Calling J.M. Keynes

So a new year has dawned, and for many of us, some old ghosts of economic woes past have resurfaced. Yes, as we lurch through the early stages of 2009 with a prorogued Parliament, and hundreds of thousands of jobs on the chopping block nationwide, it is once again time to utter that most un-noble of capitalist words: RECESSION.

Ah, yes, the recession. The damned offspring of greed and unregulated economic growth. Recessions are a core part of any capitalist system, and every ten to fiteeen years, we in North America are lucky enough to find ourselves immersed in one. What always amazes me when our economy goes into the tank is the pure fact that it does so for all the same old reasons. Even the most economically-challenged amongst us can grasp the simple frailties of capitalism. To be brief, in a capitalist system, economies will falter cyclically, because an unregulated market will always collapse under the weight of the greed of the corporate elites. In other words, there isn't enough pie to go around, and once the fat-cats at the top have gorged themselves to the point that the pie is gone, well... you get the idea.

John Maynard Keynes warned of these problems decades ago, and some, such as FDR actually listened. How is it then, that the lessons of the past, and the successes of programs such as FDR's New Deal have been continually ignored for sixty years? The past 30 years in North America have witnessed a virtually never-ending stream of neo-conservative governments committed to the laughably unrealistic goal of unlimited economic growth. Reaganomics;trickle-down policies, Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution, Paul Martin and the Liberals of the 1990's... and on and on. Why is it that our governments refuse to let the outdated economic ideologies of the past die? We are in a recession? Better cut taxes, slash social programs, and engage in as little government spending as possible. Tighten the purse strings! Batten down the hatches, and hang on tight! Everything will be just fine if we all (by which I mean the 95% of us outside the upper-income quintile) just continue to sacrifice as much as possible so that our governments won't have to engage in any sort of progressive, forward-thinking action.

If we are to believe the established conservative economic diatribes that permeate our society, there are several infallible rules that must always be obeyed; deficits are bad, tax cuts stimulate jobs through increased consumer spending, social programs are not as important as job creation, every person can pull themselves up by the bootstraps if you just throw a few measly dollars their way, etc. It's the good old cowboy mentality. Gosh darnit, we can all make it as long as we are willing to roll up our sleeves, get a little elbow grease into it, and... blah, blah, blah. How long are we going to collectively hang on to these childish, ludicrous, ideas? These very ideals have been planted in our heads by the corporate establishment; the very same coroporate establishment that keeps running our financial system into the ground with their limitless greed.

Canadians will receive a new federal budget on Jan.27. If we actually had a government in this country that didn't believe in the laws of the jungle, and wasn't stuck permanently in 1953, I might hold out some hope for a new approach to combat this recession. Alas, we have Jim Flaherty and company at the controls. You might remember Big Jim. He was one of the masterminds behind the Mike Harris Era of Terror in Ontario. For those people who liked the results of that particular experiment in class warfare, you'll be pleased once again. Your assets will be safe, and the sacrifices you will be asked to make will be virtually nil. No fear, the already overburdened middle and lower classes will continue to carry you on their backs in these tough times. We will "collectively" get through this, so that we can back on the treadmill of UNLIMTED GROWTH and repeat the cycle all over again.

Poor Keynes. It must've been a terrible burden to be so far ahead of the curve.