Would the Owner of the Responsibility of Poverty Please Stand Up

James Moore has apologized for his comments on poverty though I'm not really sure exactly which part he's apologizing for, his views or the way he expressed his views (the government's views?). However, apology or no apology I think I can safely assert that his comment regarding where responsibility (doesn't) lie is representative of the current government and his views.

That's not really a stretch. It's typical conservative ideology, not surprising. It's interesting though that the ownership of responsibility never seems to come into focus when it comes to advertising for a single industry for instance? Is that the government's responsibility?

Why is the government going to the trouble of spending tax dollars on advertising in the first place? Because the oilsands have a provable, public, abysmal track record which has earned them the reputation they have which oddly brings us to a failed responsibility never performed by the government in extending the time for tailings reclamation instead of giving them all an 'F', for fail.

However, contrast that with BlackBerry whose public track record is equally public, provable, abysmal (in terms of performance), but are they receiving any P.R. support from the government? They're being attacked by "foreigners" (Samsung, Apple, et al) but do you see any Ethical Phones campaign?

Do you see $2billion dollar innovation subsidies being offered to BlackBerry to maintain competitive like government gave industry for CCS? Of course I know many industries beyond oil and gas receive subsidies but my point here is these are extraneous "subsidies" and not only that, but very direct in their interference (collusion) with industry. Select industry. Is that the government's responsibility?

Is it the government's responsibility to commercialize foreign policy (weapons sales) because it's "something business leaders have been urging"? Is it the government's responsibility to help banks that made bad bets? No...

It is, however, the government's responsibility to not undermine the economic mobility of it's population. It is the government's responsibility to not undermine the economic system with corrupt currency. It is the government's responsibility to uphold national sovereignty, no matter what "business leaders" think about the idea.

There's a lot of responsibility to go around though. Maybe if us, the Canadian people, actually stood for something - for anything other than profits, profits, and profits, we'd actually have a government that reflects that. Everything that's happening, is happening because we've allowed it to happen. Poverty is happening because we allow it to happen, because we do not address the underlying Ponzi scheme. Giving to charity will NEVER eliminate poverty. It's nice to do, it helps the impoverished endure being impoverished, but it is not a cure. So long as the monetary system exists as it does there is no cure, it is a system failure, a mathematical impossibility. Our acceptance of this system is the inherent acceptance of the existence and implied necessity of poverty.

Fixing that is everyone's responsibility, even Minister Moore's.

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Richard Fantin is a self-taught software developer who has mostly throughout his career focused on financial applications and high frequency trading. He currently works for CenturyLink

Nazayh Zanidean is a Project Coordinator for a mid-sized construction contractor in Calgary, Alberta. He enjoys writing as a hobby on topics that include foreign policy, international human rights, security and systemic media bias.