carepov

Even if everything that we imported from the US was itself imported from another country, the amount of goods from developing countries would be insignificant: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1308yr.html

I call BS on this claim. I call BS on this claim too. Drywall-Canada Paint-USA Wood-Canada Computer-Taiwan? Cell phone-S.Korea Cement-Canada Paper products-Canada Carpet-USA Light bulbs - China? Furniture - Canada Besides, two thirds of our economy are not "things" they are "services". I agree that some stuff would cost more if developing world wages were higher - I disagree that this would negatively impact our standard of living. You said: "Our standard of living is rising on the backs of the world's poor." You've attempted to justify this claim by saying that we have a high standard of living due to cheaper goods produced in developing countries. I challenge you to find any international development report that links "standard of living" to cheap goods. Ask yourself, aren't the same cheap goods available in Canada, Mexico, Romania, Kenya, and Bangladesh? Why then is there such a variation in "standard of living"? (note: I understand if you choose not to continue your argument)

With protests and banners in front of the famous Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace is getting a taste of their own medicine. The issue is that Greenpeace is opposing Golden Rice, here is their position: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/agriculture/problem/genetic-engineering/Greenpeace-and-Golden-Rice/#2 Here are the arguments of the pro-Golden Rice advocates - led by Patrick Moore: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/by-opposing-golden-rice-greenpeace-defies-its-own-values-and-harms-children/article14742332/ http://www.allowgoldenricenow.org/ Who to believe? One example: GP says: “Despite all the hype surrounding GE 'Golden' rice, it still remains unproven whether daily consumption of GE 'Golden' rice would actually improve the vitamin A status of people who are deficient (2).” Moore says: “This, along with studies on human uptake of beta-carotene from Golden Rice, now provides proof Golden Rice will be effective in preventing vitamin A deficiency with a cup of rice per day.19” I believe Moore and call on all Greenpeace supporters to withdraw their support and to ask the Greenpeace to change their position on Golden Rice.

Canadian households spent an average of $53,016 on all types of goods and services in 2010. Shelter: 28.3% Transportation for 20.7% Food, 14.0% Clothing [and accessories]: 6.5% Health care, 4.1% Communications, 3.3%. Other (entertainment, travel, various services, some other stuff): 23.1% Other than the bolded items, what "huge proportion" of goods would increase in cost? You are clearly over-estimating Canadian household spending on imported goods and also the amount of imported good from developing countries: Canada's imports in 2012 were about 30% as large as GDP. From Which Countries Does the Canada Import Goods? http://www.investorsfriend.com/Canadian%20GDP%20Canadian%20imports%20and%20exports.htm All imported goods from "all other countries" account for 0.19 x 0.3 = 5.7 % of Canada's GDP.

I'm thinking about it - but all I'm getting is this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/No._5%2C_1948.jpg Ah yes, nothing demonstrates "Canada's accommodation" and "King's understanding" like the 1941 internment of Japanese Canadians!

OK, let's play your game and say that clothing prices double because wages go up to ~$8/h. How would this impact Candian standard of living? Canadian households spent an average of $53,016 on all types of goods and services in 2010. Of this total, shelter accounted for 28.3% of spending, transportation for 20.7%, and food, 14.0%. Spending on clothing [and accessories] represented 6.5% of the total, health care, 4.1%, and communications, 3.3%. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/120425/dq120425a-eng.htm If we assume that all clothing purchased in Canda is today imported from sweat shops, and if Canadians baught the same amount of clothing then the average household would spend an ectra 6.5% or $3445 per year on clothing. However, Candians surely would buy fewer clothes and buy more used clothes. IMO the impact on our standard of living would be negligable.

If you can, please provide evidence to support this claim.

A $30 pair of jeans will cost $30. The main point is: who cares? How does your question about jeans support your claim that "Our standard of living is rising on the backs of the world's poor."? Are you saying that our standard of living is improving in the West because imported goods are getting cheaper? Are the world's poor increasing as a percentage of the population? Are the poor getting poorer?

$30 I am still waiting for evidence that: "Our standard of living is rising on the backs of the world's poor."

I agree with your views. However, the 2006 election does not fit. How did Martin's Liberals loose in 2006?

Things are already changing in China, it is becoming a middle-income country and labour costs are already more expensive than many other countries. As I learned in the previous link, the key to continues economic stability and sustained growth is increased consumption of the newly created middle-class. "In our scenario, China, which accounts for only 4 percent of global middle class spending today (enough to be the 7th largest middle class country in the world) could catapult up the global table to become the largest single middle class market by 2020, surpassing the United States." http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2010/3/china%20middle%20class%20kharas/03_china_middle_class_kharas.pdf There are no certain outcomes, but Japan did it, South Korea did it, other Asian Tigers did it. Mexico and Brazil are doing it too. Yes there were economic setbacks, and yes there will likely be a "bust", but the standard of living in these countries is a story of impressive progress over the last 50 years.

No I am not kidding, but surely you jest when you predict a long term decline in living standards due to a rising middle class and increased worker wages. Yes the "situation in Bangladesh is deplorable". Moonlight and I had this discussion in the Bangladesh thread. However, forty years ago life was much worse than deplorable: http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/BGD.html

You will find these articles interesting: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/datablog/2013/jan/30/developing-world-middle-class-growing http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2010/3/china%20middle%20class%20kharas/03_china_middle_class_kharas.pdf In these articles there is plenty of evidence of a growing middle class in the developing world. There is also a good description about consumption in China. There is plenty of good news but there are also many valid concerns (inequality, environmental issues). Your turn, can you show any evidence of this?

