Captured

The 'Climate Aligned' Taking of your Land.

Looking back over a year and a half of posts, my most ‘popular’ commentary to date was ‘Has Your Land Been Stolen Already.’ It's appropriate to mention this here, as what's happening in local governments everywhere, will result in massive costs to taxpayers; and property owning taxpayers especially. The out-of-control spending of local governments, if not checked, will have consequences.

Yantree - ‘Behave Chumbawamba’: (Local politics) ‘A lot is a like this, except they use your money.’ Credited to Very Demotivational.com

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In my earlier 20s, when I worked as a trader on the floor of the Toronto Futures Exchange (TFE), the veteran floor traders used to remind me (contrarian that I was): “The trend is your friend.” All these years later, I would have to say, the current ‘trend’ is very definitely not your friend.

Perhaps some of you here even, have shares in Palantir, Verra Mobility, DP World, and the numerous other Globalist corporations that have entered into Public Private Partnerships with governments around the world. While these investments may have done well for individuals, public indebtedness is moving upward at an accelerating pace, and our communities (and countries) are paying the price. In the comfortable and complacent town of Uxbridge, Ontario, however, we are removed from the troubles that other communities now confront — even those in our own Region — but we are still on the hook, and will be expected to cover the costs.

An ‘investment’ in the current trend is generally profitable; though many of the ‘gains’ today are the result of a new ‘Stakeholder Capitalism’ model, which is championed — alongside ‘Public Private Partnerships’ (P3s) — by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Far from those Libertarian ideals of open markets and free exchange; instead of building new productive (and even competitive) businesses, profits are extracted by governments (read: extorted) in collusion with select corporations. This new predatory economic model might also be labelled crony capitalism.

Like those proverbial frogs in a slowly boiling pot of water, Regional taxpayers haven’t yet felt enough pain (apparently); they are not jumping out of the pot, or into action. Attendance at the most recent Durham Region budget meeting is a case in point; our taxes were hiked again (over 6% on this occasion); this trend is not going to stop anytime soon, but who was there? I will return to this later (scroll down to the pictures below). First, though, let me explain how this new ‘stakeholder capitalism’ model works. The most egregious ‘case,’ of course, was that of Covid.

STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM (a case study):

1. Pharmaceutical and PPE companies (for example) made arrangements with their ‘partners’ in government (behind closed doors of course) to secure taxpayer dollars (print or borrow money) for the purchase of their various products; guaranteeing a profit for the ‘stakeholders’, and even some lucky shareholders.

2. ‘Consumption’ of these products was then mandated on those who would cover the cost. The true costs were invisible at first; yet inflation and taxes, both, would increase over time.

3. Procedures and policies were changed (often in contravention of existing laws and practice), and the definition of words too — what constitutes a ‘pandemic’ for instance. Liability was waved by those involved, for those involved; manufacturers, most importantly, so that unwitting taxpayers and consumers would have no recourse.

As in all ‘Public Private Partnerships’ (P3s) the profits are privatized (for the benefit of the ‘private partners’); while costs, losses and liability are socialized, and foisted upon the ‘public partners’ (the largely oblivious public). It’s the reason this model is so popular today, as running a regular business becomes increasingly difficult and risky.

Meanwhile, ‘public’ employees (elected representatives and hired staff) continued to enjoy their Sunshine List incomes, salary increases and bonuses (many more were added to this list, in fact, as this was an ‘emergency’ — after all). These folks (here in Ontario) also all look forward to their indexed OMERS pension (which is invested in many of the companies our Municipalities are making decisions to enrich). No conflict of interest here of course. And all along, ‘bought-and-paid-for’ mainstream media propagandizes the hapless constituent (taxpayers) and refuses to investigate the personal gains of those who might be insider trading (rather more directly) within government.

Welcome to the ‘New Fiscal Age.’

Here, again, I must refer you back to my four part series on Neoliberalism. Our concern isn't Capitalism or Neoliberalism anymore. Like some professed socialists even, such as Yanis Varoufakis, I remain committed to defend Capitalism, because what we are experiencing today isn’t Capitalism. Complaining about Capitalism is ‘rear view mirror’ thinking (as Marshall McLuhan would say); and even then, through the years of the ‘post-war consensus’ and ‘embedded Liberalism’ (1944 into the 80s and 90s) Capitalism actually allowed for the Middle-Class to flourish, distributing economic benefits more widely than ever before in history.

Now, as all of you here know well, our biggest concern is full-on Communism, and/or Techno-Feudalism; and our local governments are captured by people who are busy implementing these ideas and programs (whether they understand what they’re doing, or not). Globalists, and those brainwashed by Globalists — and all those other well-meaning people who are too afraid to speak out against the agenda, too uninformed or (maybe) too stupid or lazy to understand any of this — are busy making very costly decisions for those who are not aware of what’s going. One way or another, the banker’s Globalist agenda is promoted at all levels of government.

