Canada's Justin "Prettyboy" Trudeau's interesting new Child Benefit program
Canada's new Child Benefit program just kicked in (link to CBC article about it). I have extremely mix feelings about it because it's a fascinating mix of good and bad.
The Good
To establish the program, they merged about 6 benefit programs into one to reduce administrative costs. It's about time the pen pushers running the government take steps like that. The libertarian in me rejoices!
It helps poor kids I guess.
It's straight out Jonathan Haidt's "The Righteous Mind" (a MUST READ for anyone interested in understanding fellow human beings!).
From the CBC article:
"There is a real philosophical difference here. The previous [Conservative] program ... believed that there should be some component of assistance for families that was universal. So just because you made a lot of money personally you shouldn't be penalized, you shouldn't be losing out and not getting any government benefits." says Golombek. "Whereas this new government, the Trudeau government, has said we are going to do this purely on income testing. Wealthier families can carry more of the load ... they don't need additional government handouts" he says.
For those who haven't heard about Jonathan Haidt, he works on exploring how moral values influence people's political choices. In the example above, Sweet Liberal Prince Justin put poor children's needs ahead of the fairness of giving every parent money. It's fascinating to see how predictable it all was when you know how moral values work.
The Bad
- I don't have kids, so I get no free check. Seriously, I tried. "It looks like you don't have any children". I feel a bit judged here.
- It fucks with wealthy people a bit more. The reason I don't have kids right now is because the GF and I are focusing on building some financial stability before pumping out a few rugrats, like most people with the ability to plan ahead do. But now the government rewards that with 1. no money for us and more money for people who didn't plan shit and 2. taking more taxes from us in the future, because we're working really hard to make sure we won't be poor. Hopefully Steemit plays a part in that :D
The ugly
- Tim Moen, our resident Libertarian candidate, didn't properly file the papers for his party, so there won't be a Libertarian party in the next federal elections. That's a double facepalm if I've ever seen one.
That's it fellas! Ride your bikes!
God damn I love The Righteous Mind. I'm only 55% into it and it keeps blowing my mind every page.
Regarding the morality module pie charts in your post.
I think a strong case could be made that the Liberty module actually is the most important since it is the one that allows all remaining slices of the pie chart to flourish.
For example, in a stateless society, people would have total religious freedom, there would be not christian lobby.. since there's nothing to lobby for! No zoning restrictions and so different communities with different values would arise. Sanctity module: check!
Without a state, everyone would thrive in a freed market. Satisfying the Care part of our minds since poverty would be pretty much abolished.
Closely tied to Fairness as well (especially in the proportionality aspect of it)
In a statist economy you have 2 ways to make money. Through competition, innovation, R&D, etc.
This makes the population very suspicious of rich people. "Who did he fuck over to get that BMW?"
In a free market, after a few generations, people would realise that rich people are people that did something others needed. There would be but one way to make money. Through voluntary exchange. So the fairness part of our brain would be happy (:
I believe the same principles would apply to authority and loyalty since imposed rulers would be replaced by voluntary leaders
My 2¢ on the importance of the Liberty/Oppression module in 2016! It is ATM the most important
Tim moen is the killer part. Who am I suppose to vote for on next election? Glad to see a fellow Canadian. I just published a post on drug decriminalization here: https://steemit.com/charlieshrem/@alexfortin/charlie-shrem-is-free-why-the-war-on-drugs-need-to-stop
We were trying to get my friend @cob to be a federal candidate, but he'll have to switch to the Quebec Libertarian Party instead. It's a shame for him, if you get elected twice as a federal candidate you get free money for life hehe.
@winterbike this is how you tag. I didn't know that about the free money for candidate.
Around here a 19 year old got elected in 2011 during the NPD orange wave, and he just got re-elected. Scored a pension for life at 23 years old, chi-ching!
Next step, basic income for everyone...
I feel this guy is trying to dump money to stimulate the economy. If what will ever work out the way he wanted.