A paucity of frankness

Forgive me for indulging in a little extra pragmatism this week. Chalk it up to an impromptu ode to America playing on the stereo at Brother Jimmy's B-B-Q yesterday. It was the same old culprits: Neil Diamond's 'Coming to America' and Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA' and I think I even heard a rendition of 'America' from West Side Story. Everything good in America!

Not quite. Everywhere I turn these days, there's a lot of talk about 'hope'. There's talk of economic 'green shoots' and even murmurs of 'recovery' in full swing. It would seem that hope and optimism have replaced religion as the new mass opiate of choice.

Returning home from a Budweiser and baby-back ribs at Brother Jimmy's (I couldn't think of anything more apropos for 4 July), I walked down First Avenue for 20 blocks. I was absolutely flabbergasted. On every block, on either side of the street, for what seemed like the entire walk home, stores that were there just four or six weeks ago had closed up. Restaurants, corner bodegas, clothing stores shuttered, with for rent or "DINER IS CLOSED" in the window. Even New York City, the home of unbridled capitalism, can't escape the invisible and ever-tightening hand of the market.

As I see the US government continue its spending to prop up banks, insurance companies and car companies -- 52 US banks have failed thus far in 2009 -- and, at the same time, call for massive reforms to health care, I can't help but wonder where the frank voices have gone. Can the US afford, at this juncture, to reform health insurance? Can the government, to use a metaphor, continue to use its credit card to spend beyond its means in the hopes of an economic turnaround? And to further the metaphor, isn't wild credit card debt one of the key reasons the global economy is on life support in the first place?

There is no doubting the need for swift, meaningful social and economic reform. There is also no question -- at least in my mind -- that the juncture for that change is now. But I can't help but see the window slowly closing, the clock ticking away and yet more of the same cast of characters responsible for the current state of affairs, busy building up the house of cards, using taxpayer money, manipulating the media and basically taking advantage of a majority of people too hurt -- or too dazed -- to notice.

I don't pretend to have a full grasp of exactly what Tyler Durden and his team at Zero Hedge are talking about, but the site's amazing access to confidential economic information, insider legal documents and frank criticism of the state of the economy never cease to amaze me. It is my antidote for the pervasive "green shoot" hype that seems to feed into the collective daze. One video he posted last week, from Bloomberg TV, contained a level of frankness I really appreciated. Here, Joe Saluzzi from Themis Trading, talks about the reality of the numbers and intentional manipulation of the markets:



Are we any better off in Canada? Doubtful. For starters, the integration of the Canadian and American economies thanks to NAFTA is undeniable. This is disastrous when combined with a spineless government that harbours an ideological bent -- be it Harper's Conservatives or Ignatieff's Liberals (who, I suspect, might handle the current situation in a similar manner). I would also add that, much like Saudi Arabia, Canada is seen in strictly realpolitik terms -- a source of stable, easily accessible resources to continue to power a bleeding empire heavily reliant on cheap oil. Until alternatives are found, the pollution of our rivers and destruction of land, and the poisoning of our native inhabitants, will undoubtedly continue. It's shortsighted and unsustainable, but I guess it's the best our myopic politicians can do in Ottawa.

Unfortunately, we are in an even more frail situation in Canada, with our smaller population and less diversified economy. We spent 15 long, hard years balancing the budget and paying down debt. That was quickly and irresponsibly reversed in the last six months. Now, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates debt to grow by $3.9 billion in 2008-2009, and by $50.2 billion 2009-2010. The speed of the debt clock on the federation's homepage really hits the point home.

I ask again: Is this really the direction we Canadians want to head, having our federal government bail out bankers, encouraging unsustainable urban sprawl in all our major cities, increasing reliance on industrialized production of food and vegetables, and continuing to trick ourselves into believing that the future, as we have already lived it in the past, is just a few market corrections and stimulus packages away?

It's time to end the charade, wake up from our collective sleepwalk and acknowledge that it's OK to be realistic -- in fact, it's the responsible thing to do. We're not going back to the way things were and, if we do go back, it will be to the detriment of our environment, quality of life and future generations. We must demand of whoever sits in government to engage in sensible priority-setting; that has nothing to do with senate reform, or bailing out private broadcasters, or generating fractious and dirty politics on Parliament Hill. The time to come together and develop a holistic, inclusive national plan is now: re-localizing cities; funding new sustainable infrastructure; incubating technological innovation; creating greater opportunities for young Canadians; encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship across the country; and the list goes on. Let the paucity of frankness end here, and continue with you. Go on, tell it like it is.