Freedomain Radio: Latest articles from Stefan Molyneux

The Decline and Fall of Canada. Prepare Yourself Accordingly.

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:33 GMT

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Index

0 - Employment Numbers

A - Public Vs Private

1 - Graphs

2 - Health Care

3 - Middle Class Wealth

A - Reduced Standard of Living, Income and Savings

B - Consumer Debt/Debt

C - Class Polarization

4 - Poverty Rate

5 - General Economy and Inflation

A - Inflated prices in real estate

6 - Government Finances

7 - Expert Predictions

9 - Historical Similarities

10 - Cost of Regulations

11 - Cool Facts!

0 - Employment Numbers

Link Canada’s job market is not recovering

Canada's economy has lost 26,000 jobs so far in 2013 as a whole.

Canada's economy lost 54,500 jobs in March.

Canadian economy shed 85,000 private sector positions (all of them full-time) in March.

The public sector barely changed and the difference came from a growth in self employment. Much of the losses came among those in the core working-age group of those between 25 and 54.

Link Canada’s job market mirrors the U.S’s

Link Job growth lags population growth

Job growth has lagged population growth, making the recovery incomplete. There are 1.4 million unemployed Canadians competing for jobs compared to 1.1 million prior to the crisis.

Link The job losses pushed Canada's jobless rate higher to 7.2 per cent.

A - Public Vs Private

Link 12% more in salary alone

Canadian public-sector workers are paid 12% more than their private-sector counterparts, says a study released Thursday (2013) by the Fraser Institute.

Although the conservative think-tank said Statistics Canada did not record data in enough detail to make a more rigorous comparison, public workers probably also had better pensions and other non-wage benefits, such as shorter work weeks and earlier retirement.

Link Staggering difference in benefits

If you just look at the coverage rate, basically 88% of the public sector has a registered pension, versus 24% in the private sector. Of those that have a pension [in the public sector], 94% are defined benefits, whereas only 53% are defined benefits in the private sector,” he said.

Link $14,620 each in Voluntary Severance

All told, taxpayers are on the hook for more than $1.5-billion in regular and voluntary severance to 102,589 public servants ($14,620 per person) in 2011-12, according to new federal numbers obtained by Postmedia News.

The government also is projecting it will spend at least another $850-million in the current 2012-13 fiscal year on accumulated severance payouts.

Business groups and spending watchdogs say the voluntary payouts are both “staggering” and “outrageous”.

Link Laid off, but still paid $16,360 each

Along with the more than $2-billion needed to cover the severance expenses for 2011-12 and 2012-13, the government also has earmarked $900-million to cover “workforce adjustment” payments owed to thousands of employees who will be laid off due to federal budget cuts.

Link Population of the federal public service 2012: 278,092

Link CCPA economist David Macdonald estimates that between 50,000 and 60,000 federal public sector jobs or private sector jobs funded by the government will be eliminated by 2014.

So if we take 55,000 to be the future federal job cut number, the $900 million will result in $16,360 per person.

Link The number of Toronto city employees who earned more than $100,000 in 2012 has jumped about 30% over the previous year.

1 - Graphs

Link Public vs Private (2013)

2 - Health Care

Link Increasing expenditures, Increasing wait times

Consider waiting lists. In 2011, the median wait time from general practitioner referral to treatment by a specialist was 19 weeks in Canada. Despite substantial increases in both health spending and federal cash transfers to the provinces over the past 15 years, the 2011 wait time was 60 per cent longer than the 1997 median wait time of 11.9 weeks. In 2011, patients waited more than double the 9.3 weeks they would have waited in 1993. Our indicators are getting worse, not better.

Link Very slow system, even by socialist standards

Canada’s waiting lists are also among the longest in the developed world. For example, the 2010 findings from a survey of individuals in 11 nations, 10 of which maintain universal access health insurance programs. According to the Commonwealth Fund, among the 10 universal access nations surveyed (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK):

Canadians were the most likely to wait four months or more for elective surgery; and were less likely to wait less than one month for elective surgery than all but Sweden;
Canadians were the most likely to wait six days or longer to see a doctor or nurse when sick, and were the least likely (tied with Norway) to receive an appointment the same day or next day;
Canadians were the most likely to wait two months or more for a specialist appointment and least likely to wait less than one month for a specialist appointment; and
Canadians were the least likely to wait less than 30 minutes and most likely to wait four hours or more for access to an emergency room.

Link Socialist Universal Health Care doesn’t mean quick universal access to the best equipment but does mean high costs

Access to medical technologies is also relatively poor in Canada. In a recent comparison of inventories of medical technologies per one million people: in MRI machines, Canada ranked 15th of 26 OECD nations for whom data was available; 17th of 27 nations in CT scanners; 11th out of 24 in PET scanners; and 19th of 21 in lithotripters. Research also shows that Canada’s relatively small inventory of medical technologies consists of many old and outdated machines. Clearly, Canada’s relatively high expenditures neither buy quick access to care, nor do they buy high tech health care equipment and services for the population.

Link Socialist Universal Health Care does not mean universal health care

1.9 million Canadians can’t find a family physician

Government restrictions on medical training, along with a number of other policies that affect the practices of medical practitioners, have also taken their toll on Canadians’ access to health care. A recent comparison found Canada ranked 26th of 32 OECD nations for which data was available in the number of physicians per thousand population. It should come as no surprise that Statistics Canada determined that nearly 1.9 million Canadians aged 12 or older could not find a regular physician in 2009.

