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simplyfunction's avatar

Beautifully expressed. I am from Toronto, ON. Great to stumble onto your substack today. Look forward to reading you posts. Tom

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Kathleen McCroskey's avatar

Neo-liberalism has come to frame our entire conversations, as was the intent since the funding of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947 and the deliberate dissemination of their doctrine through their "retail" outlets such as Vancouver Sun and Globe and Mail, all with embedded influencers from the Fraser Institute. The other similar brand, neo-conservatives are disciples of Leo Strauss. All aspects of financialization of Nature derive from neo-liberalism including the carbon tax. The idea is that The Market can make better decisions than govt regulation. BTW, there is more than the dichotomy between capitalism and socialism, such as Steiner's Three Fold Social Order.

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Ernest Judd's avatar

I have done similar, although I do not make any comparisons to Steiner (Rudolph?)

I have made a Venn Diagram with three elements: Economy; Humanity and Ecology. In the centre is where the balance lies. And that is where all the creativity flourishes.

If there is poor ecology for Humanity there will not be an Economy.

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Kathleen McCroskey's avatar

"Economy" is not an entity on the same plane as ecology. Economy is the collective activity/productivity of humans. So actually you have just one circle: Ecology, and a somewhat smaller circle within that, being humans. However, humans keep trying to make a branch of their bubble extending outside the ecology circle, this being urbanization and "Progress." These MUST be pulled back in so that all human activity fits within the ecology circle. So, back to your drawing board.

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Ernest Judd's avatar

Thanks for the thought tweak.

I understand your analogy very well!

How about, "Back to your (my) thinking cap".

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Kathleen McCroskey's avatar

Thank you! Or, perhaps, on your "smart" phone, back to your thinking app. Half of people's brains are on their "devices" now.

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Ernest Judd's avatar

I do not have a cellular phone!

I use my business cell for the 'new" technological imperatives, like texted access numbers for accessing banks from my PC.

Why? Far too much niggling little things like that do not require consent: For example: GoogleMaps. I haven't had a website since 2018, as I cancelled it for getting sick of 70-80% of calls coming from far, too far away - but

GoogleMaps does not allow for deletion of archives of my businesses situation from 7 years ago. i still get people referring to the content from that year. Infuriating.

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Kathleen McCroskey's avatar

Good on you! I have a flip-phone for same uses. By "you" I'm not meaning singular, but rather collective, the majority who carry their brain in that so-called phone, thus needing to be constantly connected to it.

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

Neoliberalism is toxic, and we have to get beyond it in Canada and in the rest of the west.

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Vera Gottlieb's avatar

Speaking for myself...how can I believe in 'democracy' when trying to express my opinion, I am shouted down because I might look at something in a different way. From small on I have always questioned and to this day remain skeptical - which has served me well. Democracy = the will of the people...but impeded when of a different will.

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Robert Billyard's avatar

Conformity is the enemy of democracy and too many see it as a safe haven. Where there is no skepticism there is no democracy. The demagogues take over and we suffer a self-defeating social paralysis. We are at war with ourselves and try to blame it on the Russians and Chinese. Peace remains the starting line for redemption.

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Vera Gottlieb's avatar

So true...the West is so deep into Russophobia and Chinaphobia...that sane thinking is ridiculed.

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