Jane Jacobs speculated that the unraveling of western society is due to issues with . . .
Community and Family, - people are increasingly choosing consumerism over family welfare, that is: consumption over fertility; debt over family budget discipline; fiscal advantage to oneself at the expense of community welfare.
Higher Education,- universities are more interested in credentials than providing high quality education.
Bad Science,- elevation of economics as the main "science" to consider in making major political decisions.
Bad Government,- governments are more interested in deep-pocket interest groups than the welfare of the population.
Bad Culture,- a culture that prevents people from understanding the deterioration of fundamental physical resources on which the entire community depends.
I suggest if bureaucrats seem to be paralyzed it is less to do with their trying to seize power and more to do with politicians who will not or can not do the right thing.
Climate change is real. What do we get? Ax the tax . . . a plan with a 4 year horizon.
If nothing else, a large bureaucracy provides some safeguard against politicians whose aim is to destroy the democratic system, which I see happening even close to home in the US.
I guess it comes down to who has the power. There's never really been a showdown on this in the modern age. Until now. Well, I don't know if there will be a showdown in Canada. But there sure is one in America, and at this point, it's unclear who will win.
As a business owner in the highly regulated fishing and aquaculture sector, I can personally attest to the challenges posed by bloated bureaucracy at both the federal and provincial levels. However, I’ve seen some positive change at the provincial level. Last fall, after reaching out to my MLA, he responded by arranging a meeting with the senior marine advisor in NSDFA. Through productive discussions and the exchange of information, we were able to get an outdated and unnecessary policy revised. This experience shows there is potential for meaningful change when we engage directly with our representatives and our government is pro business. The same cannot be said for the federal government. The DFO bureaucracy operates like a black box, filled with groupthink and unaccountable analysts.
This is great news and parallels my experience in music, TV production, and rural affairs at the provincial level. It's a flickering light in provincial governments across Canada I think. However, as dark as it is inside the Federal black box systems, it's the municipal silos in the cities that seems to be having its darkest and most desperate hour as it struggles to squeeze the last property tax dollar and grifted fee out of households reels from insanely over-inflated property values.
It takes extra courage to transform government departments. The Dexter Government had a golden opportunity to do that. We all know what happened. Two books were written about it. I often fantasize pulling a Rodney MacDonald move but instead of punishing the Arts Community in such a stupid way, I would do something different. I would shut down Departments of Health, Community Services, Education and Culture then combine them all into one department of Public Health and Prosperity. That's a long story. To be continued...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Age_Ahead
Jane Jacobs speculated that the unraveling of western society is due to issues with . . .
Community and Family, - people are increasingly choosing consumerism over family welfare, that is: consumption over fertility; debt over family budget discipline; fiscal advantage to oneself at the expense of community welfare.
Higher Education,- universities are more interested in credentials than providing high quality education.
Bad Science,- elevation of economics as the main "science" to consider in making major political decisions.
Bad Government,- governments are more interested in deep-pocket interest groups than the welfare of the population.
Bad Culture,- a culture that prevents people from understanding the deterioration of fundamental physical resources on which the entire community depends.
I suggest if bureaucrats seem to be paralyzed it is less to do with their trying to seize power and more to do with politicians who will not or can not do the right thing.
Climate change is real. What do we get? Ax the tax . . . a plan with a 4 year horizon.
If nothing else, a large bureaucracy provides some safeguard against politicians whose aim is to destroy the democratic system, which I see happening even close to home in the US.
It's a great book.
I guess it comes down to who has the power. There's never really been a showdown on this in the modern age. Until now. Well, I don't know if there will be a showdown in Canada. But there sure is one in America, and at this point, it's unclear who will win.
An interesting article I just received about proposed/probable changes to an environmental law in Montana. . .
https://montanafreepress.org/2025/02/13/mepa-and-the-montana-legislature/?utm_medium=email
As a business owner in the highly regulated fishing and aquaculture sector, I can personally attest to the challenges posed by bloated bureaucracy at both the federal and provincial levels. However, I’ve seen some positive change at the provincial level. Last fall, after reaching out to my MLA, he responded by arranging a meeting with the senior marine advisor in NSDFA. Through productive discussions and the exchange of information, we were able to get an outdated and unnecessary policy revised. This experience shows there is potential for meaningful change when we engage directly with our representatives and our government is pro business. The same cannot be said for the federal government. The DFO bureaucracy operates like a black box, filled with groupthink and unaccountable analysts.
This is great news and parallels my experience in music, TV production, and rural affairs at the provincial level. It's a flickering light in provincial governments across Canada I think. However, as dark as it is inside the Federal black box systems, it's the municipal silos in the cities that seems to be having its darkest and most desperate hour as it struggles to squeeze the last property tax dollar and grifted fee out of households reels from insanely over-inflated property values.
It takes extra courage to transform government departments. The Dexter Government had a golden opportunity to do that. We all know what happened. Two books were written about it. I often fantasize pulling a Rodney MacDonald move but instead of punishing the Arts Community in such a stupid way, I would do something different. I would shut down Departments of Health, Community Services, Education and Culture then combine them all into one department of Public Health and Prosperity. That's a long story. To be continued...