Link 2/3rd of Income tax going completely to paying for health care

While income taxes make up just 30 per cent of the tax bill for the average Canadian family, the amount of money spent on health care by Canada’s governments is equivalent to about two-thirds of all personal income taxes.

Link Socialized healthcare does not mean healthcare immune from market forces but instead a system more poorly equipped to deal with them - no such thing as free

The United Kingdom is the latest to tighten its belt. The National Health Service (NHS) — the centralized public agency that runs Britain’s government healthcare system — is being forced to shave $31 billion from its budget by 2015.

Link Universal Health Care doesn’t mean no upfront charge service

The Health Council of Canada recently surveyed over three thousand patients and found that those with chronic illnesses like high blood pressure or heart disease were largely dissatisfied with the medical care they received. Less than half of respondents with such conditions reported that the care they received was excellent or very good.

But aren’t they getting it for free? Shouldn’t they be grateful?

Not really. Despite the massive taxes Canadians remit to finance universal care, they still must pay out of pocket for some services. Nearly a quarter of chronically ill respondents said that they had skipped their medications or neglected to fill a prescription because it was too expensive.

Link 44,794

Number of Canadians receiving medical treatment outside of Canada in 2010.

Link Number of Canadian traveling abroad for medical treatment increases as median wait times increase

A significant number of Canadians—an estimated 44,794 in total—received treatment outside Canada in 2010. This is a notable increase from the 41,006 Canadians estimated to have received treatment outside Canada in 2009. The national increase in the estimated number of patients treated outside Canada occurred at the same time as a national increase in the median wait time for medically necessary treatment. Specifically, the national median wait time for treatment after consultation with a specialist was 8.0 weeks in 2009 and 9.3 weeks in 2010.

In 2011, a significant number of Canadians—an estimated 46,159—received treatment outside of the country. At the same time, the national median wait time for treatment after consultation with a specialist increased from 9.3 weeks in 2010 to 9.5 weeks in 2011

3 - Middle Class Wealth

A - Reduced Standard of Living, Income and Savings

Link Retirement is becoming an unaffordable luxury for an increasing number of people

More and more seniors are working longer. The percentage of those aged 60-64 who are employed rose from 34% in 1989 to 47% in 2011 ... a new record. The percentage of those aged 65-69 who are still working jumped from 11% in 1989 to 23% in 2011 ... another new record. The percentage of the 70 and over group who are still working increased to 6% in 2011 ... one more record high.

Over the 1989 to 2011 period, the labour force aged 45-54 more than doubled (+108%), those aged 55-64 also more than doubled (+133%) while those aged 65 and older grew even faster (+180%).

Link The middle class is being completely hollowed out in Canada

Link Absolute wage stagnation

The median earnings of full-time Canadian workers increased by just $53 annually—that's right, $53 annually—between 1980 and 2005

B - Consumer Debt/Debt

Link High Household debt

Experts say nervous consumers won't spend enough to provide a significant boost to the economy, especially as households have a record C$1.65 of debt for every dollar earned.

Link Spending money soon to become a luxury to an increasing number of people

Canadian household debt has reached an all-time high, but in 2012 Canadians still took on more. Consumer debt jumped 6 per cent last year. Analysts are growing concerned that Canadian consumers are over-leveraged and will eventually have to make steep cuts to their spending.

Link Companies hide money in war fund due to unfunded liabilities

Business investment remains slow and outgoing Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney wants the private sector to unleash some of what he has called the "dead money" to stimulate the economy.

But companies need to put cash in a "war fund" until better times, said Betty Lou Pacey, founder and chief executive officer of BL Innovative Lighting, a small Vancouver-based business that exports optical fiber for lighting.

She cites the massive U.S. fiscal deficit as the biggest external threat for exporters, whose sales growth depends on healthy U.S. demand. Her own company has a couple of costly projects "percolating" that would be easier to commit to if circumstances were better.

Link As the middle class of Canada stagnates while inflation continues, the difference helps keep canadian household numbers in check with the rest of the failing world.

Link Massively terrible debt and saving numbers

Link Skyrocketing inflation in cost of living in a house

C - Class Polarization

Link Higher than average and Increasing income inequality in Canada

The report from the OECD said the top 1% of Canadians saw their share of the country’s total income increased to 13.3% in 2007 from only 8.1% in 1980. And the very richest of Canadians, the top 0.1%, had their share of income more than double, to 5.3% from 2%.

Overall, the top 10% of Canadians in 2008 earned $103,500 on average, 10 times higher than the bottom 10%, who made an average of $10,260. This is up from a ratio of 8 to 1 in the early 1990s and higher than the overall OECD average.

Link Multi-Decade increase in income inequality

The higher up the income scale, the more dramatic the gains. For the richest one per cent, the share of all Canadian incomes almost doubled between the late 1970s and 2007. For the richest 0.1 per cent of tax files, their total share almost tripled during those 20 years. And for the creme-de-la-creme — the richest 0.01 per cent making more than $640,000 a year — their share of total incomes more than quintupled.

Link

Between 1980 and 2005, median earnings among Canada's top earners rose more than 16 per cent while those in the bottom fifth saw their wages dip by 20 per cent.

Link Subsidizing to the hilt for decades results in extreme levels of poverty for children

In its report, called Oh Canada! Too Many Children in Poverty for Too Long, the advocacy group Campaign 2000 says First Nations children are suffering the greatest levels of poverty of all children in the country.

Link The gap is classes is so great it shaves off up to 21 years of life

McMaster University study (2010) finds a 21-year difference in life expectancy between the poorest neighbourhood and the wealthiest neighbourhood in Hamilton, Ontario.

