"It must not be forgotten that socialism is not only by far the most important species of collectivism or "planning" but that it is socialism which has persuaded liberal-minded people to submit once more to that regimentation of economic life which they had overthrown because, in the words of Adam Smith, it puts governments in a position where "to support themselves they are obliged to be oppressive and tyrannical."
F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, 1944
MP Monte Solberg gives us a lesson in modern Hayekian economics, or more to the point, the dangers in ignoring them.
He means well
Those are three words that should cause you to gather up your family and hide in the root cellar. That phrase describes those likeable totalitarians who want to nationalize vast chunks of our private lives because they care so much about us.
Poor Ken Dryden thinks he has all the answers for our children and wants to be Canada's Babysitter General. He seems like a very nice man, but therein lies the danger. His niceness serves as the perfect disguise for his wacky, dangerous plan to have a federally regulated national daycare.
...Another guy who means well is Stephan Dion, a modern day Don Kyoto. Courageous Don Kyoto will slay any dragon to save us from carbon dioxide. He'll even slay Canada's entire manufacturing sector. Don Kyoto wants you to inhale, but don't ever exhale because that creates CO2. Exhaling will soon be illegal on the grounds that it is an environmentally dangerous practice.In the end Don Kyoto will tilt at every windmill he happens across. He may seek to improve our quality of life by killing our job. He will improve our health by forbidding us to exhale. Yet these are small matters, trifles really, when we consider that Don Kyoto is concerned only for us. We must remember, he means well.
I love that line, Don Kyoto. We seem to being well with cabinetorial nicknames. We have Mr. Dithers, Mr. Slithers (Scott Brison), the Chocolate Man (Pierre Pettigrew: "There is always the sense with Pettigrew that, if he were made of chocolate, he'd eat himself", John Ivison) and now Don Kyoto. Priceless. Except that is the program. The costs of Institionalized Day-Care and Carbon Taxes and Hot-Air Credits are not priceless.
