Chris Joel

THREAD: On why eliminating the unlimited capital gains exemption on primary residence is common sense right now & what happens when a country decides to go all in, changing a 'place where you live' into a special asset class #ToRE #VanRE

Canada’s anti-money-laundering watchdog has levied its largest-ever penalty – more than $176-million – against cryptocurrency exchange Cryptomus for failing to flag transactions allegedly linked to serious crimes. Vancouver rn:

Morgan Freeman voice: Because they can't get a doctor

Boomers to everyone 🖕

Canadians reelected Sean Fraser who destroyed our immigration system, and Chrystia Freeland who destroyed our finances. Help me understand this.

There's a simple rule of thumb that holds up, election after election. Districts that either benefit from govt handouts (welfare, corporte welfare, etc) or benefit from high levels of govt employment all tend to vote for left-leaning parties. And districts that are net payees to the govt will vote conservative -- these are the people who are plundered to pay for leftist spending. The map below of Canada as today's election results pour in is a perfect illustration of that rule of thumb. This is why, once govt spending grows beyond a certain point, leftist parties can build loyal voting coalitions that stay loyal even when the rest of the country is completely falling apart, just to keep the money flowing to themselves. The Romans or Medieval Europeans would have called this a patronage network, but of course in the modern era we're just a little less obvious about it. 😈 Every socialist country and banana republic from Zimbabwe to Canada and beyond functions based on this system of building loyal voter coalitions, paid for by plundering everyone else. In Canada, 1 in 4 employed Canadians works for govt. Add on top of that the countless legal cartels and govt contracts and welfare programs of all sorts, which all depend entirely on govt spending, and that adds up to a very large and reliable leftist voting coalition. (obviously not all govt employees vote Left, but an overwhelming majority do). According to research by the Montreal Institute, in Canada 44% of every dollar spent in the country is spent by govt. That rises 64% if you account for compelled spending triggered by regulation (like having to hire "consultants" to do an "environmental study" before you build a road or house). Through taxation and regulation, voter loyalty is bought -- a loyal patronage system. In the end, the Libs/Left are winning not because people are stupid, but because those who benefit from Leftist spending are voting to preserve their own personal interests. It's not stupid, it's selfish. Because human nature is opportunistic. $$$ money talks. Eventually the perverted incentives created by big govt will perpetuate big govt. The patronage network is well-established in our socialist-leaning country. Even so-called "right wing" parties regularly cater to that network, which is why so little actually changes even when "conservative" parties get voted in. As Maxime Bernier found out when he lost the Conservative leadership race to Andrew Sheer in 2017, those who threaten to destabilize the patronage network have no chance to get anywhere near the levers of power -- the voters in the patronage network will do whatever it takes to band together to prevent them from getting in. This is why empires evolve from liberty towards servitude and suffocating taxation, and only a very severe crisis (usually when the money runs out) will reset that evolution to an earlier time (by shrinking govt) -- and even then it's usually a very messy reset as the "patrons" fight back (at any cost) in an effort to preserve their patronage networks, which they've come to view as their god-given right. The real tide will turn in Canada if the West opts out, if Quebec separates, or if the cozy economic system provided by lopsided trade with the US crashes to a halt if Trump's push for reciprocal tariffs ramps up into a full-scale trade war after the election. Canada will not change direction because of what happens at the polls -- big govt is far too entrenched for that. The change will come when parasitic patronage systems hit a brick wall as they run out of money or people to plunder. Perhaps that crisis will come in the form of a separatist referendum. Perhaps it will be a bond or currency crisis triggered by reckless govt financial mismanagement. Or perhaps it will be Trump's trade war that brings things to a head. All I know is that the voter incentives favor the preservation of the status quo, but that status quo is simultaneously on an accelerating path towards crisis. And so, as is usually the case when a system is unsustainable but popular, change is coming despite the fact that the majority doesn't want it to be so. And when it comes, there will be a lot of kicking and screaming as the cockroaches fight back. 😈

Alternative theory: the party itself is the purest political gaslighting machine in Western democracy, it is impossible to honestly lead such an entity without putting forth its real levers of power and its spinmeister handmaidens of the day like Gerald Butts.

Can anyone give me a better thesis for why people playing by the rules would in coming decades decide to give up on Canada, than underground banking from hostile states significantly capturing urban housing, creating parallel economies, pricing out talented taxpaying workers.