4 - Poverty Rate

Link Poverty Soaring in recent years

In 2012, a record 882,000 Canadians used food banks each month, the highest level of food bank usage ever (Food Banks Canada), in 2011 the number was only slight lower at 851,014 – which is still 26% above the 2008 levels (Hunger Count 2011).

Link Welfare numbers soar in largest Canadian province (state)

The number of Ontario residents on welfare jumped by more than 63,200 last year.

The social assistance caseload increased by about 20% between November 2008 and November 2009, according to the latest government figures available.

Link Massive Increase in Welfare in B.C, another large Canadian province 2009

The number of people on welfare in B.C. has risen significantly, as the slumping economy takes its toll leaving many who could work unable to find jobs.

The latest numbers from the Ministry of Housing and Social Development show the number of people on social assistance who were able and expected to work has increased 49.8 per cent in the last six months.

Two-parent families rose by 71 per cent to 1,695 cases.
Single men rose by 61 per cent to 17,090 cases.
Couples with no children rose by 53 per cent to 929 cases.
Single women rose by 39 per cent to 7,148 cases.
Single-parent families rose by 27 per cent to 5,152 cases.
Overall the number of people on welfare rose 26.2 per cent to 50,537 cases.
People defined as unable to work because of persistent multiple barriers fell nearly four per cent in the past 12 months to 6,715 cases.

Link Socialist Policy does not equal quality

Out of 25 developed countries, Canada ties for last place for failing to attain nine of UNICEF’s ten benchmark indicators of quality and access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision.

Link Staggering product of massive, decade long government subsidization

- One aboriginal child in eight is disabled, double the rate of all children in Canada.

- Among First Nations children, 43 per cent lack basic dental care.

- Overcrowding among First Nations families is double the rate of that for all Canadian families.

- Mould contaminates almost half of all First Nations households.

- Almost half of aboriginal children under 15 years old residing in urban areas live with a single parent.

- Close to 100 First Nations communities must boil their water.

- Of all off-reserve aboriginal children, 40 per cent live in poverty.

Link Primary source of income for the first nation people is federal money

What revenue sources do First Nations have?

The biggest revenue source is transfers from the federal government.

Link Subsidization through no taxes since 1988

In 1988, amendments to the Indian Act empowered First Nations with their own tax authority and today, according to Wilson, about one-sixth of bands collect taxes.

Link Isolated to reserves through government force

There are exemptions under the Indian Act. The act says that the "personal property of an Indian or a band situated on a reserve" is tax exempt. Métis and Inuit are not eligible for this exemption.

The act says that a Status Indian working on a reserve is exempt from income taxes.

And Status Indians do not generally pay the federal goods and services tax or provincial sales tax if they buy something on a reserve or if it is destined for a reserve.

"Off-reserve, we all get stuck with it," notes Restoule.

Link Clusterfrack of violent government intervention results in, you guessed it, terrible quality of life.

One must remember that every time someone leaves the reserve, the cost and obligation of the federal government for each of those individual is reduced by about 80%. What would motivate the federal government to make things better on reserves? Aboriginal leaders tell me the on-reserve population is continuing to grow despite the number of people leaving. We know that from the Department of Indian Affairs spending reports that for every $8.00 spent on reserves only $1.00 is spent on services to those 60% of the band membership that lives off reserve. Seems a little backward to me.

The deteriorating circumstances include grinding poverty, tainted water not suitable for drinking or bathing in more than 100 communities at any given time, major housing crisis, loss of language, extreme crime rates, rampant health epidemics, youth suicide rates eight times the national average. For Inuit youth, living in the remote and rugged Arctic, the suicide rate is 40 times the national average.

Link Aboriginal children more likely to die relative to rest of population

Aboriginal children in Canada die from unintentional injuries at rates three to four times higher than the national average, new research shows.

While injuries are the leading cause of death for all Canadian children, they affect aboriginal kids disproportionately, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society.

In some areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, the injury-related death rate for First Nations children is 6.5 times that of the general population. For certain injuries, the death rate is as high as 22 times the Canadian average.

The study, written by Toronto pediatrician Dr. Anna Banerji, also found that it's not just children who are dying at a disproportionate rate. Unintentional injuries cause 6% of deaths in Canada, but 26% of all aboriginal deaths.

Link The quality of life of aboriginal children is not improving 20 GODAM YEARS LATER

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Parliament’s resolution to end child poverty in Canada, Campaign 2000 released its annual report card on child and family poverty in Canada. Today in 2009 an Aboriginal child is 12.3 times more likely to be in foster care than a non-Aboriginal child. While comprising only 3.8 per cent of the Canadian population, poverty has resulted in Aboriginal children accounting for a staggering 30 per cent of children in foster care. The situation is so grave that the number of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system today is three times the number enrolled in residential schools at the height of their operation.

Link Much poorer than rest of population

In Canada, being Aboriginal often means being poor, or even very poor. In 2005, 3.8% of the country’s population identified as Aboriginal, either as North American Indians (or First Nations peoples; 60% of the total), Métis (33%) or Inuit (4%).1 Of these, 21.7% had incomes below Statistics Canada’s low income cut-off after tax, compared to 11.1% for the non-Aboriginal identity population

Link Less employed than rest

Employment rate of Aboriginal peoples being almost ten percentage points below that of the non-Aboriginal population (53.7% compared to 62.7% in 2005)

Link Basic education is lower

Basic education, for instance, was not as likely to be achieved, 43.7% of Aboriginal Canadians having less than a secondary education, compared to 23.1% for the non-Aboriginal population.

