This article was originally published by Patrick Carroll at The Foundation for Economic Education.
Justin Trudeau’s COVID regime is a symptom of a much deeper problem that transcends political parties.
“The problem is not the clown on the throne…he isn’t actually the problem and if he wasn’t there, some other psycho would be there. Which is why the crappy idea of statism is what has to go.” -Larken Rose
On February 8, the popular YouTuber Viva Frei came across a woman in downtown Ottawa with a large picture of her son taped to her car. She didn’t give her name, but she was eager to share her story.
“This is my son Jake,” she said, pointing to the picture. “He was 34 years old, he died January 1, new year’s day of 2021. His little girl turned a year old Christmas eve, he died at home of a fentanyl overdose, his cocaine was poisoned with fentanyl. He had been in recovery, he had been working, he had been having a really good year, one of the best years he’d had in a long time. And then these shut downs came along, and then no more work, no more gyms, no more AA meetings.”
Sadly, her story does not end there.
“Seven months later I lost my older son, 36 years old, the same thing, a fentanyl overdose. His job was gone, couldn’t leave the house. This is what Trudeau has done. This is what these lockdowns have done.”
From today’s #FreedomConvoy2022 in Ottawa. The tragedy of the lockdowns, @JustinTrudeau. pic.twitter.com/0XzlXK15t3
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) February 9, 2022
This woman’s story is a vivid reminder of the tragic toll lockdowns have taken, a toll that has all too often been invisible. But while stories like hers were largely overlooked in the past, the Canadian Freedom Convoy is determined to bring them to light. In recent weeks, thousands of people have flocked to Ottawa, each with their own personal stories of how lockdowns and vaccine mandates have impacted their lives. Some have been merely inconvenienced. Others have lost jobs, family members, everything.
Canada’s Great Smear Campaign
In light of these losses, one might expect a degree of sympathy from those who sit in the ivory tower that is Parliament Hill. Unfortunately, sympathy has not been forthcoming, at least not from Trudeau and his caucus. Instead, Trudeau described the protestors as a “small fringe minority” who are “holding unacceptable views,” and later referred to them as “a few people shouting and waving swastikas.”
The media, for their part, haven’t been much better. Indeed, the disconnect between the establishment narrative and the truth on the ground is about as stark as it gets. This Globe and Mail Op-Ed, for instance, argues that “the alt-right has weaponized ‘freedom’ to undermine democracy.” Yes, that’s an actual article about the trucker protests. Meanwhile, the Washington Post has called the convoy a “stunt,” and numerous other outlets have been similarly disparaging of the movement.
It’s hard to say whether the mainstream narrative is wrong merely out of ignorance or whether it’s intentional propaganda. Most likely, it’s some combination of the two. Either way, the good news is that more and more people seem to be waking up and developing a very justified cynicism toward politicians and corporate media.
We Don’t Have a Trudeau Problem, We Have a Government Problem
As heartening as it is to see people standing up for freedom, the sad reality is that government interference in our lives has become a regular occurrence in recent decades. Even if we successfully protest certain measures, governments always seem to come up with new excuses to raise taxes, burden us with red-tape, and restrict civil liberties.
Unfortunately, most political movements opposing these kinds of measures only target the administration of the day and not the system itself. The trucker protest is no exception. Of course, Trudeau has been particularly overbearing. But the truth is, all government power is a threat to freedom—not just when it pertains to COVID, and not just when it’s wielded by Trudeau. When the government keeps trampling on freedom no matter how many times it gets new management, there comes a point where one must consider the possibility that the problem goes deeper than the current management.
So if new leadership won’t stop the State from violating liberty, perhaps a new voting system is needed, or even a new form of government? It’s an interesting idea, but as Murray Rothbard points out in his essay Anatomy of the State, even that is unlikely to solve the problem.
“Of all the numerous forms that governments have taken over the centuries,” Rothbard writes, “of all the concepts and institutions that have been tried, none has succeeded in keeping the State in check. The problem of the State is evidently as far from solution as ever. Perhaps new paths of inquiry must be explored if the successful, final solution of the State question is ever to be attained.”
