Don’s Thoughts – 2021 and the “Great Reset” by Don Johnson, Hamilton-Halton Landowners Association President

2021 – Who would have believed it has come so fast.

It is strange how each year seems shorter then the year before – yet reliable sources tell me that, other then leap year, when we actually get an extra day,  we have exactly the same number of minutes as every year before – so what is it that makes it seem to fly by so fast ?

I like to think, it is because we are so busy that we can’t focus on the moment, but there must be more than that, and perhaps we should consider adding stress as a part of the equation.

Uncertainty breeds stress and it is safe to say, we have certainly had the uncertainties of the pandemic to deal with. Our critical life support systems, comprised of our family, friends, work, neighbours and even just a friendly head nod from a stranger as we shop, has been curtailed and even removed from our lives. Yes I know we zoom,  talk on phones, use Amazon to buy online and even sometimes cheat and have small gatherings – but the social norms are a-kilter, the thrill of watching Netflix has faded,  laughter has dissipated and we have become isolated.

Increasing levels of uncertainty definitely increases stress. Stress that can consume our rationality, focus our minds into dealing with the stress, flooding our bodies with elevated stress hormones and our life slides into auto drive with a bad GPS system which gets us nowhere.

But what is the source of this uncertainty and stress? Is it Covid – or is it something else?

Covid is definitely not to be underestimated, but, in fairness, the statistics and medical observations indicate if you are under 65 or even if you 80 in good health your chances of survival are 97+%.

Normal life is full of stress; dealing with bills, weather, jobs, children, parents, and a thousand other things, all are part of our normal activities, yet, they don’t normally overwhelm us.

So, what has changed in our lives, what is it that is becoming a tipping point event?

When we deal with life, we are creatures of patterns and routine. When these patterns are disturbed or altered, we must reach new equilibriums to deal with the new realities.

Statistics are clear that stress levels are considerably higher now then last year, mental disorders, drug and alcohol use, suicides, domestic violence and other indicators all are way up.

So, is Covid the culprit or is there something else?

I would suggest it is not Covid that us causing the stress, but that it is the way we are dealing with Covid, that is the culprit.

Which then leads to the question “if it’s how we are dealing with Covid then what is  problem with  how we have dealt with Covid?, and more, so how do we fix it?”

I would suggest we need to consider the uncertainty created by the Federal and Provincial governments as being a major culprit in elevating the uncertainty and causing stress levels to rise.

In their panic and need to be seen in control – the Federal Government adapted the concept “any action is better than none”. Perception over substance!  The results, 400 billion dollars of deficit which highlights the incompetence and unpreparedness of this federal government.

Perhaps the discussion should be about Political correctness combined with the consuming need by the press, to generate sensationalism. The mix is most definitely a bad combination.

Of course, the other levels of government piled on and things degenerated even more so with seniors still dying but the economy being dealt a mortal blow as well.

Stress levels definitely elevated.

We then come to another problem from our elected leaders.  Brainwashed by too much ” Star Trek” as children our Prime minister and his cronies have embraced the fantasy concept of a utopian world in which mankind will ascend. A world where there is no pollution, the weather is controlled, everyone has plentiful food generated from thin air, all live in modern clean homes, energy is unlimited and nature abounds everywhere. A world under a central world government where all are equal.

For me I will embrace Covid on any day over the fantasy world our Prime Minister is living in.

The world is not a friendly place and the sooner our politicians understand this the better the chances our country of Canada will survive the 21st century.

The 21st century should be the time of Canada’s great emergence as a world economic powerhouse, a country that can use its great natural resource base and ensure every Canadian has food, shelter, education , security and the opportunity to enjoy a life better than any our ancestors had.

But where  is the vision, where is the leadership, where is the desire to achieve greatness, indeed, where is the fortitude of our leadership to look at reality and do what is needed that our country may achieve greatness – not just engage in political patronage and passing the cost down to the still unborn.

The great change – the “great reset” that Trudeau and his Trekkie generation are so striving to bring about, under the cover of their own induced Covid emergency, is a false and dangerous illusion.

The Prime Minister’s great transition is not based on the concept, “government is to serve and protect the citizens of our country”; it is based on the concept “citizens are serfs of the state and should subordinate their independence and freedoms  to an illusionary concept of world government”. We should all embrace becoming a great socialistic utopia.

Of course, history shows that some Canadians foolishly immigrated to the great Socialist utopia of Russia in 1924 and discovered that was not a good idea in hindsight. But that doesn’t matter, all we need to do is trust our Prime Minister and follow his clarion call orchestrated to another engineered global catastrophic event, climate change, and we need simply to destroy our overindulgent standards of living, transfer our wealth to less fortunates abroad, migrate our populations into even larger more compressed cities to save the countryside and we can become world citizens not Canadians.

Trudeau’s great revolution and pursuit of green energy at massive loss of economic treasure, based on the evidence, is ill founded.

Indeed, the concept of a carbon tax, as a way to reduce consumption, is idiotic in several ways. Firstly, energy consumption in economic terms is largely inelastic. If you need energy you may try to cut back in use, but at a point, you must still acquire and use a certain amount no matter the cost. Want an example – after hurricane Katrina, gas jumped from under a dollar to 1.40/ ltr in Ontario, yet total consumption hardly changed.

So, who benefits from doubling the cost of low-cost energy? Well hint, the money goes into the general coffers of the government. Note, the carbon tax money isn’t going to subsidize companies to implement new technology, but some is to be paid in rebates to families (income redistribution). So, we end up with massive price inflation destroying the savings of the citizens and driving more families into destitution and reliance on government handouts.

The concept that “money is wealth” is pervasive in government thinking, however “money is not wealth”, it is a modem of exchange which allows us to escape the barter system.

When the government prints up more money to hand out to foreign and domestic consumers, but doesn’t increase the amount of goods and services available to consumers, it is simply creating a devaluation of our currency ( otherwise known as inflation) which is similar to adding more tax to our cost of living. This does nothing to improve our life prospects. It does however have the side effect it requires we work longer and harder to stay even and of course, we then have to pay more taxes.

Think about it, the cost of a detached home in 1980 was 70 thousand dollars, today 40 years later, it is 950 thousand. Just think! Prices increased by more than 13 times, for the same house, and that is why we have more multimillionaires then anytime in history, but our standard of living continues to decline.

I wonder if the German people in 1933 welcomed the government printing press money that ended up making their currency worthless.

So, let’s make a resolution because resolutions are not just fir New Years. Let’s us all resolve to challenge and hold all government levels accountable for their actions.

Forget waiting for an election, what we need to do is flood the media with our letters and have them recognize that change is needed. Write letters to our MPs, MPPs and council members. Instigate petitions getting them signed by thousands of voters and attend council meetings where you can speak up. Step forward and speak truth loudly to those who have become the problem, not the solution!

As a businessman I use to have a sign in the wall across from my desk that I read a dozen times a day. It was appropriate and I want to share its wisdom with you the readers of this column….”when you are up to your ass in alligators, it is hard to remember your objective was to drain the swamp!”

So, grab your shovel and together let’s work to drain this political swamp and reduce the stress levels for all of us.