I disagree with the vetting process too, I think there is something really paternalistic and anti-democratic about it. That said, there is something to be said about how Mugyenyi’s candidacy was explicitly declared as en extension of Engler’s campist tankie campaign.

Shenanigans beget shenanigans of course and that was a bad faith response to a bad faith decision by the vetting process. So yes, this is NDP bureaucracy shitting the bed, but from there to saying “the NDP is not interested in renewal” as Nora Loreto writes, I think that’s an overstatement that does a disservice to the moment.

Indigenous lives matter.

Let’s fucking goooo.

Then accuse me of making an unsubstantiated rant like you just did. To that I can respond with “that’s what Varoufakis has been screaming off the top of his lungs for a decade now and that’s what people like economic historian Adam Tooze have basically said more politely”. When it comes to the stereotyping and moral crusade kind of attitude I can talk from my own goddam experience.

But accusing me of “propaganda” takes it a step further into saying I am a bad faith malicious actor that is trying to manipulate the space over some kind of agenda. Propaganda is not a difference of opinion or a rant, it is a deliberate sustained tactic to control the information space on behalf of someone else. Propaganda is post-truth, treating speech as ammunition in an information war.

So here is what I am asking you to clarify: are you saying I’m a post-truth actor engaging here on behalf of some other entity to perform information warfare?

Yes but we have full control of our currency and central bank and therefore we have more policy levers to fine tune our response. “Forward facing” is aspirational, I just don’t see the benefit.

Why bother with full EU integration then? Let’s apply to join the EFTA and avoid the shenanigans.

In short: a country that controls its currency, faced with a situation like Greece’s in 2012 can ease the hurt by devaluing its currency. That option was not available to Greece because of the Euro. Instead the internal devaluation was forced through, to immense social cost.

That said, I take a very great deal of exception to the “propaganda” accusation. It implies I’m a bad faith actor here, which in turns means anything I say is suspect. If that’s what you think, I have no reason to continue this discussion. Clarify your position.

Take Sweden and Denmark as better examples. But these opt-outs are no longer available. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty is explicit.

1. No we can’t. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty requires new entries to eventually join the Euro.

2. I’m talking very specifically about how the EU is politically dysfunctional. The EU hasn’t matured institutionally, requiring unanimity for things that shouldn’t require it (c.f. Hungary) and informal pressure for things that shouldn’t (cf. how Greek democracy was rendered irrelevant by Shcauble).

Greece’s problems prior to the debt crisis were not the fault of the Euro.

The “solutions” that were offered to Greece during the crisis were not conceived with Greece’s best interest in mind, but with preserving the Euro and placating German (and other “northern”) right wingers that saw the debt crisis as a moral crusade against “lazy Mediterraneans”. That’s what I mean by straitjacket. The Greek economy was forced into an aggressive internal devaluation with no upside. Greece is currently trailing behind post-soviet-bloc members. It’s been effectively shot for at least 10-20 years.

This is to say: a currency union only works if you have other mechanisms for deeper union in terms of fiscality, transfers etc. And in an unequal system like the European one, this doesn’t work to the advantage of everyone. Canada should not let go of the CAD.

EDIT: We are a raw resouces exporter. So take oil for example. If Canada joined the Euro, and oil prices crashed while German manufacturing stayed strong, the Euro would remain high. Canada would be stuck with a “strong” currency it can’t afford, leading to the exact same “straitjacket” effect that Greece suffered from.

As a dual Greek-Canadian citizen: fuck the Euro. It’s a straightjacket that forces everyone to follow the economic priorities of Germany.

We don’t need the Euro. We don’t need the European Stability and Growth Pact. Yes to closer integration, no to joining EU institutional dysfunction.

One has nothing to do with the other. Lending money is not an indication of approval. It’s an indication of trust in being repaid with interest.

We don’t need the Euro and we don’t need the European Stability and Growth Pact. Both are hazardous straightjakets that we really don’t have a need for.

We can and should be friends but we don’t need to join.

As a dual European Canadian citizen: no. Bad idea. We don’t need the Euro an we don’t need the Stability and Growth Pact.

We do need a closer relationship but we don’t need to become members.

Technofeudalism.

Rural areas, sure. Suburban and urban where the majority of humans live, no.

I’m being speculative, right?

In a political climate where you could actually implement UBI, you would also be able to …

Which is why UBI should be coupled with UBS (universal basic services). In this context, at the very least there would exist also a rental board (like Quebec’s existing Regie du Logement). If you’re more ambitious, housing would be a universal service and taken out of the market altogether. And don’t forget that that 1600E income of the landlord would be also taxed.

More generally: https://ubiadvocates.org/inflation-and-ubi-separating-fact-from-fiction/

If UBI is financed through measures that inject new money into the economy, such as deficit spending or monetary expansion, the risk of inflation may be heightened. This is because the increase in the money supply outpaces the economy’s capacity to produce goods and services, leading to a general rise in prices.

Conversely, if UBI is funded through redistributive measures, such as progressive taxation or cuts in inefficient spending, the inflationary pressures can be mitigated. By targeting resources from high-income individuals or unproductive sectors of the economy, such funding mechanisms redistribute existing wealth rather than injecting new money into circulation.

This ensures that the overall level of demand remains relatively stable, thereby limiting the potential for inflationary spirals.

In a political climate where you could actually implement UBI, you would also be able to implement walkability policies.

Also, e-bikes. E-bikes is where it’s at.