Philppa Gregory and the mid-1600s

I recently finished reading Virgin Earth by Philippa Gregory. It is a dramatized treatment of life in the last days of Charles I and during the Cromwell years. I have only ever known of the events of those days from a very high level: Charles was beheaded; Cromwell was a puritan and very harsh with the Irish; Charles II was a hedonist and tolerant of other beliefs. I know a lot more now. I found the book an engaging read.

Alberta Eliminates Several Tax Credit Programs

I’ve been away and not bothering much with this blog. While I was away, the Alberta Budget was introduced. It contains big hits for technology developers.  

The Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit program is being eliminated.  It had barely been enacted. 

The Alberta SRED credit will be eliminated effective beginning next year. In other words, only expenses incurred prior to January 1, 2020 will be eligible for the Alberta SRED program. The Federal SRED program will still be available to Alberta companies, but the change means a significant reduction in benefits to Alberta companies doing SRED. 

The Investor Tax Credit program is terminated now. 

I have long said that the Alberta government has been short-sighted for decades: the season of petro wealth would end, as all seasons do. Alberta has needed to diversify its economy. In my opinion, what is driving the 21^st century economy of the developed world is technology. Alberta needs to be a part of it. Abandoning tax credits that encourage tech development in Alberta seems a step in the wrong direction. Alberta has to compete with BC in the creation of a business and social environment that is friendly to tech developers, particularly when more people prefer the climate and landscapes of BC over those of Alberta than the other way around. 

Maybe Alberta will find other ways to enhance its attractiveness to tech development companies. The current government seems to think that lowering the corporation income tax rate will do the job, but lower income tax rates offer no appeal to companies that have yet to see their first dime of profit, and many tech developers are such companies.

I Won’t Vote for a Party That Would Bring Back Famine

I have trouble with the main plank of the Green platform. The Greens want less CO₂ in the atmosphere. Why is that a problem?

Almost 80% of the earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen and about 20% is oxygen. Greenhouse gases comprise about 1% of our atmosphere, and most of that is water vapor.  CO₂ is only a very small portion of the 1%. In fact, carbon dioxide is about 400 parts per million parts of atmosphere.  How much of that carbon dioxide is produced by processes under man’s control?  About 5%. So, if you have a million units of atmosphere, the stuff the Greens wants us to stop producing accounts for 20 of those million units. Let’s suppose we doubled our carbon dioxide emissions. Now CO₂ would be 420 parts per million. And if we stopped altogether, then what?  380 parts per million. Somehow it doesn’t look like what we are doing matters a whole lot. Climate is changing with or without us. We do not control solar activity, and this seems to be mainly what drives climate change. I am all for facing the fact that we live in a country that has at various times been covered by glaciers and at other times by jungles. Men didn’t stop previous climate changes, and they won’t this time.

I have an even bigger problem with the Green doctrine. We are a carbon based life form at the top of a carbon based food pyramid. The foundation of that pyramid is plants. Plants grow through the process of photosynthesis, which requires CO₂. It is not mere coincidence that mankind has basically ended famine (other than famine contrived through military or political action) in the last 3 decades. In that time, the earth has warmed and living plant mass has increased substantially as a direct result. People eat plants and animals that people eat also eat plants, so we have more food to go around.

Don’t misunderstand. I am not in favor of polluting our air, water and soil: those are precious and we have a responsibility to guard them, but Green doctrine is to have the government interfere in the economy to cause massive price dislocation and corresponding resource misallocation. There is ample evidence in the works of von Mises, von Hayek, Rothbard, Hazlitt and others. The standard of living (i.e.: availability of resources) of Canadians will sharply fall if the country was to enact the Green platform, and the climate would keep right on changing anyway.

I Won’t Vote for a Party That Wants to Amputate My Cut Finger

The Green Party has obtained a lot of press coverage the last couple of weeks on account of the platform they recently released. It seems that people are impressed with the radical policies and plans outlined therein. No more oil exploration, for example. Just let the industry shrivel through attrition. Yeah, that is radical. Kind of makes the Conservative platform seem like a Band-Aid. But what’s so bad about a Band-Aid? I mean, if my finger has a cut, I’d rather have a Band-Aid than an amputation. 

This country of Canada is really a pretty good place to live. We have some problems here and there, but they tend to be problems that can be mitigated with a tune-up. The culture does not need to be gutted. That is not to say that there aren’t some people for whom life in Canada is tragic and catastrophic. These people would likely have difficulty anywhere they live. In recognition that the smallest indivisible unit of sovereignty is the individual, I notice that one of the fundamental policies of the Conservative Party is to facilitate individual initiative. Yet another policy of the Party is to help those who cannot help themselves. It seems that Conservatives care. The lives of catastrophe need to be salvaged. But the rescue does not mean throwing the baby out with the bathwater. In my opinion, the Greens don’t get that.

A Reason I Won't Vote Green: I Care About First Nations

It’s easy to see the charm of the Green Party. The Greens have some refreshing policies. For example, their national website describes that Greens want to “End Colonialism and Oppression of Indigenous Peoples.” I can’t fault that. I want that too. I have consulted with Indigenous Peoples, most extensively in regards to the contaminated water issue, and my heart aches over the anguish many have faced in regards to the social disruption and maltreatment of themselves and their relatives.

Nonetheless, the Green website promises action for the benefit of First Nations peoples. Yet it seems to me that it is easy to promise what you won’t be called upon to deliver. 

I am reminded of an enjoyable evening at a quality Italian restaurant in Calgary earlier this year. I was hosting three gentlemen of the First Nations business community, each of whom had a mirthful sense of humor. I forget what we were discussing, but it was an evening of laughter when somewhat out of context, the gentleman on my right, who is a bank and business advisor, soberly remarked that the only government that has ever helped the Indigenous Peoples of Canada has been a Conservative government. Immediately the other two, the CEO and CFO of a First Nations resource company, murmured their agreement, and one mentioned that the Liberals talk, but they don’t do. 

I don’t doubt that a Conservative government will help the First Nations of this country, and, unlike the Greens, the Conservatives will likely get the chance to do it. If not, then I expect the Greens to support the Liberal minority government and then we’ll see how much is really done for our First Nations fellow citizens. No, I won’t be voting Green.

Just Ask and Don't Get Bent out of Shape at the Answer

In the post at https://gordon-feil-theology.blogspot.com/2019/09/producing-happiness.html, we discussed why we should aim for happiness. Our suffering comes from our rejection of our here and now. This rejection is characterized by emotions that don’t feel pleasant: boredom, anger, frustration, despair, and so on --- emotions that we feel when we do not like what’s going on. These are painful emotions. And they often distract us from doing the wise thing. Or they sap the energy we would otherwise have for doing the loving thing. Or, as in the case of anger, they unleash energy that often is then channeled into doing the harmful thing. The posting at https://gordon-feil-theology.blogspot.com/2019/09/asking-for-salt-shouldnt-be-big-deal.html examines whether we can reprogram our responses to life so that we are not caught in the trap of focusing on security, pleasure and power.