Groupthink: a pattern of thought characterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of consent, and conformity to group values and ethics.
Ontario Liberals continue to debase the Employer/Employee relationship through destructive policy and laws. This damages the middle class through businesses having less money to compensate employees for their increased productivity due to forcing businesses to manage these senseless laws.
If Sally makes $25/hour for making Widget A and the government forces a new cost, regulation, or law on the Province, the business uses a portion of its free cash-flow to spend on managing said obstruction. Sally may actually improve her productivity resulting in a $26/hour compensation possibility. Regrettably, that $1/hour available raise was spent on implementing the intrusive regulation and therefore the raise is tied up in regulation land. Since this is province-wide, all businesses now have that burden. Law after law and regulation after regulation has taken its toll on Ontario businesses.
The constant new laws and regulations are not sensible. They are predicated on a groupthink mindset that the Employer/Employee relationship is dysfunctional and only massive government intrusion into that relationship will protect the employee. The cost of this intrusion damages employee wages. Capital flows into areas of a return and quickly exits where there is a negative or insufficient return. The myth that "employers pay for the cost of regulation implementation" is debunked by businesses leaving when the regulation impacts their desired profit level or risk tolerance. The employee pays through the layoff or absent wage increase. Businesses look to pass off the regulatory burden however they can: either through reduced wages, terminated employees or moving to a more "capital friendly" area. There is clear evidence that restaurants are moving towards machines replacing people when ordering food as governments force increased minimum wages on employers. There is evidence of manufacturing plants leaving Ontario because they lose their competitive edge (in part because of the regulations and risks of growth).
Groupthink is at work in that the workforce and political landscape of the collective majority have mindlessly accepted this notion that the government will control and govern the Employer/Employee relationship and enforce the relationship with an iron fist. It is argued that more regulations are the only path to violations of each victim class (and new victim classes are continually being created). The idea that excessive government laws can create safe spaces for the purported victim class is an expensive, unrealistic objective that will certainly fail. The lack of opposition to the endless regulations is further evidence that little alternative opinions are accepted and the status quo is the only permissible line of thinking. The demagogues are hard at work to uphold groupthink and brand the outlier as "sexist", "racist", "greedy" or "a violator of human rights"...etc. to ensure no alternate perspective exists or can gain steam. If I were smart enough; I would calculate the total cost business pays for each needless regulation and the total cost of the governments to administer and enforce their silly laws and simply communicate to the voter, "Hey, this is how much money the government punitively imposes on you...for your protection. Do you want this protection at this cost?" I'd imagine that numbers are staggering and most sensible workers would tell the government to jump in a lake if they saw the costs.
A just and fair society is created through increasing personal freedoms. Imagine deeming the employee competent to look after themselves (without excessive laws). Imagine the government did not create special victim classes and the lack of regulation could be spent on higher wages because people are responsible for their lives. The massive debt piled on by the McGuinty/Wynne administration is damning evidence as to their overall failure to create this "sharing and just" society. $180 billion of debt to show for this fairness effort...and we are still having issue after issue resulting in new law after new law. Liberal Groupthink is a failed and expensive social experiment that has left our province in shambles and intellectually disadvantaged. Suppressed wages, out of control debt and absurd regulations are making our province less and less competitive.