Rothbard’s point is hard to swallow, but it’s worth taking seriously. If we want true, lasting freedom, it’s going to require genuine structural change. The system we have is broken. The “checks and balances” we thought would protect our freedoms aren’t working. If the past two years haven’t made that clear, I don’t know what will.
So rather than seeking salvation in Constitutions, Charters, politicians, and judiciaries, we need to step back and reevaluate the system as a whole. We need to take this movement as an opportunity, not just to call out Trudeau and end the COVID regime, but to rethink the principles upon which this country is founded.
To that end, Rothbard’s For a New Liberty might be a good place to start.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The solution is to advocate for no masters and no slaves. Changing the name to “government” and “citizen” does not change what is. Wake up to slave state and start advocating for true freedom, devoid of rulers, masters, owners, kings, presidents, or any other person who thinks they have any right to dictate to others how to live their lives. Constitutions have done nothing to give anyone freedom. If you’re clinging to a piece of parchment believing in some odd way that a master is going to abide by those rules, you are probably, at this point, going to die a slave. Waking up is hard. But being asleep is no longer an option.
You mean the “Freedom Convoy” where the truckers don’t even know what the fuck their protesting about? Yeah, they’re a bunch of fucking heros…
Sounds to me like Canada needs to implement Florida’s anti-protest laws and start cracking down. Hard.
Agree: they are the dumb-ass convoy. They accomplished all of provoking the Canadian government to implement emergency laws that for the most part will never go away (remember: the first income tax was an emergency measure introduced in World War 1 to pay for it). Did income tax ever go away? Has the PATRIOT Act gone away?
Now we are at war with Russia look to see the Emergencies Act stick around to be the new normal. Thanks hayseed dumb-f#cks!
With Canadian jails mostly filled with black gangsters I am sure they will enjoy running a ‘train’ on those cracker butt holes as they rot away in prison.
The truth about the Ukraine Fake Russian Invasion Threats.
Some cut and paste paragraphs from articles and my comments.
Its all about Biden and NATO Allies eliminating energy competitors such as Russia. BIDEN Cutting off Russia’s 35% Gas supply Market share that supplies Gas to European Countries. Biden has been working on this Ukraine Energy Supply Scam going back to 2014 under Obama, When Biden’s son, Hunter and Burisma scandal unfolded,
Wikipedia – The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of unevidenced claims centered on the false allegation that while Joe Biden was vice president of the United States, he engaged in corrupt activities relating to the employment of his son Hunter Biden by the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
Hunter Biden with NO Energy Company experience was being paid $1 Million a year. Soon after Biden was no linger VP under Obama, Hunter’s Salary was cut in half.
The conspiracy theory alleges that then-Vice President Biden withheld loan guarantees to pressure Ukraine into firing a prosecutor to prevent a corruption investigation into Burisma and to protect his son. Although the United States did withhold government aid to pressure Ukraine into removing the prosecutor,[5] this was the official and bipartisan policy of the federal government of the United States, which, along with the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, believed the prosecutor to be corrupt and ineffective, and too lenient in investigating companies and oligarchs, including Burisma and its owner.[6][7]
And this now Chaos created by Biden to provoke Russia, is just a reason to cut off Russia’s 35% Market Share, from supplying Gas to Europe, so the US can supply this remaining 35% or market share to its other NATO allies instead of Russia. So Biden is using US Military and hardware to force a theft of market share of gas supply to the EU>
Russia has not even Invaded and Biden already is calling for the Cutting off Russian Gas supply to the EU which was hiis goal anyway, not get into a war. That is what this is really all about. And US Gas companies stealing the US Gas supply assets from the US, to sell off to the EU at inflated prices which will drive up supply shortages and prices here in the US and cause more Gas price increases on Americans.
ht tps://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20220218-prospect-of-war-in-ukraine-raises-questions-about-europe-s-natural-gas-supply
RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISISProspect of War in Ukraine Raises Questions About Europe’s Natural Gas Supply
By Rob Garver
Published 18 February 2022
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The possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is what an armed conflict in Eastern Europe raises the question of the repercussion to the energy supply of the countries of the European Union, which have become increasingly reliant on Russian natural gas for electricity generation, industrial applications, and commercial and residential use.
