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Statistics Canada says income gap hit record high in first quarter (www.ctvnews.ca)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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[–] 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I agree with the sentiment, but I'm getting tired of the "eat the rich" slogan.

Unless someone is gonna go full Luigi, the reality is more like "reform tax and investment law!" which sounds way less cool, but way more attainable.

Like I said, I agree, but "eat the rich" doesn't seem actionable. We can vote people in to change those stupid laws in the next election cycle. "Eat the rich" doesn't have a clear next step.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    I'm really jaded on whether reforming tax and investment law is a sustainable solution. Because the countries that did that are all trending in the direction of reversing those changes as capital accumulates and gains power over the political system and people (voters) themselves. Even in high union density places like Finland where unions and reformist socialist policy have slowed this process you can see people electing governments on austerity for the many. A policy squarely favouring their rich class. This speaks to erosion of the understanding of why the previous regulatory regime was introduced, who it benefitted, what would be the long term results of abandoning it, how things were before it. And this erosion isn't random. There's all sorts of information channels through which the rich convince people in explanations about the world that favour the rich. I hope there is some ingredient that if added would avoid this in the future for a very long time, but I'm not too hopeful. High prevalence of worker co-ops perhaps. I don't know. Jaded I tell you!

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's hard not to be jaded. In the past few decades it seemed like we might be able to make progress on climate change. But now we've fallen into a weird right wing rut, where people seem to vote squarely against their own best interests.

    I dunno. I think everyone was implicitly on board with neoliberalism for a couple of decades, and now they find themselves poorer and lower status than before. So they blame the trappings of big-L liberal parties, scream that they want woke to end, and shoot themselves in the foot.

    But yeah. I gotta hope!

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    people see to vote squarely against their own best interests<

    So much of this it is unbelievable. I have a buddy who has been unemployed his whole life, lives with his mom, who both rely extensively on physical and mental health services while both collecting disability pay. He is also bisexual. He is a trump supporter and votes conservstive in every level of election. I literally cannot comprehend it.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    I appreciate the thoughtful reply. However, I believe you have misunderstood my intentions towards a path forward. Allow me to clarify.

    I am saying the 1%, in a madness driven fit of misguided self-interest, lead us inexorably to a world that has exceeded our planetary boundaries and must collapse due to its unsustainable nature. 8 billion people and counting on a finite planet that is degrading rapidly due to pollution, resource depletion and climate change, to name a few, is going to have A LOT of hungry people.

    In this brave new world, famine will be a more prevalent phenomena. There is a reason why Bill Gates, Blackrock and everyone else are huge holders of farmland. It's why Russia wants Ukraine. As Leonard Cohen once observed, "Everybody Knows".

    I am saying, when you, your family and your community are priced out of food due to multiple simultaneuous global breadbasket failures due to climate change occur, here is a simple and just solution - eat the rich.

    Dry rubbed, woodsmoked, char-grilled rich people. It's what's for dinner. I suggest an oil rub with cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, mustard powder and onion powder. Cook it low and slow around 225F.

    Doesn't matter if you are their fitness trainer, gardener, handyman or private security or just some dude who never met them until your fateful meal. Eat hardy while you can.

    Bon appétit!

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