Luxury beliefs - the new Liberal status symbols
Liberals faux compassion is a sneering contempt for those they claim are oppressed
In his classic 1899 book economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the phrase “conspicuous consumption” to characterize the snobbery of the elite class and their need to display their wealth and power in their choices of clothing, jewelry, homes and cars. Modesty was absent and the elites wanted everyone to know they were successful.
Today, billionaires prefer to wear hoodies, torn blue jeans, T-shirts and ragged clothing so they can disappear among crowds. My late friend Barry Sherman used to drive a ten year old rusting Pontiac despite being one of Canada’s richest men and chose a modest two bedroom condominium at Collingwood’s Ruperts Landing development as his vacation home. Barry and his wife Honey were the farthest things from snobs I could imagine.
Not so with Justin Trudeau and Canada’s Liberal elite ruling class whose members don’t actually have the wealth Barry earned through his own work. Today’s “elite” snobs not only aspire to wealth but also evidence a moral superiority over the working class whom they despise. Unwilling or incapable of actual moral superiority and uninterested in parting with any portion of what wealth they hold, they turned to what I have heard Jordan Peterson call “luxury beliefs” that they can flaunt as evidence that they must be “good persons”.
It is not hard to identify the luxury beliefs. Universally those beliefs deal with social problems far larger and more complex than their efforts could possibly correct so their beliefs were safe from any accountability for outcomes. Some examples of Liberal luxury beliefs are:
“White privilege” which is the snobbish claim that anyone who has been successful in accumulating actual wealth was aided by the color of their skin if they were Caucasian
“Climate change” where they can pretend they want to “save the planet” secure in the knowledge that they have no influence over Earth’s climate. They feel good when they can rage against a vital industry calling oil & gas “dirty” and label CO2 emissions (on which all life on Earth depends) as a “pollutant” and harmful, while suppressing the construction of necessary pipelines for Canadian energy companies to punish Western Canada, an area which Liberals have detested for its very existence since Confederation.
“Racism” which labels anyone with a different skin color as a victim, excuses poor economic outcomes and rampant crime and drug abuse in certain communities as the results of “oppression”, and, ignores the successes a majority of people of color have earned in Canada, a tolerant society where effort is rewarded.
“Indigenous reconciliation” which is the claim that Canadians living today owe something to First Nations people alive today for injustices done to First Nations people hundreds of years ago regardless of the fact that most Canadians today emigrated to Canada or were born here long after any of the “injustices” done to indigenous Canadians happened; have never done anything unjust to any First Nation person; and, have no idea what those injustices were are why they were unjust at the time they were done.
“Homophobia” which is an assertion that LGBTQ people in Canada suffer prejudice despite annual parades to celebrate their sexuality; their presence in Parliament, Legislatures and the Senate and at all levels of management in private corporations and in Canada’s professions.
Liberal Canada is full of trust fund babies like our Prime Minister whose condescending demeanor and pretense of empathy and compassion are a veneer that hides a corrupt politician who ensures Liberal supporters, family and friends all feed at the public trough. Trudeau revels in the power to mandate restrictions on the freedoms of working Canadians that damage their livelihoods and mental health while he jets off to vacation with the Aga Khan and crushes the opposing voices of competent women in Cabinet like Jody Wilson-Raybould or Jane Philpott whose “crime” was to resist his provision of special favors to SNC Lavalin rather than prosecute that company’s admitted corruption.
The nadir of Liberal “luxury beliefs” was seen in Trudeau’s ordering flags to half-mast and kneeling at the unmarked grave of a residential school child, while ignoring six year old promises to ensure safe drinking water was present for all First Nations communities, a task that any competent business leader could have remedied within the confines of a single year. He couldn’t wait for any formal investigation to determine whether these unmarked graves comprised the deaths of people who died of tuberculosis, smallpox or natural causes because the “luxury belief” that they resulted from indignities suffered by indigenous children was too valuable to waste.
I believe it is only a matter of time before Liberal Canada creates badges of honor to allow the leading members of the Liberal elite to be identified without having to brag about their luxury beliefs. It has already started with awards of the Order of Canada to a number of Canadians whose “luxury beliefs” have earned them recognition:
Eddy Carmack, Saanichton, B.C. For his contributions to climate oceanography and for expanding our understanding of the Arctic Ocean and its role as an exemplar for climate change.
Jean-Charles Coutu, Rouyn-Noranda, Que. For his contributions to the legal profession in the area of Indigenous justice and for his community involvement.
Christine M. Morrissey, Vancouver. For her advocacy on behalf of 2SLGBTQ+ immigrants and refugees.
James V. Scott, Ottawa and Toronto. For his leadership in advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and for his advocacy of restorative justice.
Anne Innis Dagg, Waterloo, Ont. and Hoedspruit, South Africa. For her contributions to the modern scientific understanding of the giraffe, through which she has helped enhance the field of animal behaviour science.
Paying lip service to climate change, indigenous suffering, and historic prejudices against gay Canadians is now a central part of the Liberal platform, but celebrating scientific advance in the study of giraffes is hard to justify as a contribution to Canada unless there is a secret society of giraffes hidden somewhere North of Mississauga and hidden from the sight of Canadians.