Where's summer? (And some libertarian ramblings)

Up here in Canada, it's the May two-four weekend (more formally known as Victoria day). It's considered the official start of summer (two-four also happens to mean a case of beer, and Victoria Day is officially the 24th of May, but the holiday is always moved to a Monday so that there's a long weekend).

However, it's gray, depressing and cold outside. Not quite what I was hoping for. It also doesn't help that I'm home alone this weekend. My girlfriend went to her grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, but I couldn't go due to work. So, there isn't really much for me to do except play video games and update my blog.

For those who don't know what's been happening politically up here, our government just narrowly (by a single vote) avoided a no-confidence vote. If that had happened, we'd be heading into an election now. For the libertarian, even a progressive one, there isn't really anyone to vote for. You have the choice between the old, rather corrupt Liberal party, the new "we've got a clean slate even though most of us served in the old corrupt" Conservative party, and the socialist NDP.

I really don't have anything against the NDP, they're the most honest of the three big parties. You know exactly where they stand, and their values don't follow the weathervane pattern of the other big two. However, I wouldn't want them to be the governing party. They would try to fix every social ill through force of law, which is distinctly anti-libertarian.

There are so-called libertarian choices, but I don't really trust them. Most of these so-called libertarians want to reduce social services, but want to increase our military ties with the U.S., go to Iraq, reintroduce capital punishement, and move the government back into the bedroom. I'm more of a Rockwellian type of libertarian, who realizes that smaller government means exactly that, and not just less social programs.

Before anyone complains, let me say that I'm not against social programs. However, I am opposed to compulsory participation in government monopolies. You should have the right to opt-out of programs you're opposed to, or feel that the service is unsatisfactory. For example, there's EI (unemployment insurance). The government has made the rules such that a lot of people have to pay EI even though they can never receive the benefits. It's simply a form of tax. These people should have the right to find another insurance provider, but they can't. Participation is required by law. Of course since taxes go into one big money pool, you also have no idea if the money you're paying for these programs is actually reaching them, or how much of every dollar you pay for things like health care goes to pay for the administration of these programs instead of into the program itself.

That's essentially what I feel libertarianism is. You should be allowed the maximum freedom to do what you wish as long as you're not harming others. People on both the left and right generally cringe at that thought, thinking that it will lead to abolute chaos. However there is a difference between what you can do, and what you will do. Everyone in this country could go out and get rip-roaring drunk every single night for the rest of their lives, yet 99.9% of the people don't do this. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you will.

Also, especially in the age of media, every time some sort of tragedy happens people go "there oughta be a law" in the heat of the moment. And the politicians dutifuly respond, introducing all sorts of half-baked rules and regulations so that "this will never happen again". Yet in most of these tragedies, there were already a number of legal violations. Think of Enron in the states, what they did was already criminal, and a number of people went to prison under the then existing laws. There was no need to introduce the draconian Sorbanes-Oxley act to make it "more" illegal.

Well, that's today's rambling thoughts. I'll try to update this blog more often now.

Back Again....

Well, it's been a while. The last several weeks have been interesting, to say the least.

One thing that's been keeping me occupied is the new home we've bought. It's a nice terrace home in the heart of the city, and should be ready by the end of August. Some of my coworkers think its bizarre that anyone would prefer not to live in suburbia, however I find suburbia incredibly dull. I can't stand the commute, and I need more variety then suburbia offers. We love to window shop, and you can only visit Wal-Mart so many times before it gets tiring. Also, in the summer we like to hop on a bus (gasp!) and go downtown and do our shopping in the farmer's market. One of the reasons we chose this area was because of convenient public transportation, which is especially relevant now that gas prices are going through the roof.

A couple of weeks ago, we we're in a car accident involving a drunk driver. While we were waiting at a red light, the car ahead of us suddenly moved to the side of the road, at which point we saw the drunk driver coming down the wrong side of the road at us. I was able to move far enough to the side to avoid a head-on collision, but she struck us along the side and then hit the car behind us. Nobody was hurt, fortunately, and after a couple of weeks I've got my car back good as new.

It looks like its election time here in Canada, everyone expects the government to be brought down next week. For those unfamiliar with how parliamentary government works, if the opposition parties vote down a major piece of legislation (such as the budget) it's considered a vote of non-confidence in the government and protocol dictates that an election must be called. We don't have fixed election dates here, a government must hold an election within five years of the last election, but there's no fixed term length. In a minority government situation (when the opposition parties put together hold more seats then the governing party), the government rarely lasts more than a year or so. Frankly, there isn't anyone that appeals to my vote. I don't trust the Conservatives, the Liberals have been in power to long, and the NDP is too far to the left. So, I'll probably vote based on my opinion of my local candidates, rather than along party lines.

However, it looks like Canada is entering an "Italian" phase where the no party looks like it has the hope of forming a majority government. I'll probably be voting a lot over the next few years....