Ryan: Thanks for taking a look at the TDG. Very few people are open minded to look at alternvatives to western democracy.

In politics, we have a tendency not to see a storm coming until we get the thunder and hail. The mass media in December, whether hysteria or reasoned thought, were telling us something funny was happening in China. But western politicians could not react in time. Canada shut things down a week earlier than the USA and for that, we are seeing a much lower per-capita case load than the USA. But I wouldn’t give our politicians a reward for being proactive.

My degree is petroleum engineering — and I have 12 years in the Canadian oil business. While I have sympathy for this industry, I recognized early in my career that this industry needed to slowly wind itself down. I have always been an advocate for a higher gasoline tax — to discourage consumption and invest in greener technologies. But such a tax is not politically feasible. Such poor planning!

The TDG politicians are not concerned about re-election. If they deem a gasoline tax is in the best interests of society for the long term, they would just enact it. And the TDG would have higher credibility than today’s politicians. So citizerns might grumble about more taxes, but they would realize that there might be good reasons for the tax. They will adjust their life choices accordingly.

Just imagine if we had put an environmental tax in 1985!

And the TDG will initially start locally. It will likely find more success at the local levels (in Canada, the political parties have little to do with municipal elections — even in big cities like Toronto). But the ultimate goal is to reach higher levels. If the people like TDG decisions better than partisan decisions, they will be willing to put their trust into the TDG.