Cuts are all well and good, as long as they’re the right kind and in context

IT’S NO SURPRISE ONTARIO’S deficit is much larger than Kathleen Wynne let on, nor that she lied about balancing the budget – the auditor general had spent the last couple of years pointing out the dubious accounting and outright fabrications of the Liberal government.

Nor is it a surprise that Doug Ford is attempting to make political hay out of the $15-billion deficit “discovered” now that the Conservatives are back in power. It’s a standard trick of all new governments, part of the ensuing years’ blame-your-predecessor trick straight out of every political playbook.

What does remain to be seen, however, is how much “austerity” the premier will look to heap on the public, using the cooked books as leverage.

The gravy train mantra is a Ford staple. And he’s already hinted that the union-soothing mutterings of the election campaign may give way to cuts. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – as always, the devil is in the details, so where the cuts come matter.

Getting a handle on spending that provides little or no benefit to most Ontarians – from corporate welfare to bloated public sector salaries – is fine; cutting frontline services and benefits is not. Nor are we served if there are rumblings about corporate tax cuts that enrich a few while reducing government revenue precisely as politicians bemoan blossoming deficits. Such poor decisions are the hallmark of ideologues, especially those of Ford’s ilk and purported party allegiance.

There is a debate to be had about taxes and would-be economic fixes. The topics are the subject of short-term thinking, an affliction that’s permeated all facets of our society. Adopting the business model that’s taken hold in the last three decades – today’s stock price, shareholder value and this quarter’s profits above all else – our political system has been shaped by constant lobbying from those who see society through only the lens of finances. It’s what’s made citizens no more than consumers.

Politicians, of course, have a built-in capacity for short-term thinking: the election cycle. They make promises and float policies designed for immediate impact – spend for votes today. That’s problematic in and of itself, as it gives little regard to the idea that actions taken now will have impacts years, sometimes decades down the road.

Making matters much worse, however, is the equally troubling issue of taxation. The promises they make come with a price, but 30 years of neoliberal lobbying and influence have made taxes a four-letter word, meaning many politicians will try to win votes by promising to spend today while simultaneously pledging to cut taxes. That often means deficits, a situation that’s ideal for politicians intent only on re-election: the bill won’t come due until later, when they’re off living comfortably on gold-plated government pensions.

That kind of thinking is what got us into today’s mess. That the very people who supported tax cuts to corporations even as government largesse filled their coffers are the ones leading the charge for austerity measures – not to themselves, of course – has been lost in the shuffle.

In the course of a couple of generations, we’ve undone centuries of efforts to create a society based on the common good. Much of the we’re-all-in-this-together ideals that came out of the Great Depression and the Second World War, for instance, has been replaced by relentless individualism.

Rapid urbanization whereby we no longer rely on family, friends and the broader community – indeed, we may not even know our neighbours – makes us forget just how interdependent we really are. A consumerbased society, pushed by marketing, focuses on individual pleasure. This comes at a cost to the collective ‘us,’ especially when it discussing matters of financing the common good: taxes are seen as taking money away from ‘my’ enjoyment. Increasingly, we’re encouraged to give rein to our natural tendency to look after number one. Couple that with an individual’s capacity to seek immediate gratification, and longterm planning for our collective future becomes even more difficult.

There’s nothing wrong with looking out for personal interests, but we’re in danger of forgetting that most of the middle-class gains of the postwar years stem from socially-driven ideas.

In purely economic terms, the collective efforts are the rising tide that lifted all boats – some more so than others, certainly. Today, however, there’s an element that seems hellbent on undoing precisely the conditions that allowed for the great prosperity now under attack.

Thanks to decades of concerted effort, many people have bought into a set of diminished expectations about the role of government and, more troublingly, the possibilities of shaping a better society. We’ve had democracy reduced to the occasional trip to the polls. We’ve seen government reduced to managerial functions, where debate is constrained to a few wellworn topics. We’ve seen the economy reduced to fiscal policy – deregulation’s the order of the day as the financial services industry sets the agenda. We’ve seen citizenship dumbed down to passive observation, at best.

If we’re going to have a better society we need to think about the future 10, 20, 50 and 100 years down the line. The road we’ve been on for the last three decades, driven by the neoconservative corporate agenda, has diminished our quality of life. We have to look past dubious vote-buying programs, immediate tax cuts and partisanship.

Long-term thinking is

not just for issues such as climate change (another Ford target), though we’re not prepared to tackle even that issue, despite the consequences. No, it’s all about living for today. But long-term planning is crucial for a host of issues that are clearly part of today’s political reality, encompassing all levels: long-term resource consumption, human migration, transportation demands, retirement and pensions and the like. Our failure to do so has led to rampant consumerism, environmental crises, unchecked immigration, urban sprawl, financial speculation and a host of other ills that plague our economic, political and social systems.

It’s a history likely lost on Ford, who’s shown he’ll push ahead no matter the context.