Hobson’s Choice

So, once again the taxpayers of Canada are faced with a group of unfavourable decisions which would seem to make life more difficult and Spartan. The cause? The current level of debt and the recurring deficit. [Ed. Americans will understand this as well] Of course, a surplus is required to pay down debt; which is nowhere in sight!

So, what are the options? The first is to raise taxes. No politician wants to raise taxes at a time when the economy is fragile and the danger of a recession looms before us. The second is to cut or reduce government services, programs which are considered necessary for supporting our societal needs. These are expressed euphuistically by speaking of realizing efficiencies. The third and last choice is to borrow funds which brought us to this situation in the first place.

Creating money by accepting debt is our current banking system, which goes against the law of the Lord, which does not permit the charging of interest. I read in the paper this weekend that Ontario’s annual debt service cost is 37 billion dollars, ranking with the cost of health care or education. With that amount of money, could Toronto’s transportation problems be solved? I think so and other infrastructure problems as well!

Cutting expenses at the federal, provincial or municipal level means cutting jobs and that definitely is a “hit” to the economy. It also means that our infrastructure maintenance and replacement must wait while its deterioration continues unabated. It also means that our support costs in the form of welfare increases. Is everything moving in the wrong direction? In a word, “Yes!”

Do we have an example of the Lord’s system or regard for instruction. In my opinion, “Yes!” A Canadian retail chain called Canadian Tire produces a script “money” which is used within their organization as money. In straight talk, it can be used to buy from their stores. This technique has been used by governments in the past to fund projects which could not be funded by the usual means.

Let me use the example of Toronto funding its subway construction by this means. First, the council would formulate a by-law authorizing the amount of script to be issued and in what denominations, $10, $20, $100 and $1,000 as examples. Next, the by-law would require all Toronto businesses and people to accept the script as the equivalent of money and accept it as payment for goods and services. Finally, the city must accept the script as payment for taxes. The city would introduce the script by paying salaries and contracts with it. When the project was over the script would find its way back to the city in the form of taxes and be taken out of circulation.

I know this is a simplistic statement but professional money people could sort out the details. If this would work for Toronto, why would it not work for the province or the federal government? It would, but it would be the same money we use today except that it would not be authorized by DEBT! I recall that a former finance minister, Donald MacDonald, heading a task force suggested that there be a one-time issue of fifty billion dollars into circulation to add stimulus to the economy and solve infrastructure problems that persisted then as they do now.

Which of us agrees that spending and doing less will solve the debt problem? Then why are we embarking on this fruitless quest? The current financial system is broken and, like Humpty Dumpty, it is not about to be put together again. Let us try the Lord’s system, which is based on the eternal laws of the Creator and designed to control man’s greed and lack of compassion.

We have seen the motto, “In God we trust.” But, do we?