Link Welfare since 1945

The Poor Law relief system, not the welfare state, then inspired social policy toward Indians, and until the introduction of universal family allowances in 1945, relief came mostly from the provision by the Department of Indian Affairs.

Link Massive number of aboriginals received social assistance since 1990

By 1990, 28.6% of Aboriginal identity persons over 15 years old received social assistance. For Indians on reserve, the rate was even higher, at 41.5%

Social assistance, noted with regret the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples “has become the staple of many Aboriginal communities” and “contributed to the persistence of individual and community economic dependency”

Link Social assistance rates relative to non-aboriginal population

In 2003, 34.8% of Indians on reserve received social assistance, compared to 5.5% for the country’s general population (excluding Indians on reserve). In Manitoba, this rate for on-reserve Indians was 43.9%

Link The most innocent bear the consequences

52.1% of all aboriginal children were poor, the highest rate of the three equity groups above. Aboriginal people had a disability rate that was more than twice the national average. Aboriginal children were four times more likely to be hungry.

Link A clue as to WHY: The family

Fewer Aboriginal children aged 14 and under lived with two parents in 2001 than did non-Aboriginal children.

32% of Aboriginal children living on reserves, and 46% of Aboriginal children in the census metropolitan areas, lived with a lone parent.

Only 17% of non-Aboriginal children lived with a lone parent

Twice the proportion of Aboriginal children lived with a lone parent in 2001 as did non-Aboriginal children.

5% of Aboriginals living in large urban areas lived with a relative other than their parent(s), or lived with a non-relative.

Link

12% of Aboriginal families are headed by parents under the age of 25 years;

27% of Aboriginal families are headed by single mothers;

40% of single Aboriginal mothers earn less than $12,000 per year;

Link Upwards of 40% entrenched in welfare since 1988

One report revealed that the average number of Aboriginal welfare recipients has risen from 40 to 41 percent over a 10 year period beginning 1988-89.

For 45 percent of Canada's First Nations people, social assistance is their only source of income.

Link Including aboriginal population the percentage of the Canadian population on welfare in March 2005 was 5.2%.

Community destruction: "Welfare isn't a part of First Nation culture" I've heard many Elders say. They can recall the first person in their community to get welfare. "Our community has never been the same," they say and add, "We used to help each other out, support ourselves, not any more, not after welfare."

Professional development destruction: Welfare becomes the family tradition like Sunday dinners. Instead of the children adopting the role of community hunter or healer or fisher or weaver, as their ancestors once did, the occupation becomes welfare. A new family tradition is formed. Children learn from their parents. Social assistance has become an acceptable way of life for too many people and their families. While for centuries children have been encouraged to adopt the occupation of their parents, children of social assistance parents are too following in the footsteps of their parents creating inter-generational welfare families.

Link A clue as to WHY: Government education

For more than a century, education for on-reserve Aboriginal children was primarily provided through church-run residential schools designed to assimilate Aboriginal children into both Caucasian culture and the churches.

Church-run: Not really > Link (The Indian residential schools of Canada were a network of "residential" (boarding) schools for Aboriginal peoples of Canada (First Nations [formerly "Indians"],Metis, and Inuit [formerly "Eskimos"]) funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs, and administered by Christian churches)

The children were forbidden to speak their own languages, practice their spiritual traditions, or maintain their cultural traditions. Schools were usually too far from reserves to enable contact with parents. Siblings were separated in residence. Sexual and physical abuse and death from disease were common.

Children in residential schools did not en-counter healthy parental role models and, as adults, frequently had diminished capacity to care for their own children.

The last residential school closed in Saskatchewan in 1996

Link The abuse of the residential schools flows to the present generations through the produced poorer quality parents

National statistics document an 80.9 percent increase in the number of days that First Nations children spent in group or institutional care during this period. This increase is dramatic when compared to the corresponding figure for the number of days spent in foster care (37.4 percent increase).

Look at where the income is coming from

5 - General Economy and Inflation

Link Terrible recent factor numbers February 2013

Factory sales plunged 3.1% to 48.02 billion Canadian dollars (US$47.94 billion), marking the deepest one-month decline in 43 months, or since the midst of the great recession.

Much of December’s weakness was due to auto-plant shutdowns in Ontario, but even excluding that sector Canadian factory shipments fell 1.8%.

Link Retail slowing under massive and ever increasing consumer debt load 2013

The flipside of Canadians' explosive debt burden is consumer spending, which is now showing weakness as debt loads continue to grow. Retail sales over the crucial holiday season posted an unexpected 2.1-per-cent decline this past December, signalling that the Canadian consumer may be running out of steam, and finally reigning in those debts.

Link Government cuts will slowdown GDP at least in the short term

A recent CIBC study estimated that austerity measures will shave 0.9 per cent off government spending, which in turn will translate into a 0.2 per cent drag on Canada's GDP.

Link Business ramping down investments

Canadian companies' business investment plans are at their lowest non-recession point since 1995, an alarm bell for the economy because investment is so important to the creation of new jobs and future profits.

Link Exports

Canadian exports fell 2.8 per cent in the last month of 2012, a sign that Canada's largest trading partner, the U.S., is still struggling to sustain growth. But with Asia experiencing a slowdown and Europe continuing to muddle through its debt crisis, the odds of a pick-up in demand for Canadian exports are slim.

