A few weeks ago, there was a feel-good story about an individual's against- all the odds survival in extreme conditions, which the news media leapt all over like a dog greeting a long absent master.
Good day John. I thank you, on behalf of all “foolish oldsters” dreaming of “utopian fantasies”, for once again bringing truth-by-experience. Well written as always.
Maybe you are right, I know that my grandfather was very poor, my dad was quite poor, I grew up lower middle class and now am probably upper middle (helps to marry a doctor) and I can't assume the same fortunate growth. Can't argue about homelessness. It's also true in Vancouver and in Toronto we are having violent attacts on people from the homeless. I wrote for a magazine on the homeless and my impression was that they are not so far away from me, a job loss, an addiction, a crushing bureavment, there but for the grace . . and in Toronto our rent prices are insane, it truly is creating a divide betwee homeowners and impoverished renters. The loss of manufacturing jobs and their replacement by low paying service work seems to be the fuel for Trump, our education system is a disaster in Canada, it's all based on empty credentials and greed, and it is worse for you in the US. I am not optimistic, social media is increasing tribalism, we have Trump, Biden, Trudeau here, all rich spoiled entitled incompetents. And Biden is probably the best of them.
The only issue is that the Gini coefficient isn't changing and that poverty is in decline, and that most of the metrics of well being have been improving over the last 50 years. The big problem is that democracy is in decline and that foolish students and oldsters that should know better are reverting to utopian fantasies that having the state control the means of production will this time work out. In Canada our government thinks itself wise, they dole out huge amounts of corporate pork, the support MMT and looks what's happening? We are getting poorer. Next year spending on interest on such gems as 30 million $ gifts to a German companies and more entitlement spending will mean we spend more on interest than health care. But let's give more power to these socialist darlings, who funny enough tend to come very wealthy backgrounds and who have little work experience.
I think that you might be looking at cherry picked statistics about poverty being in decline. I sense that those statistics are looking rosy because some people have fallen so far that they aren’t being counted any longer. My home city of SF had a few homeless in the 80s, in the 90s it was abysmal, and now it’s Calcutta. My adopted home, Florence, had almost no homelessness when I arrived 20 years ago. Now its looking like 1990s San Francisco. I have watched in horror as Italy has increasingly embraced American style politics, becoming effectively a 2 party state (a center right and a hard right) - and I knew what I had run away from was going to arrive sooner rather than later.
Good day John. I thank you, on behalf of all “foolish oldsters” dreaming of “utopian fantasies”, for once again bringing truth-by-experience. Well written as always.
Cheers!
Billion not million.
As in a billion people are struggling?
Maybe you are right, I know that my grandfather was very poor, my dad was quite poor, I grew up lower middle class and now am probably upper middle (helps to marry a doctor) and I can't assume the same fortunate growth. Can't argue about homelessness. It's also true in Vancouver and in Toronto we are having violent attacts on people from the homeless. I wrote for a magazine on the homeless and my impression was that they are not so far away from me, a job loss, an addiction, a crushing bureavment, there but for the grace . . and in Toronto our rent prices are insane, it truly is creating a divide betwee homeowners and impoverished renters. The loss of manufacturing jobs and their replacement by low paying service work seems to be the fuel for Trump, our education system is a disaster in Canada, it's all based on empty credentials and greed, and it is worse for you in the US. I am not optimistic, social media is increasing tribalism, we have Trump, Biden, Trudeau here, all rich spoiled entitled incompetents. And Biden is probably the best of them.
The only issue is that the Gini coefficient isn't changing and that poverty is in decline, and that most of the metrics of well being have been improving over the last 50 years. The big problem is that democracy is in decline and that foolish students and oldsters that should know better are reverting to utopian fantasies that having the state control the means of production will this time work out. In Canada our government thinks itself wise, they dole out huge amounts of corporate pork, the support MMT and looks what's happening? We are getting poorer. Next year spending on interest on such gems as 30 million $ gifts to a German companies and more entitlement spending will mean we spend more on interest than health care. But let's give more power to these socialist darlings, who funny enough tend to come very wealthy backgrounds and who have little work experience.
I think that you might be looking at cherry picked statistics about poverty being in decline. I sense that those statistics are looking rosy because some people have fallen so far that they aren’t being counted any longer. My home city of SF had a few homeless in the 80s, in the 90s it was abysmal, and now it’s Calcutta. My adopted home, Florence, had almost no homelessness when I arrived 20 years ago. Now its looking like 1990s San Francisco. I have watched in horror as Italy has increasingly embraced American style politics, becoming effectively a 2 party state (a center right and a hard right) - and I knew what I had run away from was going to arrive sooner rather than later.