There are a few individual exceptions to the rule, of course, but any brave soul who speaks out today is likely to be reprimanded — and any Council that actually wants to represent the interests of its constituents (in a way that goes against the Globalist agenda) is probably going to be shut down by its Mayor. The new ‘Strong Mayor Powers’ is a whole other story (to be examined before the 2026 Municipal elections). Any new Mayor (in my opinion) must ‘swear’ to represent his or her constituents, and to not (ever) assume Strong Mayor Powers. This should be obvious, if we still live in a democracy — We still live in a democracy, don’t we?

I shared the following with the folk on my personal mailing list a few days ago, just before the most recent ‘Council of the Whole’ budget meeting in Durham Region (which we will get to soon). And related to this, for your interest, one of Solari’s latest publications: Plunder Capitalism Land Grab Tactics

If you are not a Solari Subscriber, you really might want to consider this. I’ve been following Catherine Austin Fitts for over a decade now, and (being from that world myself, though not at this level of course) I feel there is no other person who can provide such insights on the monetary and political realities of our day.

Over time (and it shouldn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to see this): property taxes and demographics (in the real world) will result in people losing their properties, or being forced to liquidate their most important asset at a most inopportune time — or even, in distress. The Middle-Class has already been decimated (Thanks to Globalism and Neoliberalism) and we are now in the ‘asset stripping’ phase of the (monetary) ‘Great Reset’ — before the ‘currency’ is collapsed too.

Interestingly, for the ‘old school’ investor, Warren Buffett has a few insights on the demographic (dimension) of the coming economic/monetary ‘reset’: “Warren Buffett: Most Seniors Will Lose Their Homes In The Coming Crash!”

Most people haven't realized this yet though, because of that comfortable (and unfortunate) middle-class normalcy bias. The last time there was a challenge to the ruling elite was between the Great Wars, when the peasants got “above their station” — as the aristocracy would say (and clearly worry about) — and this resulted in the economic system that brought the middle-class (the greatest threat to elite rule the world has ever known) into being (until Neoliberalism took that power back).

This first opportunity (of regular people) was squandered however, because all of us (the ‘bourgeoisie’) are new to this ‘station in life’ . . . we have been conditioned, over generations, to think like peasants. This time though, if we remember the lessons of the past, we (the people) can permanently secure our rightful place in this world — and not become techno neo-feudal serfs. The Middle-Class is not down yet (I/we must believe), because this is the eternal struggle (which, gradually, we are winning).

On-the-ground though (one way or another) the elite’s agents, will attempt to force property owners to relinquish their property (at knocked down prices). What is about to happen might be nothing less than a new ‘Land Clearances,’ something I’ve discussed at length previously (and will probably return to), as people are ‘encouraged’ to move into densely packed population centers. For the migrants being brought in, of course, it is the intention that they will (for the most part) become residents of 15 Minute City developments; which are now even being funded by the government (our taxes that is) in some areas.

However, the ‘reverse migration’ has already started, of its own accord; though Canada (farcically) does not keep proper records of this. There are a lot of people who no longer want to live in Canada (including many new arrivals), because of the cost of living and a massive failure of governments (and staff) to foster a thriving economy in this country.

Two nights ago (quite coincidentally) I listened to a Steve Paiken Podcast: ‘Did Trudeau Destroy Canada’s Consensus on Immigration? | Everything Political’

‘Tony Keller joins the Everything Political panel with former MPs Martha Hall Findlay and Tony Clement to discuss his book “Borderline Chaos: How Canada Got Immigration Right, and Then Wrong” . . .’

Tony and I used to meet for lunch (many years ago); we had mutual friends, aspiring writers and photographers all, at the Toronto’s majors; The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, The Financial Post (before the National Post). A bygone age, sadly, when people of all political stripes could still hang out and have interesting conversations (in the newspaper world at least). In the hyper-polarized world we now live in though, such conversations are rare. Tony was already at the Globe and Mail, a paper I had a subscription to back then, in part, because it included commodity prices. It was a pleasant surprise to see him again, though I haven’t yet read his latest work (I will touch base with him again soon though, and I feel we still have much common grounds, based on comments made).

Meanwhile, it seems as if Canada is on track to become a new Third World resource base, for those new post-neoliberal Globalist elites (despite the Green affectations of almost everyone these days). To borrow an idea (and paraphrase) Mark Goodwin (from a recent Solari discussion on the tokenization of assets): ‘It’s great being ‘Green’ until your Digital ID personal Carbon Credit score won’t let you buy a steak, or fill up your car.’

Canada’s Bankruptcy Trustee (as some folk refer to Mr. Carney) is busy breaking up this country and selling it off in parts; and he calls this (in a classic example of Orwellian double-speak) ‘Nation Building.’