Perhaps, but I strongly doubt it. Voters will be forced to select a "new guy" for PM. IMO, these days most voters prefer the status quo and if there is no status quo option they may as well go with Trudeau as the "new guy" - at least his last name is familiar. IMO, the next CPC leader will be Jason Kenney.

Agreed. Starting from December 2008 (opposition coalition pact) right up to the eve of the 2011 election I thought it would be impossible for the CPC to form a majority the way that they were ostracising the Quebecois. The CPC proved us wrong, getting a strong, stable majority with only five seats in Quebec. Why would it be any different in 2015?

You make many excellent points and I respect your ideas (B.), but sometimes your choice in words is below average (C-): the word "only" means "exclusive". Perhaps you should work on your writting.

You seem to be stuck on this "reference to the average". When a teacher tells a parent that Johny should work on "x" - then isn't it implied that his "x" is below average? OK, I must have misunderstood you earlier when you wrote:

The CPC will need to weigh two options: Go with a "damaged" Harper or go with a new leader. IMO, going with a new leader would be suicidal for the CPC in the next election. First of all, it will give the impression to all voters that the scandal was actually a huge scandal and cause even more damage. More importantly, it will mean that the "status quo" option will be taken away from voters. IMO, the "devil we know" vote is huge especially when the economy is in relatively decent shape - look at the Alberta and BC elections where, despite the polls, the "status quo" kicked ass. 2015 Prediction: Harper-led CPC majority (strong and stable), subject to no significant increase in unemployment.

Well since you seem to be defining all assessment and feedback as a "grade" then you are right - we need "grades". You make some very good points, thank you. The ideas that "learning should be fun" and "kids should learn at their own pace/in their own way", "motivation should come from within" are admittedly idealistic and cannot apply to all situations. However, IMO, when educating kids we should keep them in mind and try to stick to these ideals first before jumping into the "carrot and stick" approach. For example, my understanding is that there are a lot of kids, especially young boys, that have trouble reading. Instead of firing off some bribes or threats, I heard of a class that ordered rocking chairs for the boys (they had trouble sitting still) and more interesting content. If a child is interested in bugs but not math (who can blame them!) well there are countless ways to sneak in math into entomology and "trick" them into learning math. Like you said, there are no magic bullets to get kids interested, but we should be firing off a few rounds before pulling out the bribes/threats.

I understand what you are saying, and mostly agree, except that you are using some terms that I do not think are correct: average: a better term would be "normal range". For example "Most babies take their first steps sometime between 9 and 12 months and are walking well by the time they're 14 or 15 months old. Don't worry if your child takes a little longer, though. Some perfectly normal children don't walk until they're 16 or 17 months old." http://www.babycenter.com/0_developmental-milestone-walking_6507.bc assigning a grade: I still never heard of babies/toddlers getting graded I strongly disagree that parents need a ranking to understand how their child is doing. Yes, parents need to know what concepts and skills their child need to work on. This is way more useful than a grade. For example, a child can be "above average" in math, but can be weak in their understanding of shapes. This could lead to problems in geometry later on. The more I think about it the more that I like Mighty AC's suggestions about "mastery of concepts". It's like riding a bike. You either get it or you don't. Who cares if you learn at 4 or 9 years old? Who cares how fast you can ride? Most importantly (notwithstanding safety of course), does the child want to learn and is the child having fun learning? Learning is fun and natural (not as you claim "hard work" that lazy humans try to avoid). For some reason, over time, adults make it not fun through their threats, bribes, stress and other roadblocks. Helping kids learn when they are having fun makes education way easier and more effective. Some competition is good but when it is over-done then school/sports /life becomes less fun. It's not fun knowing that you are "below average" year after year. It's also no fun getting told that you are on the "honour roll" your whole life and then realizing that it means jack-shit in the real world.

No, I wouldn't call doctors' tracking development milestones "grading". If anything, this model is more like what Migthy AC was suggesting: you either get a concept / acquire a skill or you don't. There is no grade given for ability to sit up, stand up, walk, realize that hidden objects have not disapeared from existence, talk, walk, toilet train, conservation, etc... Sure it is important to know signs that something may be wrong - but this is not grading. Again, my logic is that we can (and do) assess a child's development without assigning grades.

Of course we always want to evaluate progress and my point was that we do this for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers without report cards or grades. And we evaluate a child's progress (hopefully) without the child knowing about it or comparing herself to others. Grades, percentiles and rankings are not the only way to evaluate progress and in some many cases are not the best way. Once a child becomes aware of their rankings, I think that there are dangers to labelling children as "below average" in any subject or skill - especially if the child is just taking longer to develop. I also do not see how elementary teachers can be "more scientific in their evaluations" - can you give an example.

Grading, ranking, rewarding, awarding, labelling. I am not arguing that these should be done away with but we should definately think about reducing the time and effort dedicated to these activities and thinking about the potentially harmful side-effects. At the one end of the spectrum, high school, I probably agree with you that grades are necessary for parental involvement and for university entrance. At the other end, surely you agree that toddlers and pre-schoolers should not be graded/ranked on their education/development. (Is it true that half of life's learning is done before the age of 5?) Grades 1-6? I don't think that grades are necessary for parents to know how their child is doing compared to the average. A parent-teacher talk should do the trick. I think that grading/ranking/awarding at this age does more harm than good. What do you think? Junior high? hmmm... I don't know.

I came accross this guy. He seems to have some very good ideas about education and parenting. "Grades don’t prepare children for the “real world” -- unless one has in mind a world where interest in learning and quality of thinking are unimportant. Nor are grades a necessary part of schooling, any more than paddling or taking extended dictation could be described that way." http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/tcag.htm http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm

I would like to see even a single example of a country that implemented a free trade agreement that resulted in their standard of living going down. Pick any country, developed or undeveloped, and any reasonable measure(s) of "standard of living".