Boomers to young people, exhibit 291🖕

This is kind of Clint. I felt called to tell the truth about the danger of hiding and mask-wearing that I see so clearly in my life and the lives of others. To be free, we must become known. Below is from my annual letter (permanentequity.com/content/2024-a…), but roughly where I went. Hope it's helpful. ----- Nothing to Fear, Nothing to Hide I want to end with a warning, a plea, and a word of encouragement. I’ve had a front-row seat to the unplanned and rapid disassembly of quite a few peoples’ lives this year. I’m not sure if it’s my age, or stage, or just random, but I’ve never had so many friends and acquaintances struggle so mightily in such deeply personal ways. From addiction and adultery to mental health breaks and alleged criminal activity, I’ve seen what feels like “it all” this year. I’ve gotten more “I need to talk” texts than I can count. Our biggest problems always start small. It’s just a little help to get me through the day. It’s just one night of fun with the boys. It’s just a little corner cut. It’s just some fun flirting. It’s just a short season of unsustainable work. We realize that we’re not okay, but we like the results and believe we can make it work. Our desires overpower our conscience. To state the obvious, life is complicated and messy. I certainly am. The more I see other peoples’ lives up-close, the more I realize that everyone, and I mean everyone, is battling something dark and difficult. You must trust me that you are not alone in your battle. What you’re going through is far more common than you can imagine, no matter how messed up you think it is. The problem is that we all hide out of fear. We tell each other we’re fine when we’re not. This goes back to the Garden of Eden. When sin entered the world, our response was to hide and blame. We’ve been doing so ever since. Genesis is either ground-breaking literature or the Word of God, but either way, you should read it. It’s all there. In this hiding we lie to ourselves and to each other. We try to cover ourselves with fig leaves of success, money, beauty, religiosity, and morality. Our masks become so tight and so polished, and we play pretend for so long that we lose ourselves. The perfect job, perfect family, perfect lives can only hold for so long. And in the hiding, the darkness grows. As Tolkien depicts in The Lord of the Rings, Smeagol transforms into Gollum until eventually, Gollum forgets he once had another name. Sin is the carbon monoxide of life. We think we’re the same person we’ve always been. That’s what makes sin so confusing, unpredictable, and lethal. We’re being poisoned, but can’t feel the damage. We think we can play with darkness, or make the darkness work for us. We think we can control it. We think our darkness is so ugly that if known, no one would love us. But, we also love the darkness. Our loves are disordered, and it’s killing us. There become cracks in the mask, but we maintain such a distance that we’re convinced no one notices. We keep pretending, while our hearts slowly become deadened. We assume that cautiously navigating everyone, especially those closest to us, is just how life works. And often, we try harder to keep the mask tight and polished, getting more fit, more successful, and more involved in our churches. We pretend that if we shroud ourselves in good works and the apparent fruit of them, no one will ever know about the brokenness. And then the facade detonates. It always does, but rarely when we expect or in the way we would have expected. The shrapnel maims. Everything we built our lives on is threatened, which is the exact fear that we were hiding from. Our fears become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it was our hiding that enabled it. This probably sounds impossible, but true freedom starts with nothing to hide. Light is the best disinfectant, and when it comes to our sin, it is the only disinfectant. We must be known. We must live in deep relationship, in community with people who know the real us, the real pain, the real struggles, and our real dreams. There is a danger to living this way. People will hurt us. People will betray us. People will use what they know to their advantage. I know, because as I’ve tried to live this way, I’ve experienced some serious costs. But, I promise you it’s worth it. You will find true friends, those who will mourn and celebrate with you, those who will tell you the truth in love. The alternative is loneliness and misery. Aren’t we tired of living alone? Haven’t we had enough pain of no one knowing the real us? There seems to be a Rubicon that we all have to cross, and from my experience usually the choice presents between the ages 35 and 45. It’s the decision to be you, or to continue to play a fictitious character. If you haven’t gotten there yet, it’s coming. You can prepare by actively seeking real relationships and community. Or, you can keep accumulating soul-level debt, which is like piling sticks of dynamite next to a roaring fire. If you are battling anything in secret, and the odds are extremely high that you are, I beg you to become known to someone you trust. And, stay known, especially when you want to go back into hiding. I promise you that while the consequences might be painful, you and the people around you will experience far less suffering than if you leave it unaddressed. The real relationships and freedom to be found on the other side are worth it.

Good time for everyone to read The Fourth Turning again

One of the best FT letters. December 25, 2016.

"We will grow the economy from the heart" - JT The economy:

Canada: Hold my beer

the situation is a lot more serious than ‘tired ideas’ — It is that a government that ignored warnings from CSIS that inaction on crucial nat sec matters could lead to loss of sovereignty, and warnings from military leaders that Canada is losing capacity to contribute to our responsibilities—in fact has placed Canada in that position of hollowing state. Re electing LPC will likely seal Canada’s fate as a failing national enterprise.

Accurate, yes. Reason the @CBCNews gets shyt on, yes. Nice frame.

Trying to be a normal guy playing hockey in $2000 shoes. He’s Just Like Justin.

@TTCnotices "Regular" I'm still on platform 15m later and it looks like the skydome just emptied

Line 1 Yonge-University Regular service has resumed between Finch and Eglinton.