Link Continued decline in manufacturing

After eight years of decline, the manufacturing sector created only 15,900 jobs in 2011. Employment in 2011 was about where it was in 1993 and down by 532,200 jobs since the peak in 2004.

Link A single but scary and telling case (Reuters)

The 50-year-old was laid off last year from his job of 22 years at a bus-assembly plant northwest of Toronto, and has since applied for 130 jobs. His best offer: A job at $12 an hour, half his previous wage and not enough to pay his bills.

Link Deflating housing prices -- also should mean deflating wealth as we’ve seen from recent history

House prices in Canada suffered six straight months of declines before leveling off in April, according to Teranet. But sales volumes have dropped sharply over the past year —down 15.3 per cent from a year earlier, according to the latest numbers — and the supply of homes available on the market is growing relative to the number of buyers -- a bad sign for future prices.

Capital Markets predicting a 25-per-cent drop in house prices, and The Economist indicating Canada has one of the most overvalued housing markets in the world.

Link

Link Projected housing slowdown means bad news for general economy

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicts construction of new homes will fall 11 per cent this year. That could be bad news for the economy, as Canada has come to be more reliant on real estate and construction-related activity than it has been in recorded history. The "FIRE" industries -- finance, insurance and real estate -- amount to 27 per cent of the economy, up from a long term average of 24. A construction slowdown could translate into big job losses.

6 - Government Finances

7 - Expert Predictions

Link Investors bet against Canadian economy 04/29/2013

Global investors are turning against Canada’s economy, placing some of the largest bets on record that the country’s housing market, financial sector and currency are in for a rough ride.

A report Monday in The Financial Post indicates that a near-record amount of money is being placed against Canada’s major banks.

The length of time it would require investors shorting Canadian banks to cover their debts if the stock went up is now at 10.3 days, compared to just 1.3 days for U.S. banks. Any ratio above five suggests investors are pessimistic.

That follows a report last week that the Canadian dollar has become the second-most shorted major global currency, after the Japanese yen, suggesting investors widely expect the Canadian dollar to keep sliding.

Several trends appear to be behind the negative sentiment, including a weakening housing market and falling prices for commodities such as oil and gold. Both of these trends could impact the country’s economy, given Canada’s well-known reliance on commodities, and given that housing now supports a greater percentage of Canadian jobs than it has in recent history.

San Francisco-based Hyphen Partners LP is putting 95 per cent of its clients’ assets into bets against Canada’s housing market and banks.

“Canada faces two risks,” Hyphen Partners head Vijai Mohan told the Globe, referring to housing and banks. “Very few people are looking at those risks simultaneously. That collectively presents a lot of opportunity” for those who wish to make money off the Canadian’s economy’s expected decline.

9 - Historical Similarities

10 - Cost of Regulations

Link Canadian companies pay more for regulation than American ones

Most Canadian small businesses pay much more than their U.S. counterparts to comply with regulatory requirements, according to CFIB’s 2013 version of Canada’s Red Tape Report.

The smallest businesses in Canada (fewer than five employees) pay 45% more per employee ($5,942) to comply with government regulation than their U.S counterparts ($4,084).

The total cost of regulation to Canadian businesses is $31 billion a year.

Link

In addition, Canadians spent more hours a year to comply with regulations compared with the U.S. (171 hours for companies with fewer than five employees versus 130).

Link With all this time spent dealing with red paper, Canadian business fall behind in productivity growth

Productivity growth in Canada was 0.7% between 2001 and 2011, well below the U.S. with 1.8% and OECD average of 1.4%, data from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development shows.

11 - Cool Facts!

Link Early investment really pays off

$1 invested in early years (before the age of 6) saves $9 in future spending on health, welfare and justice systems (Report on Public Health in Canada).

Rideshare to Porcfest?

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:33 GMT

Any awesome people going to be headed anywhere near Wisconsin on their to Porcfest? Two charming and humorous dudes are looking for a ride, we will provide excellent mix-tapes and blah blah blah!

Respond, my lovelies.

Don't Despair, Libertarian Men!

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:33 GMT

Hey everyone, and particularly the male brethren of FDR! Curious to hear your thoughts on this video I made about the challenges of being a philosophically minded man:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

I have a bunch more videos on my website as well www.thefirstvirtue.net, curious to hear your thoughts

Op-Ed: Why Adam Kokesh's arrest is a big deal

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:33 GMT

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/350449#ixzz2TpfIVpcz

People are arrested every day in America, often on false charges. So what makes Adam Kokesh's recent arrest at the fifth Smoke Down Prohibition event such a big deal?

Since I broke the story last night on Digital Journal and The Liberty Sun, I have been closely monitoring the arrest of marine veteran and talk show host Adam Kokesh at the fifth "Smoke Down Prohibition" event in Philadelphia; But aside from the fact that Adam is a prominent figure in the alternative media, what makes this story so important? Upon analyzing the situation, it's easy to come to the conclusion that there could be more to this story than meets the eye; and in this piece I hope to provide a strong account of the various aspects of this story which have me asking questions.

As many already know, Adam Kokesh was planning a peaceful armed march on Washington, D.C. on July 4th. Many people, myself included, are suspicious that perhaps Adam was specifically targeted because of this plan, which has garnered plenty of criticism from the mainstream world.