One of the many unsettling questions raised by the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is what an armed conflict in Eastern Europe would do to the energy supply of the countries of the European Union, which have become increasingly reliant on Russian natural gas for electricity generation, industrial applications, and commercial and residential use.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the countries of the European Union and the United Kingdom imported more than 80% of the natural gas they consumed in 2020, up from 65% a decade before.
Of the gas it imports, the EU receives the majority of it, about 74%, via pipelines. The remainder arrives in liquid form, typically on specialized cargo ships. Russia is the largest supplier of the fuel to the countries of the EU, with about 35% of total imports, all of it arriving via multiple pipelines, many of which cross through Ukraine on their way to countries in central Europe.
To be sure, a major disruption in natural gas transmission to Europe would also negatively affect Russia, which relies on energy sales for much of its income, Charlie Riedl, executive director at the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, told VOA. He said an outcome that leaves Russia without that income stream is likely not a viable situation for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the long term.
“It has long-term ramifications for Russia’s gas business — something that Putin is, I’m sure, acutely aware of,” he said. “Losing market share in Europe is problematic, given that the vast majority of Russian-produced gas winds up in Europe. So, there are challenges associated with that, if you’re thinking about this from a Russian standpoint, in addition to the sanctions that they will be facing on a broader scale.”
Different Degrees of Disruption
Should Russia send troops into Ukraine, disruptions caused by fighting could prompt some shortages, particularly in Slovakia, Austria and Italy, which receive most of their natural gas through pipelines via Ukrainian territory.
However, Europe would likely face other disruptions, not directly caused by fighting.
The United States and its NATO allies have promised to apply a set of punishing international sanctions on Russia if it sends troops into Ukraine. If those sanctions include a refusal to buy Russia’s gas, or if Moscow elects to turn off the flow in retaliation, the shortage of gas flowing into Europe would further worsen.
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Prospect of War in Ukraine Raises Questions About Europe’s Natural Gas Supply
This could result in an energy crisis that would leave the EU searching for alternative sources of natural gas, much of which is not near at hand. Norway pumps a considerable amount of gas into northern Europe through existing pipelines, but according to officials in that country, the system is operating at full capacity. Flows from the U.K. and Denmark are also unlikely to fill the gap.
Other pipelines serving Europe include the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, which moves gas from Azerbaijan through Turkey, and a network of pipelines in North Africa that connect to Spain and Sicily.
A major new pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, which would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany by crossing under the Baltic Sea, is awaiting approvals before it can come online. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned that the U.S. will take whatever steps it can to block the new pipeline from opening if Russia invades Ukraine.
Different Degrees of Disruption
Should Russia send troops into Ukraine, disruptions caused by fighting could prompt some shortages, particularly in Slovakia, Austria and Italy, which receive most of their natural gas through pipelines via Ukrainian territory.
However, Europe would likely face other disruptions, not directly caused by fighting.
The United States and its NATO allies have promised to apply a set of punishing international sanctions on Russia if it sends troops into Ukraine. If those sanctions include a refusal to buy Russia’s gas, or if Moscow elects to turn off the flow in retaliation, the shortage of gas flowing into Europe would further worsen.
This could result in an energy crisis that would leave the EU searching for alternative sources of natural gas, much of which is not near at hand. Norway pumps a considerable amount of gas into northern Europe through existing pipelines, but according to officials in that country, the system is operating at full capacity. Flows from the U.K. and Denmark are also unlikely to fill the gap.
Other pipelines serving Europe include the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, which moves gas from Azerbaijan through Turkey, and a network of pipelines in North Africa that connect to Spain and Sicily.
