"Saskatchewan NDP Leadership - Part 1 - Context" - Guest Post By Dan Tan
(Buckdog is covering the 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Leadership race - today a guest post by Dan Tan):
NDP members in Saskatchewan will be tasked with choosing the next social-democratic leader of that province. That leader will be tasked with challenging the misguided, misleading, & merciless governing Saskatchewan Party - and their leader Brad Wall. In service of this internal process, the following series of posts are offered to take stock of both the context of the province…and those men who have pledged to lead it on behalf of the NDP.
Before we evaluate the candidates, we should set out a clear context for reference. Saskatchewan is currently experiencing a resource boom. Brad Wall & his Saskatchewan Party have shamelessly taken credit for that which they do not control - namely, a favourable swing in global resource prices. And for that which they do control - namely, the composition & distribution of the inevitable economic rewards - they have lazily abdicated responsibility. The public, lacking a firm & focused NDP analysis, have settled for what little is on offer & what little they can reap from their non-renewable resources.
Covered by the - poorly negotiated & short-term - economic spoils of the resource boom, Wall & his Sask. Party have also cleverly begun the process of leading Saskatchewan towards mediocrity & serfdom. Inspired by the economic anarchists who currently rule the United States, the government casually hammers away at the secure foundations & institutions of the province. Ironically presented as "free market" reform, these petulant acts of destruction only ensure the establishment of a rigged, uncompetitive, & unstable economic system.
Of course, the government would dispute such an evaluation. They insist that they are merely fostering the conditions for innovation & competition - citing selective aspects of the United States model for example. And therein lies the tragedy. Wall & his Sask. Party adherents do not realize that the United States achieved its superiority through massive state intervention, trade protectionism, and union generated growth of an educated & dynamic middle class. This all resulted in the unparalleled military superiority & reserve currency status that the U.S. now enjoys. It is from this comfortable perch that the U.S. has carried out its reckless social & economic experimentation.Such experimentation is progressively undoing them - and has already undone weaker imitators.
The foundations & institutions of Saskatchewan - so resented by Wall & the Sask. Party - were built over decades by (small "c") conservative NDP administrations who wisely rejected the proselytization of deluded foreign economists. They rejected the Soviet Union's insistence on utopia through oppressive & invasive totalitarianism. They rejected the United States' insistence on utopia through wild & selective applications of Darwinian savagery. Instead, they fostered the creation of a capitalist system that insured stability (crown ownership), the safety of risk-takers (public insurance), and a tolerable standard of living (social programs).
Saskatchewan needs a professional & focused NDP more than ever. You stand in-defense of what your forefathers so wisely built. You stand in-between carpet-bagging charlatans and the local population they would hustle. You stand against the juvenile anarchists who traded hoodies & explosives for sharp suits & destructive legislation.
Next: The one who should lead your stand.
bydantan