Theorizing Kokesh's targeting by the feds is justified for several reasons. For one, Kokesh has attended several other events of a similar nature and has never been arrested for his demonstration. Aside from that, everyone who was in attendance at the event claims that Kokesh had not yet smoked marijuana nor was he doing anything to break the law at the time he was arrested. In fact, the only charges that have been brought against him, according to what is now public knowledge, are resisting arrest and refusal to submit to processing at the jail. Of course, any sane individual can see that these charges do not stand on their own and would be no reason for arresting Kokesh in the first place. Arresting someone for resisting arrest is like killing someone because they died; it just doesn't make any logical sense.

In addition to not having any formal charges against him (at least none currently known to the public) Kokesh has not been in contact with anyone. According to some of Kokesh's employees, he has not been in contact with family or friends, including his staff members and his girlfriend.

I am not the only one asking questions about Kokesh's arrest, however. Radio host and filmmaker Alex Jones interviewed two of Kokesh's staff members on the Sunday edition of his radio show today and says he has plans to have them back on for tomorrow's show. He released a video on YouTube directly following his show in which he discussed the 'fishiness' of Kokesh's arrest.

Kokesh's staff is asking supporters to come out to Philadelphia tomorrow, when he is set to face a judge to set bail.

Stealing isn't immoral if you have a good reason.

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:33 GMT

I've been running into this argument recently. The scenario basically goes something like this: If a homeless man can't afford to eat, then it is okay for him to steal food, or steal the money to buy food. If this food or money comes from someone who is wealthy then that person will still be wealthy despite the crime, and the only immoral thing about this situation would be that the homeless man would starve to death if he didn't steal.

So essentially the claim is that it's immoral to let a starving man to die. This argument is usually played in such a way as to make arguing against the immorality of theft look petty in comparison to the suffering of a starving man.

So what does everyone think of this argument? Is there validity to it? Is it completely ridiculous? How do you respond to the way the argument is meant to pull on heartstrings?

Hi Ho!

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:33 GMT

Just wanted ti introduce myself. Im Mellony from MO and have been listening to Stefan for a year or so now. I love his podcast and youtube channel.

I look forward to getting to know everyone!!

Cheers!

Missouri???

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:33 GMT

Anyone in or around Springfield, MO???

The View from Outside the Empire

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:32 GMT

	The View from Outside the Empire Stefan Molyneux opens the 5/19 Freedomain Radio Sunday Show by discussing the narcissism of the modern west, the recent IRS scandal, harassment of political ...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 301 41 ratings
	Time: 17:23	More in News & Politics

Reality As Conspiracy

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:32 GMT

	Reality As Conspiracy In the second call on the 5/19 Freedomain Radio Sunday Show, Stefan Molyneux talks to a listener about the general denial of economic reality and the unsusta...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 301 32 ratings
	Time: 17:33	More in News & Politics

An Audience For The Truth

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:32 GMT

	An Audience For The Truth In the first call on the 5/19 Freedomain Radio Sunday Show, Stefan Molyneux talks to a listener about finding an audience when talking about the truth in a c...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 35 3 ratings
	Time: 21:47	More in News & Politics

Horizontal Monkey Attack!

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:32 GMT

	Horizontal Monkey Attack! In the third call on the 5/19 Freedomain Radio Sunday Show, Stefan Molyneux talks to a listener about pursuing a career in psychology, dominant ideas, breaki...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 32 1 ratings
	Time: 32:12	More in News & Politics

What Replaced Slavery?

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:32 GMT

	What Replaced Slavery? In the fourth call on the 5/19 Freedomain Radio Sunday Show, Stefan Molyneux talks to a listener about the scalability of tribalism, convincing people that v...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 301 37 ratings
	Time: 09:26	More in News & Politics

Help! I'm a Recovering Political Activist!

Stefan Molyneux — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:32 GMT

	Help! I'm a Recovering Political Activist! In the final call on the 5/19 Freedomain Radio Sunday Show, Stefan Molyneux talks to a listener who is finding it difficult to escape the political activist ...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 301 21 ratings
	Time: 42:36	More in News & Politics

The Experience of Illness

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:29:33 GMT

	The Experience of Illness Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, discusses his overall experience since his recent Lymphoma diagnosis. Freedomain Radio is 100% funded by viewers l...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 43 1 ratings
	Time: 19:54	More in News & Politics

The Decline and Fall of Canada. Prepare Yourself Accordingly.

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:29:33 GMT

	The Decline and Fall of Canada. Prepare Yourself Accordingly. Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, deconstructs the myths of Canada's economic strength. Prepare Yourself Accordingly. Sources: http://www.fdrurl.com...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 56 2 ratings
	Time: 47:45	More in News & Politics

Italian State police propaganda video

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:07 GMT

The world would be dangerous and grey without the care of the State police!

http://youtu.be/3thEZ9HdPk4

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Immortality and anarchism

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:07 GMT

Stef and many people on this forum claim that peacefull parenting is the best way to achieve a stateless society, and that this would be a multi-generational process. So what effect would biological immortality have on this. I won't be going in to all the reasons why biological immortality is possible because that's not the point. Just write in michio kaku, ray kurzweil or aubrey de grey + immortality in google and youtube. So according to some of these predictions we might achieve biological immortality available to most people in 30 years. What does would mean is that we're stuck theoretically forever with people who were beaten, abused and propagandised by the state. Even though new children would be born the old generations would not pass, and also we see a tendency in developed countries of less children being born. Which would mean that the older generation could possible stay the majority for a pretty long time. So I ask, what effect would this have on our society? Would it mean that our progression towards anarchy would be slowed down.

