Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom has written this great editorial on the growing gap between rich and poor. The blame is rightfully put on neo-liberalism and all the hell it entails, free-trade/globalization, tax cuts for the rich, the gutting of social service, and the difficulty workers face when trying to organize a union. I also liked at the end he identifies that the attitude many take toward the poor is clouded by their Calvinist morality. "We ask ourselves why we should feel sorry for people who wear nose rings or drink beer.
We expect the poor to shut up and be grateful."
As a result of Walkom's routinely provocative and nuanced columns, he will now be linked in the 'anyone whose anyone reads' section. Here's a startling sample of Walkom's analysis found.
"Currently, the richest 20 per cent of families hold about 44 per cent of after-tax national income. That's up from 1995 when the income share going to the top fifth was 42 per cent. Conversely, after taxes and subsidies (such as welfare or employment insurance), the poorest 20 per cent have only about 5 per cent of income. They are relatively poorer than they were in the '80s. They are relatively poorer than they were even 10 years ago when their share of income was slightly higher at 6 per cent. As for the middle 60 per cent of families, they too are slipping behind."
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The trendy way to insult someone is tack "neo" onto the front of the name of their political affiliations, without much thought or description as to what that might actually mean. It sounds derogatory, and that's enough.
What are you, some kind of neosocialist?
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