As a life-long monetary reformer, the use of this term is galling; as no ‘monetarily sovereign country needs to ‘borrow’ money from other nations (or foreign private investors even) for infrastructure: ‘Nation Building’ that is. Canada is being sold out, I would suggest, and our national assets are about to be sold off on a scale we have not seen before. The Recent P3 investment in the Port of Montreal, with DP World, is a case in point — a company ‘fronted’ by UAE royalty. I wonder who the private investors in this firm are (since DP World became a Private Equity venture in 2020) and what did they know ahead of time?

‘DP World Limited is a government-owned entity and is no longer publicly traded as a standard stock. The company returned to full state ownership in 2020. The stock was previously listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) under the ticker symbol DPW’ . . . Investors - Investor-enquiries - Our locations

Whoever the owners are, what Canadian resources (I wonder) might DP World want shipped out through the Port of Montreal?

‘[A]n executive with the Montreal Port Authority, explained the project has evolved to “meet today’s standards” with electrified and low-carbon equipment.’

Maybe they don’t care whether this project is profitable or not, as Canadian taxpayers will cover the losses, and the additional costs, of that ‘electrified and low-carbon equipment’ — which, most likely, is manufactured by other ‘P3 partners’ in the offshore world? For those of you with time on your hands, the following will be of interest: www.dpworld.com/en/news/dp-world-in-canada-and-the-mpa-sign-joint-development-agreement\

www.cmisa.ca/articles/montreal-port-project-backed-sees-cost-rise-to-17-billion

www.gcaptain.com/montreal-port-project-backed-sees-cost-rise-to-1-7-billion/

As mentioned, no monetarily sovereign country (any nation that issues its own currency that is) needs to ‘borrow’ from private investors, or enter into dubious WEF Public Private Partnerships (P3s), for the building of national infrastructure; and no nation needs to spend, at the taxpayers expense to meet arbitrary Net Zero targets.

I repeat this (mostly) for other monetary reformer, who (it seems) don’t fully understand the implications of ‘private bank money creation’ and ‘offshore flow throughs’ (which is how, Mr. Carney told us, his companies profit offshore without having to pay taxes here). I will return to this in the future.

Interestingly though, you may recall an earlier Substack post, in which I included a Rebel News article about Brookfields IoM’s dodgy offshore ‘headquarter.’ I mentioned (in that piece) that this was ‘just up the road’ from where a friend of mine used to live.

Coincidentally (once again), I was tidying up some things in my studio a week or so back, and I found a baggage tag from a flight to the Isle of Man back in the 2000s. My friend ‘Andy’ lived in the very same building (though almost no one would believe this) that Brookfields used as a ‘front’ address. I can provide numerous pictures, from earlier visits (and from the time I helped Andy move from this flat in 2014), and I will included a few of these in my next private email update (should anyone here think I’m making all of this up). And if any of you read my book, Time Enough: An Amoral Tale, you can almost see the gnome, one of those Zurich Gnomes maybe (now that I think of it) beneath the window (Chapter 10: ‘Genius Loci’), and you can just see the statue in the front garden, over the van’s windscreen (not my rental van, I must add).

Please revisit my previous post, On Art and Life II, and the above mentioned report from Rebel News.

The point of returning to this:

First, a coincidence like this is beyond calculation (particularly given my own interests and artistic mission), and Second; to underscore how sketchy some ‘blind’ trust holdings actually are.

Legitimate offshore operations have legitimate addresses, at offices established for this purpose (and the Isle of Man is known for its ‘International Business Corporations’ - IBCs), in the City of Douglas. That this Brookfield(s) ‘front’ address is on some random back street, in an everyday working community (well outside IoM’s legit financial district), should throw everything we’re told into question. In the meantime, the Canadian people, who (for the most part) don’t understand the offshore world — let alone money mechanics and monetary theory — are been taken for suckers.

The World Economic Forum’s “you will own nothing” plan isn’t unfolding quite as they hoped, however, because the inflation of asset prices (thanks to the greed of some) has raced too far ahead. We are already in a deflation, which is why most people actually don’t have any extra money these days . . . See the Bank of Canada ‘Money Aggregates’ chart below (if you look at the green line, it is about where it was in 2018, and lower than where it was in 2015). The money supply is being contracted, and people are finally waking up as life gets tougher; because of inflation and deflation together (‘stagflation’ they called it in the 70s). The last of those (who can be awakened) are starting to pay attention now, as their assets also begin to depreciate in value.

Any technical analyst will look at this chart, and wonder, where’s this going next? The government (and Bank of Canada) could actually increase the money supply to make improvements to the Port of Montreal (and national infrastructure everywhere) as was the case in Canada’s actual ‘Nation Building’ period, when the St. Lawrence Seaway and other such massive projects were undertaken, with almost no debt (weird how that that works). Today though, most of our sovereign money gets sucked into the offshore money system and disappears (into the bank accounts or assets of insiders) so none of this really matters, until we have meaningful monetary reform — rather than a ‘Great Reset.’