In my opinion it won't, but that's because peacefull parenting and improving relations isn't in my opinion the main way to achieve anarchy. Or rather it is, but rather as an effect of something else which is more in our control, which is technology. In my opinion it's thanks technology, which leads and has lead us towards improvements in our societies. Basically it as a means which effeciently helps us fulfill our needs and thanks to that people don't feel the nead to use agression in your lives. So in a society with cheap food, medicine, housing and a society where most labour is automatic parents will be less stressed out and will have more time and patience for their children and in effect it will help them raise them peacefully and philosophically. On the other hand brain augmentation might help grown up people with reflection and self-knowledge practically avoiding the pain and huge amounts of time consumed involved with therapy and self-reflection. In the end the passing of generations won't be required for the progress of society because we'll find ways to improve our lives here and now, rendering governement and possibly violence and psychopathy absolete.

I don't like arsenic in my medicine

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:07 GMT

So, I get this argument repeatedly when I discuss anarchism with people that don't seem to really have a good grasp on how the market works. It goes something like 'if there was no government all food would be poisoned, all medicine would be poisoned, airplanes would fall out of the sky, etc..." I am sure many of you have heard this before. How do you usually respond? what free market mechanisms could control this? I would like to focus on ensuring the safety of food and medicine in a free market way.

Hello from California

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:07 GMT

Hello, all.

I am not particularly good at talking about myself, but I'll share a little bit of my journey to this board.

I identified as a libertarian because of the talk radio host Brian Wilson in my early college years. I was a member of the Cal (Berkeley) Libertarians in college. I interned at the Cato Institute when I was in college for a semester. Subscribed to Reason magazine, etc.

Then I read For a New Liberty by Murray Rothbard in grad school. While I remember thinking it didn't answer all my questions, it was the closest I had ever come to accepting the possibility of a society without a State.

After that I was pretty much on board with market-anarchism. I toyed with voting for a little while after that, especially in the 2008 Republican primary so I could vote for Ron Paul, and then against Prop 8 (anti-gay marriage), and then for Prop 19 (pot legalization). I didn't vote in the 2012 election and will not ever vote again. I've woken up fully.

I discovered FDR about six months ago, I think because of an interview Stephan did with ReasonTV. I really appreciate how well-put his arguments are. I think I've been struggling for most of my adult life for a consistent philosophy to apply to my world-view. The way Stephan reasons and is able to bring everything back to non-agression wins every time for me.

I have yet to read his books, but I am eager to find the time for UPB from what I've heard about it on the podcasts. I probably would benefit from reading Real-Time Relationships as well.

My childhood was as normal (in a good way) as it could have been. My parents are good people, as are my sisters and grandparents. I was raised Catholic (but never really threatened with damnation), and I always had a healthy dose of skepticism. My family seemed to go to church simply because that was what they always had done and known. I finally concluded I was an atheist in college while getting a degree in medieval history.

One thing I've been thinking about in the last few weeks is whether or not I should proactively engage my family (who I don't see very often, as they all live six hours away) in discussions of my anarchism and moreso my atheism. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be surprised by my anarchism, but I think my mom especially would be disturbed by me openly telling her of my atheism. I think it would only upset her and why would I want to that? Our relationship is fine and I don't think the religion in my childhood was abusive in any way to me. I'm happy to go on ignoring the subject.

I'm excited to join this community and to meet and communicate with like-minded people!

(I guess I did have a lot to write after all.)

Tommy

A show with John F. Hunt - physician and author

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:07 GMT

I think Stephan could do a great show with John F. Hunt. He is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia who recently gave up his clinical duties out of dissatisfaction with the current state of government regulation. He has recently published a novel called, "Assume the Physician," that should interest anyone who is concerned about the increasing government involvement in health care. His publisher is Laissez-Faire. I think in particular his views would be of interest to FDR listeners as follows:

1. The increasing government involvement in medicine is not only in the form of how care is delivered, but what research is funded and who gets to do it. Hunt is a tenured professor and researcher who also happens to be unique in being a libertarian. The fact that he's a very rare bird to be a medical school professor is of interest in and of itself...

2. There is a prescribed ethic within the medical community as to how people should be treated that stands in many ways in stark contrast to how libertarians, anarchists, voluntaryist (you get the drift) would wish to be treated. I think these are very compelling questions that are often addressed on the show, on which Hunt can shed a different light. Specifically, the treatment of children (vaccines come to mind), which is a common argument I hear against voluntarist philosophies.

Lee

Bitcoin Miners from ButterflyLabs

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:07 GMT

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had experience with the BTC miners by ButterFlyLabs. Has anyone purchased one of their rigs and/or recieved one?

I am considering the 5GH/s or the 25GH/s model. The "products are shipped according to placement in the order queue, and delivery may take 2 months or more after order. All sales are final." concerns me though.

Regards,

Questions about your interview with stormcloudsgathering and property rights

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:07 GMT

First of all, I wanted to clear up what I think is an error in your explanation of how Blackwater (or I guess we're supposed to call it Xe now) functions. I don't remember the exact words that were used, but you characterized Blackwater as a monstrosity that only exists because of state support. That isn't true. They also work in the private sector, most notably on targetting anti-Monsanto activists for surveillance. In the absence of a state Blackwater would continue to function as they do now, with even less scrutiny because the contracts with them would be private information.

Secondly, I was hoping you could comment on your show about what I think is one of the major flaws of market "anarchism," which is the failure to discuss how private property was obtained in the first place. Forgive me if you've already done this, because I haven't listened to every episode.

