I was born in a middle-class, conservative family. Typically, the traditional families support the right-wing political parties. However, when I was seventeen years old, I left home, and my parents could not shape my belief and value systems. I lived in Turkey as a refugee and lived among marginalized Shia-Sect gypsies, whereas most Turkish individuals adhere to Islam's Sunni-Sect. When I lived in Turkey as a refugee, I endured economic hardship. From this point on in my life, I experienced bigotry in my life. The left side of the political spectrum provided shelter and hope for a better future for me. The political spectrum's right side had a rigid social hierarchy and did not allow room for me to grow and expand. This paper explores the fear of left-wing policies and how media played a role in shaping public opinion when Mr. Rae was in the Premier's Office and discussing how the power elite are shaping tax laws to avoid paying taxes, and the power of the left side of politics transforms people's life into a better future. The final idea is that education will empower people to break down poverty and lead to a better society.
The fear of left-wing policies embedded in economic scarcity or shortage of resources to respond to social programs that the social programs do not generate revenues, but they cost operation costs to maintain them. The nature of the left-wing policies advocates an egalitarian society. This form of society allows each person to reach their potentiality by providing equitable conditions for each person.
In 1990, Mr. Rob Rae was the leader of the New Democrat Party (NDP) of the province of Ontario and formed a government. The fundamental principle of red-tory of Canada became less relevant in Canadian politics because the international political climate was transforming. The Soviet Union no longer posed an economic and military threat to the western capitalist nations. The world was becoming a different place than what people experienced. Canada, too, was going through a political-economic transformation like other nations.
From 1990 to 1995, Mr. Rae allocated funds toward social programs to move the province of Ontario toward an egalitarian society. However, the power elite like Conrad Balck rejected social plans and decided to use his position as a significant economic player in Ontario. He owned Dominion chain stores. He laid off staff at the Dominion stores and blamed Premier of Ontario, Mr. Rae. Mr. Black's action built momentum for the Provincial Conservative Party to act as a crusader for the taxpayers.
In 1995, the Provincial Conservative Party, under the leadership of Mike Harris, had a landslide victory to form a government in Ontario. The new government used the legislative body to develop, implement and execute a libertarian political-economy. The size of the government began to shrink, and business sectors, through their campaign contributions, elected the conservative party to the legislative body. Consequently, the business sectors had more say in the public policies, which favoured their interest. It created a dynamic of a win-lose situation. One approach that hurt the people of Ontario the most was the ren-cap. The landlord could increase their rent, and there was no rule to control the landlords from not increasing their rents. Therefore, tenants could not afford to pay their rents, and the number of homelessness began to rise in Ontario. The situation got out of hand that in 2010 the United Nations advised Canada to develop policies to deal with homelessness.
The media played a role in shaping public opinion when Mr. Rae was in the Premier's Office. The media played a sword role in shaping public opinion against Mr. Rae's policies for causing debt and deficit. The media blamed the economic climate on welfare recipients that they were a burden to society who did not want to work and wanted to drink beers all day long. In one case, the media showed cased a single mom who quitted her job to stay home to receive welfare cheques to raise her child. The press used carefully selected stories to legitimize Mike Harris's libertarian political-economy at the same public outraged against poor people. The media created an image of poor people who did not want to work and wanted to stay home to collect welfare cheques.
The media hide the complexity of the economic system from the public that the financial system is composed of many complex interconnected layers. These corresponding layers had their challenges, and it was not a simple idea that welfare recipients drained the economy.
The downfall of Ontario's economy stemmed from the way it was structured. Ontario's economy generated revenue from taxpayers and equalization payment. Ontario's economy was not advanced. Therefore, the welfare-recipients did not cause economic hardship to the economy.
This portion of the paper discusses how the power elite is shaping tax laws to avoid paying taxes. The power elite hires tax lawyers to evade taxes, and Canada Revenue Agency collaborates with them. It is essential to understand that the members of the power elite are living in one neighbourhood, attending the same schools, and are marrying among themselves. They know each other well and respond to each other's needs and wants. Therefore, the power elite owns the legislative body at the provincial and federal levels. The power elite develops tax policies which are favouring their interests.
The power elite always cry wolf; if the government does not collaborate in their tax evasion, the power elite will move their corporates to the developing nations where cheap labour rules and the labour laws are lax. Consequently, the public will lose their jobs and won't elect or re-elect them to the offices.
The power of the left side of politics transforms people's life into a better future. Children are born in families not by their choice but by accidents. The children are born in well-to-do families; they are attending prestigious secondary and post-secondary academic institutes. On the other side of the spectrum, children are born without any advantage; their life-chance is very low to escape the cycle of poverty as they struggle with poverty, lack of connection to gain employment, lack of academic achievement, and it is very likely to have children at young ages. Their off-springs would likely suffer from proper nutrition and develop health issues. These individuals may involve in criminal activities and become a burden to society. A word of caution needs to be said that this does not mean every poor person is a criminal and lacks proper health.
The above dynamic can be changed by implementing left-wing policies to develop a healthy society. It begins with education. For example, the movie "Gangs of New York" or "Revenge of Green Dragon." The movies had one common theme; those real-life characters would not engage in criminal activities if they attended academic institutes to acquire knowledge to gain employment.
Another real-life example from Canada when Iranians came to Canada and settled in the province of British Columbia; some individuals began to form the Persian Pride gang to make a living. However, the Persian Pride gang members stopped because they noticed other Iranians have an honourable lifestyle due to the power of education.
Therefore, the right side of public policies is not designed to cultivate a meritocracy. It is a system of caste. Only a few individuals can have a good life; the rest of society will live in a state of poverty. However, the left policies promote meritocracy so everyone can reach their potentiality. Max Weber says education can transform a person's life-chance. Education is the way to a better future with a form of the political spectrum's left side.
Appendix:
"According to the Canada Revenue Agency, some $3 billion (Canadian) of annual tax revenue is lost from the untaxed investment income that is generated from the $240.5 billion that wealthy Canadians have squirrelled away in offshore tax shelters."1
Endnote:
1. Rubin, J. (2020, August 22). Why do Canada's wealthiest families get huge tax breaks? Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/08/22/why-do-canadas-wealthiest-families-get-huge-tax-breaks.html?rf#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Canada%20Revenue,to%20see%20who%20they%20are.
Bibliography
Brym, R. J. (2004). New society: Sociology for the 21st century. Toronto: Thomson Nelson.
Mills, C. W. (1956). The power elite: C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University Press.
Brooks, S. (2009). Canadian democracy: An introduction. Don Mills, Ont: Oxford University Press.
Burke, Edmund (1968). Reflection on the Revolution in France. Toronto: Penguin Books Canada
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