The York U Manifesto

Vincent J. Curtis

16 Nov 22

RE: Is there no other alternative?  Op-ed by Dennis Raphael, professor of health policy at York University, and Tora Bryant, associate professor of health sciences at Ontario Tech University.  The Hamilton Spectator 16 Nov 22.

Like straight out of 1848 comes this call for socialism in the old, manifesto style.  As if old was but brand new, and it was time finally to give it a try.  As if the 20^th century never happened, and 100 million people hadn’t died on the altar of socialism.  Luckily, not all of us were born yesterday and enjoy life in the ivory tower.

The most successful socialist country ever is the People’s Republic of China.  How’s its record on the environment?  China produces thirty percent of the world’s CO2 emissions and it’s growing both in volume and proportion.  Chinese industrial centers are famously enshrouded by clouds of pollution.  Chernobyl is another monument to the excellence of socialism.

If you were to describe the Chinese model of socialism, it would be as “unfettered capitalism” with all due regard for the needs of the Party and the Regime.  Post-capitalism looks a lot like old fashioned industrialization.  The Chinese model is highly profitable in the world because it relies on slave labor.  Its handling of COVID outbreaks leaves much to be desired even by Canadian cultural standards.

The common element of philosophical ideologies is that nowhere do they touch reality.  They are proof against empirical evidence, because empiricism pertains to the real world, and reality is often harsh to ideology.

This new call for socialism is simply another example of an ideology being proof against empirical evidence.

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