A major new pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, which would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany by crossing under the Baltic Sea, is awaiting approvals before it can come online. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned that the U.S. will take whatever steps it can to block the new pipeline from opening if Russia invades Ukraine.
Few Good Options
“Unfortunately, Europe has found itself in a position where it doesn’t have too many good options,” Dustin Meyer, vice president of natural gas markets for the American Petroleum Institute, told VOA.
The only real alternative to existing pipelines is to increase the amount of gas that Europe imports in liquefied form. The EU does have a large number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals dotting the coast along the Mediterranean Sea, the North Atlantic, and the North and Baltic seas.
However, Meyer said, “a lot of those terminals are being fully utilized for the first time in a while. That helps make a bad situation a little bit better. But they’re running at pretty much full capacity, and the main threats — either a pipeline cutoff through Ukraine or a total pipeline cutoff — haven’t happened yet. So, while that import capacity is significant, I don’t think anybody really expects that with their existing infrastructure, Europe could just totally turn away from Russia right now, and instead rely entirely on, say, LNG imports.”
A Matter of Years
Experts say the prospect of losing access to Russian gas is likely to lead to governments across Europe creating more capacity to import LNG from the United States and other countries, but they warned that creating that new capacity, on both the demand and supply sides, will take time.
Even with most of the world’s LNG-transporting ships currently delivering their cargo to Europe, Riedl of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas told VOA, “there is not enough LNG on the water, regardless of its coming from the United States or anywhere else around the world, to alleviate [the shortage] if Russia were to cut off all supplies.”
And that’s not a problem that can be solved soon. Even if export capacity in the U.S. and other LNG-exporting countries rises, Riedl said, Europe’s ability to handle increased imports will take time to develop.
“If they started today, it would be multiple years — a five-to-seven-year kind of time frame — and that would be a best-case scenario,” he said.
Rob Garver is a freelance writer. This article is published courtesy of the Voice of America (VOA).
Darwin get the dumbass Darwin award for stupidity. You and Frank both sound like a couple of compliant commie shills, spreading your commie misinformation story line. Watch and see who controls Canada and this Country the US. Its the people (Truckers) that move the goods like food to stores for people to buy. Let them strike at home instead of Ottawa and refuse to move anything. That tyrant Trudeau will be eating cake soon as his last meal, before his public trial at the towns square surrounded by light poles.
Sure, I’m a commie ? If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, then surely calling someone a “commie” for speaking the truth is the first act of the stupid.
And what would calling someone stupid qualify as being?
It would make me correct.
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
~ Forrest Gump
Sure, just look the entirety of the Republican Party. Oh, and how on-the-nose is it that your name is “No Shame”!? Hilariously on point.
You’re an asshole. You actually wished death on people that didn’t get the vax. What’s wrong with you? You talk like you know so much but you don’t know anything. All you know how to do is chastise and spew your ugly hate.
Ummm, go fuck yourself. The un-vaxxed are prolonging this pandemic, so yes, I wish you all would just drop dead already. ???
If the republicans win a super majority in the midterms, and that is doubtful, they will probably lose seats due to the massive democrat voting fraud. But if they do win and are able to get a powerful republican president in 2024, then they need to declare war on the communist threats that surround us. The Atlantic fleet will start bombing military bases in Canada with tactical nukes and the Pacific fleet will destroy the empires of Australia and New Zealand with sub launched tactical nukes. This should prove to the world that the USA is not going to put up with any more totalitarian regimes and have no qualms about destroying a country like Puerto Rico or Papua New Guinea. Please read the following link.
REVIEW: The Gilligan Manifesto Communist connections feels …https://screenanarchy.com/2018/11/review-what-they-had-is-what-the…
I demand proof of “massive democrat voting fraud”! Put up, or shut the fuck up, shithead.
Hey, idiot. Poop in one hand and demand in the other, see which fills up the fastest.
Hey shit-for-brains, try praying in one hand and shitting in the other. Tell me how THAT works out for ya. Dumbass.
