The world
is being disrupted by the Internet and social media that has existed for only
slightly more than twenty years. Uber, Air B and B, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix
and many other apps are changing old ways of doing business. The summer of 2017
has produced the worst box-office returns for movies in twenty years. Amazon
and on-line retailers are taking market share from retailers even forcing Walmart
to compete on-line with better customer service.
Disruption
is occurring everywhere. Will NAFTA survive and if it does will it benefit the
working people in North America? President Trump argues it is the worst
agreement that America has ever signed. Maybe so, there is plenty of evidence
that people who once had good jobs in factories both in America and Canada have
been displaced by low wage workers in Mexico and other countries to the benefit
of the small increasingly rich segment of the economy. The financial sector has
automated the stock market to react reflexively to incremental information cycles
without regard to the long-term effect on the population. Making and losing
money in the market is not new but it is now using improved tools to bring more
wealth to the already wealthy.
What
happens in America overflows into Canada and western countries to a greater or
lesser degree. President Trump was elected by voters who suffered change brought
about by NAFTA, other international trade agreements and the significant drain
of wealth from the population to the small number of uber wealthy. While Trump
may be a hollow shell who is really part of the problem his election could be
an early indicator of a popular revolt against the ‘system’. A revolution grows
as people react fearfully to events they cannot control when the elite ignore
them.
Could the
French Revolution of 1789 to 1799 preview the next months and years in the
United States? Americans rejected the establishment
candidate in favour of what appeared to be a rebel. His base remains solid despite
how erratically the Trump administration has performed during its first nine
months. If the ‘people’ are not satisfied with progress it can seek more aggressive
ways to shake up an ineffective government. A leader might arise from the
proletariat to lead a revolution that will be challenge ‘big money’ and their privilege.
Martin Luther King rose as a leader in the 1960’s to improve the lot of black
Americans. He was cut down before the rebellion got out of control but another
person with a different pedigree could galvanize the people as Bernie Saunders
almost did in the recent election. Time will tell but there are societal ‘wrongs’
to be corrected and the politicians owned by the wealthy class are not capable or
willing of addressing.
My country
and province is the same but the establishment remains unchallenged. The last general
election produced a government that promised great things for the people and
once elected reneged on them. There is a smaller wealthy class in Canada but it
is no less in control of how things are done. For example, the federal
government plans to throw a bone to the people by allowing the sale of marijuana
for recreational use. Ontario, a traditional nannie state, has determined that ‘weed’
will only be available in government owned and run locations the way it
controls the sale of alcohol. The model is the evolution alcohol control since
prohibition ended in 1927 when purchasers required a booklet to record their
purchase delivered from a hidden warehouse in brown paper bags. Now they
provide relatively modern retail stores where a limited selection ensures
product from many sources remains unavailable. It is operated by very well-paid
management who are unstressed by the competitive pressure of free enterprise.
The same structure will sell ‘weed’ to citizens ensuring minimal marketing,
limited supply, little if any choice and good well-paid secure jobs for a few
politically acceptable managers. Of
course, front line employees will be precarious part timers with no product
knowledge thus ensuring low costs and high profit for the government to otherwise
waste.
The
nanny province of Ontario continues to show no effective change, government is
unchallenged and incompetent as witnessed by the electrical supply system, is supportive
of wealthy families preferably ‘old money’, friends and political flunkies. I
don’t foresee disruption and a popular rebellion here, it’s not the Canadian
way.
