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BlackMacX
BlackMacX
16 years ago

A great and seriously thought provoking podcast today. You did get me annoyed (not at you) at the state of the governments I live with in my city, province and federally here in Canada and for that, thank you. Even with my existing political leanings, I haven’t stuck with one party or other (provincially we have 4 viable parties with a 5th that pokes its head up every election and gets some votes; federally, there are 4 officially recognized parties (including one separatist party (championing the case for the province of Quebec)); I’ve voted about half the time for the incumbent in the riding I live in; but then just as often, I’ve voted for the other person because I believe in and agree with what they have done compared to the incumbent in question.
I like how you spoke on the US Constitution, in it’s original form and use, it was a beacon for the world and provides freedoms to people that were not common (even to this day); sadly, as you elude to, amendments and “power” creep has changed the ability within how it is actually exercised, so that now, the President is almost (though not totally) above the law. This is a very scary state for not only Americans to be in; but by extension (and in real practice) the world (extraordinary renditions of foreign nationals within due process).

On a separate note, the Canadian date for when we stop paying the various governments tax and start earning for ourselves was July 14, 2008 (apparently 4 days sooner than in 2007); though this is nice and though I feel that there should be social safety nets in place, I don’t believe we can get away from all taxes (as you noted in the podcast, some form maybe necessary (like sales taxes on voluntarily purchasable items (ie. books, cars, etc.).
Sadly, the payment of property as well as income taxes only feed the “spoiled brat” (as you called the government) more “cookies” so it can further abuse us (and far too many of us just take it, either because we don’t know better or have been cowed into submission).

Thanks again for the thought provoking podcast.