'Why it’s vital we support the middle class,' by Justin Trudeau
Source: The Globe and Mail
By Justin Trudeau
... Some conclude that a struggling middle class is a fact of life to which we should grow accustomed. They reason that it is part of a greater global adjustment, within which we Canadians are bit players, consigned to the receiving end of larger forces beyond our control.
Still others see economic performance, in macro terms like GDP growth, and conclude that there is no problem at all. Well, if you are among those few who have thrived, here is why you should care about the diminished fortunes of the middle class. The past 30 years growth has been the product of a broadly supported economic agenda. Governments of all political stripes have been elected and re-elected, here in Canada and abroad, on a similar economic platform: openness to trade, fiscal discipline, tax competitiveness and investment in skills, research and infrastructure.
Middle-class Canadians supported this agenda because, they were promised, it would create shared prosperity. The basic bargain was that growth was good for them, and they would share fairly in its fruits. That simply hasnt happened. This is not a political argument, but a fact. While the economy has more than doubled in size in the past 30 years, middle-class incomes have gone up just 13 per cent. The only indicator that has grown apace with GDP for the middle class is household debt.
... As middle-class Canadians grow more anxious about their economic prospects, it becomes harder to solve every other problem. We already see this dynamic taking shape, as our politics have become more polarized in recent years. Deepening anxiety yields deepening divisions in every society, and we are not immune to that vicious cycle here in Canada. We will begin to vote for leaders who offer comforting stories about who to blame for our problems, rather than how to solve them.
Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/justin-trudeau-why-its-vital-we-support-the-middle-class/article11209063/
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)So Canada starts at the middle class level and goes up.
Pierre Trudeau is my favorite leader outside of the states.
Of course, Pierre had haters too, he was retired,then he came back and after him like in the US it went rightward for years.
Now his son is coming back like in the US in 2008 President Obama threw the old regime out