The DEEP STATE has poisoned the cocaine with fentanyl to kill people and they have their own drug dealers. Like the Covid vaccine, people are unaware of what the cocanine is laced with…………
Otherwise, the normal drug dealers don’t try to kill their customers because they want repeat business. FENTANYL is the NUMBER ONE KILLER of all people between 18-45, and more of an efficient killer than the vaccine itself.
Ooooohhh, the “DEEP STATE”! Isn’t it a little early to be drinking? I swear you right-wing snowflakes are HILARIOUS! I’ve never seen a more terrified group of people in my life. Is there anything (besides your guns) that DOES’NT scare the shit outta you idiots?
If you believe the election was straight up a fair election? Then you are a lost cause!!! Oh and I have some ocean front property in Arizona that you will love? ?? what a idiot!!!
Show me a single republican election official who has discovered any voting fraud not perpetrated by a republican. I triple-dog-fucking dare you. I want court-provided evidence. Go!
The problem is really that there isn’t room for everybody anymore, society becomes more restrictive as to who fits into it as population densifies and those personality types -a genetically linked thing- that can’t fit in get squeezed out. This is why we develop the homeless and such (as an extreme example), the problems they face of mental illness and drugs and such are just the way they are coping with living in a society that has no use for them or place they can productively.
There is only one practical way to solve this, genetically identify the people that will not fit in and eliminate them before they are born (better still, control who is allowed to reproduce with who before the fact so that they are never conceived in the first place).
88.
The ‘Mudsill’ Theory,” by James Henry Hammond
(2 paragraphs) Speech to the U.S. Senate, March 4, 1858
pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3439t.html
Servants The True Story of Life Below Stairs 1
youtube.com/watch?v=MrVShmmJpHo&ab_channel=BubbyJoeJoe’sVideoVault
Sweatshop labor is sourced, locally, from crisis housing.
Does your “88” at the end imply that you believe the way to take care of the “problem” you describe is to do as the Nazis did?
Totally agree. The truckers are a good example of a class of workers who are on the edge of extinction. Trudeau has two easy weapons to use against them: import drivers from the Indian subcontinent; and secondly to accelerate the adoption of AI and robotics in transport. The latter trend is already underway and this unrest will just accelerate it.
Keep in mind Canada massively deindustralized from the 1990s and the people you see on crack and homeless are the people who used to work in the factories and do blue collar work. They aren’t needed anymore and thus they despair. Canada is primarily a very polite, middle class society and thus it does not do engaging with awkward and violent underclasses. They just ignore them. Any government that offers a solution – makes them disappear – is going to get easy acceptance from most of the people.
I believe that the convoy was well-intended, except that an estimated 90% of Canadian citizens chose the vaccination regime, instead.
These skits on voluntaryism would be perfect and blameless, except for that portion of the population, which will always err on the side of subservience, if left to free will.
Past thought experiments include cognitive liberty, which said that you ought not turn someone on, against their will, and the prime directive, which commanded against interference in a primitive civilization. Also, will-to-power, assuming that the counterparty accepts no personal responsibility, ever.
Trudeau is a big problem. And it’s only going to get worse with him around.
For starters the World Economic Forum and the dark pools of Soros cash need to be broken into a thousand pieces to never rise again!
Big blue Denver is dumping the Vax Mandate March 4th! Take that Bi-dumb! And to our gubner! It’s my own gosh darn fault I didn’t want to suffer an adverse health event! Pound sand scumbags! I will not comply!
The coming ussa trucker cluster phuque will accomplish exactly what? They should have simply stayed home and refused to drive but I guess that was to simple! Biden is the one that advised justine to involve the feds just like he is doing here.
I hate to offend any, but I prefer truths over fiction. Thank you.
Me too! Don’t bother trying to find it here. This site is home to some of the most diluted and evil people on the U.S. The sheep here are idiots and the “journalists” are nothing but evil, Russia-loving, right-wing propagandists.