What Is the Problem in Alberta?

Think about it. Alberta has had this resource dependent problem for decades with no viable alternative coming from the ruling elite. Why is that?

You have the likes of Justin Trudeau and others who declare Yes to charging people carbon taxes, No to oil tankers off the north coast but Yes to pipelines, Yes to more oil tankers off the south coast, and Yes to oil sands projects, while others declare Yes to all the above but No to carbon taxes, or simply No to all the above.

Generally speaking, the human capacity to solve problems is presented as very restricted. There is a notion that humans have brawn but no brain or that they are good at one thing but incapable of doing other things. For example, humans have developed nuclear fuel as a source of energy but do not know what to do with the nuclear waste. The motive of production though to develop nuclear fuel is found in the war economy. This motive evaporates when it comes to dealing with the radioactive waste. Development of the oil industry was also closely linked with the war economy, with Alberta's economy going hand in glove with the U.S. war machine. It likewise has no answer for the problems it causes in environmental degradation from abandoned oil rigs and wells and the large issue of climate change. Solving those problems does not form part of its motive.

The problem lies with the social class in control and its motive of production not human capacity. The motive to become rich and wage imperialist war is too narrow and destructive to deal with the complexities of the modern economy. Take carbon fuels as an example. The motive has to be there to make the transition from carbon energy in such a way that it becomes a serious alternative not only towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions but away from the war economy, car culture and the control of the global oligarchs over the people's lives, economy and politics.

Yes and No Agenda

In the elections the people are presented with a Yes / No agenda: Yes and No to pipelines, Yes and No to oil to tidewater, Yes and No to oil tankers, Yes and No to carbon fuel, Yes and No to carbon taxes, Yes and No to shipping oil by rail; Alberta loves oil, others hate oil; consultation with Indigenous nations but no veto and no full participation in planning and developing their territories using the resources that are there or infrastructure that passes through.

In all this back and forth of Yes and No, collective discussion of an alternative direction and agenda for an all-sided pro-social economy independent of the demands of the U.S. imperialists, their war machine and the global oil barons is quashed. The claims of the people on society are disappeared and, save for their efforts to speak out, never see the light of day because those in a position of authority and in the mass media use all their power, including the police power, to block the development of an alternative and the collective discussion necessary to get us there.

In the present situation, elections are used to make sure everything connected with the economy is turned into pragmatism to favour those in control. This means the ruling elite constrain the discussion, agenda or possible direction within the bounds of themselves and their empires becoming richer and they extend their dominance through war. This means the only direction possible or debatable is one that holds out the possibility of making the oligarchs oodles of money and extending their control over life. Within this constraint, pragmatism rules. The narrowest self-serving end justifies the means. Principles, if they are to exist at all, have to serve the motive of becoming rich and tightening the control of the oligarchs, which is hardly what one could call a principle.

The only things possible or expedient are constrained within whatever favours the financial oligarchy. This precludes any discussion of the principles of a modern economy that stands in opposition to the imperialist system of states and the necessity for people to exercise control over their lives, an economy that has as its guiding principle to guarantee the security and well-being of the people and the humanization of the social and natural environment.

Oil sands development and a pipeline to Vancouver are possible and desirable because the U.S. imperialists want oil for their war economy and active military, and Alberta has heavy oil. The oil is there, it exists, therefore it must be developed to make oligarchs rich and extend their control, empires and war aims. No discussion on the aim society must pursue and the means to realize that aim is permitted. Discussion on a motive that may allow the development of the oil sands in a planned humanized way is considered fringe.

Those in control make a big show of ending dependence on the U.S. market and the price the oligarchs dictate. But their actions shout  -- who cares about being beholden to the U.S. war economy, being beholden to the global markets, and the economic crises that recur with regularity? Those in control shout we are all for more pay-the-rich schemes in the name of carbon reduction so long as it puts money in our pockets, but when it comes to doubling oil sands production, just go for it because in the moment certain oligarchs will become even richer, their line of march to dominate the world through war and plunder be damned; Alberta's prosperity depends on them.

Objectively speaking, in this election Albertans are perplexed by the "choices" -- a non-alternative to a non-alternative -- and they are corralled into voting for purposes of saying this or that party has their consent to govern.

But all of this diverts from the recognition that the alternative to the current state of affairs has already come into being in the form of those who speak out in their own name and elaborate their claims on society, as we see taking place in myriad ways every day. This affirmation of the human factor/social consciousness dispels all feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and humiliation inherent in the ruling class's morbid preoccupation with defeat and death based on the nonsense that if the rich do not get paid, Alberta will collapse; if carbon taxes prevail, Albertans will be doomed and other such self-serving propaganda designed to disinform the development of the movement for people's empowerment.

A nation-building project worthy of the name inscribes on its banner the people's demand for a pro-social economy which stops paying the rich and increases investments in social programs. Securing the well-being of the people by humanizing the social and natural environment is the way forward if the problems plaguing Alberta are to be resolved.

This article was published in

Volume 49 Number 10 - March 23, 2019

Article Link:
What Is the Problem in Alberta?

    

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