WTF IS GUARANTEED BASIC INCOME?
Put simply, guaranteed basic income is the next generation of welfare.
Imagine social benefits on steroids, where all citizens of Canada receive a monthly stipend, no matter their income or lifestyle. This means that everyone, from addicts squatting streetside on East Hastings to young single people without dependents in their prime working years, receives a monthly government cheque. There is no maximum earning wage (meaning wealthy people receive it, too), and there is no clawback for anyone working a job.
If you’re imagining a behemoth tax burden existing to drive citizens towards their sofas and away from the labour market, you would be correct. This is not an educated guess; we have experimented with Canadians' motivations when they are paid enough to keep them at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the CERB and similar programs. The result? A labour market shortage and desperate businesses, many forced to close due to a lack of candidates willing to work.
Proponents of GBI believe that having your basic needs taken care of will allow you to live stress-free, supposedly starting businesses and exploring your talents when this would not otherwise be possible. That could be true. The problem is that most Canadians aren’t entrepreneurial or highly motivated to build their dream career, so they use an opportunity like GBI to actually facilitate a profitable career.
S-233 EXPLAINED
Canada’s Bill S-2331 (official title: National Framework for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income Bill) proposes a national welfare system unlike anything the First World has ever seen.
This Bill suggests that every Canadian aged 17 and older will receive this Basic Income, including temporary workers, permanent residents, and refugee claimants. In other words, the sponsoring Senator wishes to hike your taxes to pay non-citizens to live in this country2. Pause for a moment, and consider the social ramifications, especially considering the refusal to close illegal immigrant entry points like Quebec’s Roxham Road3.
In the second parliamentary debate, Hon. Diane F. Griffin argues that working a job you don’t enjoy for supplementary health insurance or being unable to pursue your true passions results in "increasing negative emotions." Griffin assumes that recipients would be model citizens, acting responsibly with their monthly government gift. Of course, the government is not concerned if your money is well spent or if taxes need to be increased to fund blind idealism. Despite this, they do not hesitate to spend your money before you earn it.
WHY IS GUARANTEED BASIC INCOME TYRANNICAL?
Covid-19 has taught Canadians that our governments can become aggressive towards their citizens at a moment’s notice. The non-violent Ottawa trucker protest was met with the most extreme response possible: the invocation of the Emergencies Act.
I bring up the truckers for a reason. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland wants to make the most devastating aspects of the Emergencies Act permanent through new legislation, resulting in a state of perpetual governmental financial overreach4. [Watch her announcement]. If people like her are controlling money you come to depend upon monthly, she has ultimate control over your behaviour.
“Some of those tools we will be putting forward measures to put those tools permanently in place. The authorities of FINTRAC, I believe, do need to be expanded to cover crowdsourcing platforms and payment platforms.”
Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, 02/19/2022
A DIGITAL DOLLAR IS COMING
With the United States Federal Reserve moving towards minting a digital fed coin (meaning that physical money is phased out, and only digital currency is accepted throughout the country), Canada will not be far behind. This is worse news than can be imagined.
Why? Let us count the ways:
Digital money can be clawed back as fast as it enters your digital wallet. If the Bank of Canada decides to deflate the currency, you may notice money disappearing from your account. Traditionally, you would be able to withdraw cash from an ATM to prevent this, but digital dollars remain in digital space. There is nowhere for them to hide.
SAY GOODBYE TO CONSUMER PRIVACY
Digital dollars are 100% trackable, which means the privacy of optional cash transactions will disappear instantly. The federal government will know about every purchase you make, which will enable them to block certain purchases. Imagine if there was a lottery to purchase meat due to a shortage.
Ottawa could control the type of purchases you make using digital money. The possibilities are endless, and the potential for control is absolute. If particular purchases aren’t blocked outright, the feds could set up a national system that alerts a team investigating questionable purchases, such as firearms and ammunition.
THE DEATH OF PROTEST
Traced digital purchases would mean an abrupt end to protesting. Whether you are marked as an agitator for posting memes on social media or have been recorded associating with someone known for standing up to government rule, your account could be frozen instantly. Chinese citizens are already familiar with this digital Sword of Damocles, where citizens are punished for playing too many video games or jaywalking, among other more serious infractions5.
Famed Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn (writer of the Gulag Archipelago, a must read) was given a "tenner" (Soviet slang for a ten-year sentence) in the gulag prison system for being caught writing an off-color joke about the leadership of Josef Stalin in a private letter6. Imagine the ability for modern governments to monitor all electronic communication. Resistance would become a near impossibility.
Trudeau’s recent invocation of the Emergencies Act should encourage all citizens to take the issue of privacy and financial autonomy incredibly seriously. We all know for certain that a majority of Canada’s MPs are unwilling to stand up to Trudeau’s governmental overreach, as demonstrated during the parliamentary Emergencies Act vote. Liberals voted on the party line, down to the few who had recently dissented publicly7.
There is no doubt that MPs cannot be trusted to choose ethics over self interest.
Part II coming soon
https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/s-233
https://sencanada.ca/en/content/sen/chamber/441/debates/021db_2022-02-24-e?language=e#68
https://thepostmillennial.com/roxham-road-reopened-for-asylum-seekers-after-a-year-of-closure
https://reclaimthenet.org/canada-emergencies-act-aspects-permanent/
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/chinas-social-credit-system-ranks-123042422.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn
https://www.richmond-news.com/national-news/emergencies-act-passes-commons-vote-and-ukraine-on-edge-in-the-news-for-feb-22-5087612
I say that not only the politicians are after their own interests and the interests of their financial backers, but also, they are technically lacking. They don't make the policy. They contract the job to the third party. They take the policy from the third party at face value and read it for their debate. They voted for the Emergency Act first and debate after. That is illegal! That is their way of trapping the opponents who are illiterate to agree to their decision without knowing the fact and what constitute emergency. In fact, I don't think the politicians know what constitute state of emergency. Mayor Jim Watson declared "state of emergency." Doug Ford declared "state of emergency." Neither one was ever been to the site and see with their own eyes the real situation and learn what actually has happened and learn what is the best solution. The Freedom Convoy is a management issue, not a political issue. They don't know how to solve a problem managerially. They blow such a simple issue into a mountain. By declaring state of emergency, it gives the opportunity to Justin Trudeau to request Rockefeller's Pandemic Response Corps to infiltrate the police and they act like Gestapo police. They are volunteers without police training. Then Justin invoked the Emergency Act, gives him the opportunity to bring in foreign army to fight against the innocent and unarmed civilians. That is a treason. That is a traitor. Justin doesn't want to meet the truckers but ask the UN to send the army to fight the civilians? What kind of a leader is this?
Oh hell no. We need to take a stand. Criminals running our country, land of the FREE.