I understand that "anarcho-capitalists" (which I'm putting in quotes to avoid the unproductive discussion about whether or not the term "anarchist" applies) regard property as sacred. But this view doesn't take into account the fact that the distribution of property around the world is a result of centuries of state intervention. The state (along with its private armies of landowners) has used every kind of violence imaginable to concentrate property in the hands of a wealthy elite. To simply say, "Hey, you have to respect property rights," ignores all of this history.

The Homestead Act of 1862 gave U.S. citizens 162 acres of free land to farm as they saw fit, irregardless of the fact that they had no right to it. Today a lot of their descendents in places like South Dakota still own this land that has been passed down and expanded on for generations. Do their property rights take precedence over the Lakotas?

And, of course, after World War 2 the GI bill gave returning veterans low-interest loans for buying homes in the suburbs. But because of restrictive covenants black veterans couldn't use these loans in the same way that their white counterparts had. This was one of the major factors that shaped housing patterns that continue to this day.

Today you have the same thing going on even more blatantly in Colombia where paramilitaries hired by U.S. corporations are pushing people off their land to make way for palm oil plantations or Chiquita. While these groups of thugs work with the state, the state is hardly neccessary for them to survive. The state is just the middleman, and if the entire Colombian government were to disappear overnight the situation would continue.

Anarchism takes a stance against capitalist private property for exactly these reasons. To call a society "free" without abolishing both hierarchy and private property is an exercise in wishful thinking. While anarchism seeks to eliminate all forms of opression, "anarcho-capitalism" just seeks to privatize them.

Expatriation Made Easy: An Interview with Macarena Rose

Stefan Molyneux — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:04:06 GMT

	Expatriation Made Easy: An Interview with Macarena Rose Freedomain Radio is 100% funded by viewers like you. Support the show by signing up for a monthly subscription or making a one time donation at: http://www.f...	From: Stefan Molyneux Views: 1048 112 ratings
	Time: 16:02	More in News & Politics

Yuck: a short documentary of school food

Stefan Molyneux — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:21:59 GMT

http://www.yuckmovie.com/

Here is one particular scene that exemplifies what the modern american public school children are given to eat: http://vimeo.com/64607150#at=0

What interests me about this is not so much the food; I'm already well aware how terrible it is(we joked as children about the FSA classification for cafeteria food being 'suitable for human consumption but not recommended'). I find the disparity of knowledge between people more fascinating. There is the younger generation and those who had grown up poor that take this knowledge for granted that even the worst fast food would be healthier and far tastier than the stuff they serve in schools. Then there is the older generations and the rich who are not aware of how bad things have become in the years since they were in school. The ossification of the 'service' of molding children by the hands of state protected monopolies on labor has become so complete now that quality is not even a consideration except in so far as it must be hidden from society. This is so obvious now that it takes an almost active will and participation with the liars to be mislead to not see how bad things are becoming.

It is rather disgusting to witness the self-reinforced ignorance of these sheltered people, hiding from knowledge much like stunted Epsilons accepting the sweet nothings whispered by frauds such as Oprah and these celebrity chefs selling snake oil stories. These con artists are so unashamed that they smear their logos, brands and faces across the very products that confess their crimes. Hardly anyone even blinks an eye at this wretched behavior. All the while, children are being cast into this meat grinder where they are poisoned with bad food and worse ideas.

Many I've shown this video to shrug and say 'tell me something I don't know' but others become almost hysterical, saying things like 'so and so should be fired' and 'we need such and such school investigated immediately'. I point out that is it systemic, not particular to a single school and certainly not at odds with the incentives of the system and then the response becomes 'we need a law'. I wonder if third party self defense includes truth-avoiding tools of the state who do everything they can to rationalize the sacrifice of kids at the alter of ignorant convenience.

Philosophical Questions, Basis of Humanity, Property Rights, Ownership

Stefan Molyneux — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:12:23 GMT

After a long discussion with some people about property rights, we ended up having quite an interesting discussion about the foundations of property rights, and, while a decent theory of property rights doesn't necessarily require a 100 percent fleshed out understanding of these things, I think it makes fun food for thought, and I'd love to see what your responses are to this. Before I made this post I rewatched Stef's videos on property rights to be reminded of the axioms he puts forth.

1. Why does exhibiting use mean ownership? Why does "use" of my body = "ownership" of my body? This is the one that I am most confused about. If I say to you "there is no such thing as self-ownership," I am using this body to say that, but that doesn't mean I am exhibiting ownership, only use. I don't understand how one could equate these.

2. Why does self-ownership imply ownership of the results of one’s labor?

3. If we assume you do own the results of your labor, do you not own at least part of a child, considering it was created by you, and contains half of your chromosomes? Do you lose ownership once it becomes conscious (the body comes under his control)? In that case, does somebody else's control of a thing switch the ownership of it to him?

4. If you own the results of your labor, how does homesteading really work? Like, do you only own the exact soil, rocks, and trees that you modified? How deep down into the ground do you own the land if you, say, farm it?

5. Does the land have to be "improved" for you to own it? If you "homestead" by running a bulldozer through the soil, tearing everything up, and continue to do this once every while, do you own this?

6. (This one I have heard before, but it is an interesting question). If I homestead a relatively small island, building a fence around it but doing nothing to the interior, do own all the land (my opinion is that you only own the land where the fence was built, so you own kind of a "band" around the island)

7. If I build a house on the island in question 6, but do nothing to the land between the house and the fence, can somebody build another house right next to mine, since I have done nothing with that land?

Also, if you have any good book suggestions which provide insights into this topic please suggest them, I can add them to my reading list