Some Canadian politicians even might own share in these international / offshore businesses, and stand to profit directly? This is wild speculation of course (‘conspiracy theory’ even) but if anyone here has experience in forensic accounting, and would like to look into these international offshore tax dodge schemes (or the financial holdings of those in office) you might find something interesting. Personally, I just want to be an artist again, but my life keeps dragging me back into this sordid mess (for some reason).

Let’s cut to the chase here: In addition to the recent Durham budget meeting, I also attended the Nov 15th Durham Region ‘Climate Roundtable Fall Forum’ and I must share a few thoughts on this too:

The discussion here, strangely enough, wasn’t about the Climate, per se, but rather, how to silence those who question the profitable corporate Climate narrative. Those who question the cherry-picked ‘settled science’ ‘talking talking points’ and are now considered purveyors of ‘Mis. and Disinformation.’

Holding court, and proposing ways to stop ‘Mis. and Disinformation’ (a transition of slides here). Above are: (speaker) Dr. Tanner Mirrlees - Digital Media Studies, Ont. Tech University (OTU) and Keynote Speaker. Mr. Ian McVey -Director Environment and Climate (Durham Region). Ryan Turnbull MP - Liberal (Whitby) Who met with the PM just the week before, we were told.

The Q&A was cancelled, because it looked as if there were people in the audience who might ask uncomfortable questions (I suspect). Turnbull and Tanner had to leave immediately, we were told, but I did manage to chat with the Director of Environment and Climate afterwards. “The science is settled,” he told me, “and we’ll have to agree to disagree on this.” In his words: “The only area of discussion is government policy.” Oddly, he seemed to nod in agreement when I suggested the Region should not be engaged in ‘Stakeholder Capitalism’ (though I’m not entirely sure he fully understood what I was referring to). Previous PPC Candidate in the Annex, David Kent (who ran against Chrystia Freeland, no less), joined us at this point, and listened to much of this conversation. “We can discuss Policy,” Mr. McVey told me/us. Surprisingly, he was actually against giving taxpayer subsidies to EV battery plants here in Ontario (so maybe we can find some common ground after all).

Further discussion was welcomed, and I will to engage the Region, and our local environment committees (again). It is easy to contact these folks, but surprisingly difficult to actually ‘engage’ on this subject. No one ‘in the system’ wants to question the official narrative (not surprisingly); though ‘off the record’ many have questions and concerns. With Municipal elections less than a year away though, the cost of those dubious ‘Net Zero’ Climate Change initiatives be will foremost in the minds of most Durham residents.

The important thing to understand now, is that this ‘agenda’ is on ‘autopilot’ and the Stakeholder Capitalists (in collusion with their government ‘partners’) are going to take us for everything we have, if we don’t put an end to the ‘climate emergency’. Attending that day, I counted 144 in the audience (+ or –).

A dozen of the people there (by my count) were ‘award’ winners; 7 (or so) were full time Region Staff; 45 (or so) were people staffing information tables outside, and 18 were people like myself, keeping an eye on things for those who were unaware of this event (my original count was 12, but I now know this number was higher). I’m sure there were other residents in attendance (from Durham’s eight Municipalities); to my knowledge though, there was no one else there from Uxbridge (please comment if you disagree).

So (if my math is correct) there were around 60 people in the audience who might not have been directly involved, presumably some Committee members from other towns, and a few additional random residents. The population of Durham (in 2023) was 753,090 people (paying for all of this); yet only a few dozen, at best, are watching what is going on — though we will all be paying for decisions made here. Even fewer Durham residents (surprisingly) attended the last budget meeting on Dec 11^th, where a 6.04% property tax increase was rationalized. You can see Durham Region’s latest proposed budget here.

But don’t worry, the latest budget ‘advances the goals of the Region’s Strategic Plan’ Priority Number 1 (and I’m sure nothing here will lead to massive future expenditures):

‘C1. Align Regional infrastructure and asset management with projected growth, climate impacts, and community needs.’

Again, I’ve written way too much, but let me finish with a quote that captured my imagination (from a video posted couple of days ago by our friend Doreen at ‘Our Greater Destiny’:

‘How Switzerland Became a Surveillance State Overnight’ (at 4 mins):

“Free people don’t have authorities, they have public servants.”

On that note, it’s time to get involved. We live in a participatory democracy, and public engagement is essential to ensure those whose salaries we pay — our public servants — serve our interests, not those of international financiers and corporate stakeholders.

Thank you everyone, and I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming meeting.

David

Credit / permission: https://solari.com/toon-frogs-in-boiling-central-banker-water2-678x384-1/