Should housing be a right. That is the question. But the real question is what would that mean and how do we make it more than a token right but an actual effective right. In North America we had this mythology that everyone could own their own home. That has
Continue readingTag: middle class
Views from the Beltline: Conservatives and the elites
New Conservative chief, Erin O’Toole, has recently been singing a popular populist tune. He is greatly concerned about the “elites.” “These elites have only one set of values centred on unchecked globalization [and] political correctness,” Mr. O’Toole argues. Opposed are middle-class Canadians whose values are “rooted in family, home and nation.” The latter have been “betrayed” by “political elites,
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Being a “Boomer”
Generations When I was growing up in the 1950s and onward there was not all this talk about generations that seems to have become a fascination of the last twenty years. Although I became aware of the baby boom and even the term baby boomers (now apparently just boomers), I
Continue readingPolitical Potshots: The Only Thing Middle Class About Andrew Scheer Are His Flowbee Haircuts And Ill-Fitting Suits.
If the 2019 Election is going to be based on pocketbook issues, and affordability – lets look into the pocket book of Andrew Scheer, and how we cannot afford him any longer. Andrew Scheer, quite simply is one of the expensive politicians of all time. The only April Fools are
Continue readingThe Political Road Map: The Middle Class Illusion
Are you middle class? Do you know where the middle class falls within society? Is it someone who earns up to $120,000 or someone averaging around $50,000 annually? Surprisingly, many people do not really know, they believe they fall within the middle class, when in reality they may either be
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Growing the middle class or adapting the elite consensus?
Today’s federal government budget is a litmus test for the new Liberal government. They campaigned on promises of “real change” from the last regime, including a willingness to increase social spending even if it meant running deficit budgets. And, in keeping with this pledge, spending is up, and the deficit is forecast at $29.4 billion. […]
Continue readingLeft Over: The Working Class can Kiss my…
Condos without down payments could be sold by B.C. developer Buyers would get a discount on the price, which would become a virutual down payment CBC News Posted: Jan 12, 2016 9:33 AM PT Last Updated: Jan 12, 2016 9:33 … Continue reading →
Left Over: Justin Case You Forgot the Seniors…
Justin Trudeau answers B.C. voter’s widely shared Facebook letter Casandra Effe wrote to Trudeau with top 10 things she hopes he’ll do as future PM CBC News Posted: Oct 24, 2015 10:50 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 24, 2015 11:17 AM ET http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/ I went to the site, very
Continue readingLeft Over: Justin Case You Forgot the Seniors…
Justin Trudeau answers B.C. voter’s widely shared Facebook letter Casandra Effe wrote to Trudeau with top 10 things she hopes he’ll do as future PM CBC News Posted: Oct 24, 2015 10:50 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 24, 2015 11:17 AM ET http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/ I went to the site, very
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Excuse Me Mr. Mulcair, But What in the Hell are Middle Class Values?
I grew up in a family of the working poor, spending a good portion of my childhood in public housing. My dad did his best to provide for his seven children, but money was tight, and we lived from payday to payday. He supplemented his income by doing a bit
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Political Eh-conomy Radio: Doug Henwood on US economics and politics
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/podcast-141114-doug-henwood.mp3 This week, it’s my great pleasure to present a feature interview with Doug Henwood — economic analyst, author of books including Wall Street and host of the wonderful Behind the News radio show and podcast that inspired this show. Doug always introduces his show by saying his guests will be “taking a look at worlds of
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: The lament for Canada’s middle class
I’ve been posting more sparsely lately for a number of external reasons but this should change soon I hope. For now, here is the first major piece I wrote for Ricochet. In some ways, it’s the obligatory piece on Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, but really it’s my way of
Continue readingCuriosityCat: USA: Elizabeth Warren takes the fight to Wall Street
The Real USA The highly intelligent, courageous and scrappy new senator is not stopping in her fight for the middle class. She is pounding the streets, raising money for long-shot Democrat candidates, and focusing on the rigged stock market that favours the wealthy and has a lock on many elected
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Incredible Shrinking Middle Class Jobs
Here’s what really happened in the USA (and Canada?) over the past five or so years: good jobs disappeared and low-paying service jobs replaced them: Nearly half of the new jobs created since 2008 are low-wage jobs, while 80 percent of the jobs destroyed in the government-inflated real-estate bubble were
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: When You Run Out of Stuff
One of the most recurring themes on this blog over the past six years has been the prospect of running out of stuff. As the first truly global civilization, mankind is running out of stuff. Not everything, mind you. We’re running out of stuff that we need but we’re building
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: There has been a lot of talk in the Canadian mainstream media…
There has been a lot of talk in the Canadian mainstream media and from the mainstream Canadian political parties about the middle class, but almost no discussion of the working class. Even the (slightly) left-of-centre New Democratic Party (NDP) keeps using the buzzwords “middle-class families” instead of “workers” or “working-class
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canada’s Mythical Middle Class and the Quislings of Parliament Hill
The government likes to say it’s all about the middle class. So, too, the opposition parties. On Parliament Hill it seems Canada’s middle class is virtually surrounded by a sea of friends, each clamouring to outdo the other to lend a hand, give a leg up. With friends like that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Coming Soon – 3-Billion More "Big Mouths" to Feed
The world’s middle class is on the verge of a population explosion. Sorry, Earth. Of the 7+ billion people on the planet today, about 1.8-billion are considered middle-class or make that consumer class. By 2030 that sub-2 billion is expected to burgeon to just under 5-billion strong, churning away on
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World. – NYTimes.com
The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World. – NYTimes.com. In Manhattan, the upscale clothing retailer Barneys will replace the bankrupt discounter Loehmann’s, whose Chelsea store closes in a few weeks. Across the country, Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants are struggling, while fine-dining chains like Capital
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Cell phone packages and cable bills: Is this the real middle class agenda?
The Harper government won’t deliver its speech from the throne until Wednesday, but the theme has been telegraphed for months, and much of the contents well-leaked over the past week. The government will appropriate the middle class theme that Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has been trumpeting since he began his
Continue reading