Kanadier bevorzugen mehr Schulden gegenüber höheren Steuern, um erhöhte Militärausgaben zu finanzieren

Of course they would. Much easier sacrifice future generations‘ wealth than actually pay for what something costs.

Oh boy, this article was fun to read. Some highlights:

> The Nanos Research survey conducted for The Globe and Mail found nearly half of Canadians surveyed support the debt option, with 49 per cent either supporting or somewhat supporting it. The split is 15 per cent supporting the approach and 34 per cent somewhat supporting it. On the other hand, 46 per cent say they would somewhat oppose or oppose increasing the national debt to pay for an increase in military capacity – 22 per cent for “somewhat oppose” and 24 per cent for “oppose.”

Truly, shocking news here. Folks want more spending but don’t want to pay for it. Or, more appropriately, they want their children to pay for it.

And:

> Respondents aged 55 and over were more likely to support debt financing for defence, with 61 per cent backing the idea. Meanwhile, 46 per cent of those aged 35 to 54 supported the idea. Thirty-six per cent of those aged 18 to 34 supported it.

I really try to resist the intergenerational griping. Boomers aren’t out to get younger folks, as I’ve said elsewhere, generally, folks are decent and kind. But sometimes I see a result like this and I really wonder. The wealthiest generation doesn’t want to pay more for defense spending (which they support), but they are okay with putting it on the credit card for their children and grandchildren to take care of.

And I think that is the reason I posted this article. The findings in the poll aren’t surprising but it is another piece of evidence that Canadian voters aren’t reasonable. We want higher spending, lower taxes, and less debt, and our politicians are too afraid to tell us no.

We won’t ever resolve our systemic, structural problems in how our government functions, or the deep structural concern with our economy if we can’t have reasonable conversations on public spending.

Well, a 5% military budget is preposterously high, especially when Canadian healthcare and cost of living is already strained, and Canada’s economic model is under-performing and seems to have an uncertain future. Why is it shocking that Canadians do not want higher taxes to pay for this in that context?

Higher taxes in this environment are going to burden younger Canadians further, and further dampen Canada’s growth prospects.