage and taking control of the situation. Stop having the taxes taken off every paycheck. Use that money to either maximize your RRSP if you have the space, or to donate to charitable organizations that give tax receipts - The David Suzuki Foundation or Greepeace, for example. Do this to the point where your tax payable is zero, so at the end of the year, when you file, you are not owing. That way, YOU control where your money goes, not the government. YOU can change your mind about that, if you wish. And the government gets no money from you.

The effect of this is twofold. Firstly, those groups and institutions that deserve support, get it because you control the cash, not someone in a back office in Ottawa. Something will actually get done. Secondly, if enough people do this, its sends a clear and resounding message to whomever is the government in Ottawa that you do not agree with their policies and you are withdrawing your support and consent.

That is a message no politician can ignore.

I have applied this to the environment, but the same applies for almost any policy. Don't like that we are in Afghanistan? Withhold your taxes as above. Don't like that millions go into the coffers of Group Action? Withhold your taxes as above. Don't like that millions are being spent on unneeded military aircraft in a no-compete bid to Boeing? Withhold your taxes as above. Don't like that politicians give themselves a raise but refuse to help the lowest paid in society (which helps Walmart and McDonald's more than anyone else)? Withhold your taxes as above. Do it the way I suggest, within the legal confines of the Income Tax Act and you will have no issues.

Update: Damn it, it appears my scheme isn't quite as easy as I suspected. Chris Taylor set me straight over at BBG. Well, do whatever you can then. I stand by the rest of this post:

As the Conservatives are fond of saying lately, the time for talk is over, the time for action is now.

Screw the government. Act now and take control.