What Future Am I Supposed To Buy?
Canadian Budget Day. Lots of talking heads on the television today.
Frankly, I'm bewildered by the budget. Tax cuts and home renovation credits? What am I supposed to do with that? An economist shows up on the CBC to sum it up, "Consumers need to get out there and start spending." Give me a break!
To be honest, I was expecting something completely different. We had quite a scary ride last year, with gas prices spiking up to $1.50 per litre, food riots breaking out all over the world, melting polar ice caps. But I must have missed the memo, since all those concerns seem to have disappeared recently, only to be replaced by the fear that I'm dragging the global economy down the drain through my avoidance of the big aisles at Home Depot.
I guess I have a somewhat different idea of how I should spend my money, and I was fervently hoping that the government would be able to help. My money-plan technique goes something like this:
1. Imagine the sort of world you would like to leave to your children. Make it pedestrian-friendly with a strong sense of both local and global community. Make it run on something other than oil, natural gas, or coal. Make it durable, and something you can be proud of.
2. Now, determine the types of things you will need to buy, build, or invent to make this happen.
That's more-or-less how I see the budget process. I was thinking about home solar power buy-back programs, support for community gardens, green urban alleyways, energy efficiency initiatives, community geothermal subsidies, LEED building standards, etc, etc.
And don't think I'm just spouting hippy nonsense here. I'm very much the capitalist. Feed-in tariffs in Germany have created a renewable energy sector with 170,000 jobs. We could have the same in Canada.
Instead, what did I get? "Here's $350 -- go buy yourself a new kitchen sink."
Sheesh...
I'll leave you with a good little video, which does a great job of presenting how I feel about buying more stuff. Hey, Mr. Harper -- I don't want more stuff, I want a FUTURE!
posted by Geoffrey Mantel at
9:29 PM
2 Comments:
You hit it right in the head.
My brother shared this video with me a few weeks ago. He's been called "dirty left winger" more than once. I still don't know why is that evil !
After 1 year of living in the, oh my god, "socialist" France, and spending some leisure time further south in Europe, I think I've learned something. This is still Capitalism land, don't be mistaken. But a lot of people over here care more about being happy, than having 'stuff', cause as the video says, having stuff usually does not make you happy. And being happy to each group is slightly different : wine, food, travel, party, sports, family.
How long does the happiness last after you get the latest BlackBerry or iPhone ? 1 week ? 1 month ? Does a $60K car actually makes you thrice as happy than a $20K one ? And it's not about quantifying happiness. That's exactly my point. Do whatever makes YOU happy, and yes, it is very likely you need money to finance it...but do what you want, not what the government or the ads tell you to.
And clearly the North American governments care more about 'stuff' than people actually being happy. Canada has hope, though...
But Who knows, maybe after 5 generations like this, people who have more stuff will ACTUALLY be happier.
Found this : http://www.happyplanetindex.org/
Look at the top countries...
Excellent post Geoff.
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