If you carry the biggest stick

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…you no longer need to ask for what you want!

Did you hear the collective sigh of relief? You know, that giant “whew” …the one that occurred right around midnight on Monday! For those of you who missed it, that was the sound of millions of voices as Canadians filed tax returns by the deadline. And as we all know, that deadline is a serious issue considering the 250% fine, daily interest and risk of being carted off to jail more expediently than any car thief, child molester, drug dealer, terrorist or murderer would be …after all, the government HAS told the judiciary that ‘jail should be a last resort’ …unless of course it’s a tax-related issue! National priorities, you know!

Now it occurs to me, your humble Feudal Serf, that fair should be fair …right? That being so, since we agree, we can certainly expect (as a matter of course) that all the lolly doled out via the AdScam program will be subject to the same rules …250% fine, daily interest on every nickel since its beginning and if Mr. Martin, Mr. Chretien and the rest of the crew on the Liberal gravy boat do not pay up within 90 days …off to jail with them. Right? Rules are rules …we’re all equals under the law ..right?

Excuse me …did I hear you say “wrong”? No, no ... it can’t be wrong! After all, we live in a ‘democracy’ and our civil ‘servants’ couldn't possibly have different rules than the rest of us do … we never told them they could operate that way. They do?? They did what?? They made rules especially for themselves? How did they do that? We’re a democracy with a constitution and all so it can’t possibly be so! It is? Welcome to feudalism!

Next thing you know we’ll be seeing “conscripted labour” …that’s pretty feudal too! Of course I’m being very cynical …right? What? … I’m wrong again?? We do have conscripted labour? No way! We’re a democracy … common law (Anglo-Saxon) and the Magna Carta apply here! Conscripted labour is a form of slavery … that’s outlawed too! I’m sure you’re mistaken ... there’s no such thing in Canada …we’re an enlightened first-world nation that opposes oppressive regimes all over the globe, you know!

Apparently “G.S.T.” actually means Grab Serf’s Time. It would seem that anyone collecting GST for Ottawa falls under the “Provide Tax Collection Services Or Else” law. Under that 'law' you are required to provide collection, accounting and remittance services with no wage agreement for doing so. Of course, there is the little perk of GST rebates for you in exchange, however that may not be adequate compensation in the final analysis for the time and effort expended. In essence you are being told that you are to work for what is offered and are given no option to refuse if the ‘compensation’ isn’t adequate or acceptable. I wonder what happened to being able to choose who I work for and under what terms and conditions?

All things being equal, it would appear that (by example) you or I are entitled to go into the street and conscript labour (by threat of force if they refuse) and just to make things look good we can offer them a stipend which is not negotiable by them. I wonder how long we’d get away with that before other branches of government we’re hauling us off to the pokey for extortion, uttering threats, violations of labour law and other things … not long, I suspect!

There’s that double standard again ...the one that says “do as we say, not as we do”. The same ethic that says Canadians who can afford to pay for medical procedures can’t … but politicians can do so (at public expense) any time they like. As a matter of fact, if those "in power" set an example then is it not also a precedent that all can quite rightfully follow? Something to think about! As we know, the double-standard examples abound from our so-called “leaders”.

Back when the Serf was being schooled in the ethos of leadership, the bottom line was that you "lead by example”. So perhaps we are faced with correcting a long-standing typographical error! We must forthwith edit all documents past and present, concerning government, and replace all occurrences of the word “leaders” with the correct term “leeches”.

A suggestion for Canada’s new motto:

“ Land of the Fee and Home of the Knave ©”

…after all …that’s the consistent example!

Til Next Time
The Serf