Justin Trudeau gave a speech yesterday to several hundred Windsor, ON high school students. Following in his father's footsteps, the theme presented to those young minds was of course: the evils of capitalism (h/t Uncommon Truths).

Justin Trudeau called on hundreds of high school students in Windsor Wednesday to rethink the capitalist system and reconsider Canada's reputation as a model nation. [...]

Trudeau suggested to the students the capitalist "machine" that sustains modern existence may also become modern civilization's downfall.

The system promotes exploitation of natural resources without accounting for future consequences of consumption, he said.

"Our capitalist model has given us tremendous things," Trudeau said. "But the time has come for us to look at it critically and try to improve on it, given the accelerated pace of change and the fact that we have limited space."

Well, at least we know that he's cut from the same cloth as his father. On the other hand, if I were an inquisitive reporter type, I'd ask Stephane Dion if "rethinking" the capitalist system is official Liberal Party policy.

I'd bet that half the kids in that room have a better understanding of ecenomics than Trudeau does. As Colby Cosh points out:

The prize quote from the Windsor Star's account of his anti-capitalist speech has to be this highlight reel of the chief social and environmental injustices of our time: "We consume more water per capita than anyone else on the planet. We produce more solid waste than just about anyone else on the planet. In terms of social justice, our treatment of our aboriginal communities are an absolute disgrace."

Notice anything about these crimes of "capitalism"? Right — none of them have anything to do with the free market. Water is a resource that has long been allocated by government utilities as a public trust, is generally not covered by classical property rights and is still unpriced for many users; commoditizing it would be an excellent first step toward conservation in places like Alberta, where water is essentially commandeered without limit or unit cost by industry.

Disposal of solid waste is another government-provided service that almost no one is forced to pay a market price for. As for our aboriginal communities, you can go to any reserve and ask the locals whether they consider the Department of Indian Affairs a benign paternal institution that has done an excellent job of protecting them from the tender mercies of capitalism.

Trudeau has his father's rabid socialist streak, and apparently has picked up Al Gore's fanatacism for all things green. Combine these two former leaders and you have a Communists wet-dream come true.

Labels: Capitalism, Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party, Ontario, politics, Stephane Dion