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OK people. Are the people in Canada who are organizing these protests simply losers who are copy-catting what is going in the U.S. because they watch too much American TV and are confused about what country they live in,
or
does this movement really have relevance to our situation here in Canada?
Let me know. I am open to being convinced either way.
They may be confused as to what country they are in and just rarin' for a good demonstration, but I think more generally the protests in Canada are against the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. We may not have such a big gap between rich and poor, but there is a gap. I think what offends peoples' sensibilities is the amount of money many of the very rich make, without really working at all.
In the old days, if you were a smart business person, you bought one cow, used the cream to make and sell butter, and from the proceeds bought another cow, and so on and so forth. Your way of making money was visible and understandable, even if in the end you owned an entire dairy company. People could follow the cause and effect element of it.
Nowadays, it is all very different, with people making money without what the average person understands as a cause and effect kind of thing. Hedge funds in particular seem very shady, and even though maybe hedge fund managers don't make quite the kind of money US hedge fund money managers make, they still make a heck of a lot of money. And for what? It seems to be about money making money but without any visible benefit to the community.
And then take the credit card companies, and the huge interest rates they charge even though interest rates are at all-time lows, and that is as true in Canada as in the US.
Also if you look at how this movement has evolved in the US it has also added Union support pushing back against the Government's pressure towards repressing Collective Bargaining Rights and also the long-term Unemployed and Underemployed. Those are situations that many Canadians can identify with.
I personally also hope this mushrooms into a movement that empowers the Black Community in Toronto and around Canada as well. Black Unemployment is at an all time high in major Canadian cities and the gap between Native Born white Canadians and Blacks (native born and immigrants) is shockingly wide. This is a topic that has been discussed quite a bit in the US, but is absent from the Canadian political dialogue. **Moderator Cut**
Last edited by sunshineleith; 10-18-2011 at 01:23 PM..
I'm reminded of the "demonstrations" during the G8 summit last year. Protestors brought themselves here from all over North America in order to "stick it to the man". So these people had a golden opportunity to voice their demands to a world media that was focussed on them and what was their beef?
The police.
Instead of pointing out that these summits are a huge waste of taxpayer money, or that they pay no attention to real important issues like the environment, or debt, they actually protested the fact that there were cops who would hamper their right to smash windows and torch cruisers, which they did anyway. In most cases the cops just let them do their thing and let the CCTVs that were installed all over the city to identify the perpetrators.
I'm reminded of the "demonstrations" during the G8 summit last year. Protestors brought themselves here from all over North America in order to "stick it to the man". So these people had a golden opportunity to voice their demands to a world media that was focussed on them and what was their beef?
The police.
Instead of pointing out that these summits are a huge waste of taxpayer money, or that they pay no attention to real important issues like the environment, or debt, they actually protested the fact that there were cops who would hamper their right to smash windows and torch cruisers, which they did anyway. In most cases the cops just let them do their thing and let the CCTVs that were installed all over the city to identify the perpetrators.
I think there is an element of that in any demonstration. Some people use legitimate issues as an excuse for anarchy, using the crowd as both cover and excuse.
The canadian version is obviously a copycat version that doesn't necessarily apply to our context, but these protests are getting a lot coverage so it's a smart move to mimic them to get yourself heard.
However, even if I consider myself to the left, I think this movement is kinda misguided. It will be percieved as anti rich and whether it's true or not doesn't matter, perceptions rule this word. The rich will spin this in a way that will further marginalized people with valid concerns.
The protest should be aimed at governments which constantly lie down with corporations at the expense of the public.
The protests' validity in Canada is far less than it is in the USA for a few reasons. 1) Canada still has a sense of a social safety net for its most downtrodden folks, while the USA's is essentially gone. 2) Canada does not allow infinite money into its politics the way Citizens United (a Supreme Court case saying essentially that giving money counts as "free speech", and that for purposes of political donations, corporations can give all the money they want), and 3) Canada's financial system regulation is far more sane than the US, meaning Canada's banking system went through 2008 unscathed, while the banks had to be bailed out in the US.
So Canadians, have far less to protest than the Americans.
But, what IS relevant is the resurgent belief in the power of protest and occupation, world over. I personally think this is a very big deal, because it means people have become willing to act and risk their person through occupying public spaces and arrest. This is how violence can begin. And once violence starts, it's hard to stop, since if someone hurts someone in your contingent, you want revenge on someone in their contingent. All it will take is some banker in a BMW bumping into (or otherwise physically confronting) a Wall St. occupier, and things could start to take a violent turn.
The protests' validity in Canada is far less than it is in the USA for a few reasons. 1) Canada still has a sense of a social safety net for its most downtrodden folks, while the USA's is essentially gone. 2) Canada does not allow infinite money into its politics the way Citizens United (a Supreme Court case saying essentially that giving money counts as "free speech", and that for purposes of political donations, corporations can give all the money they want), and 3) Canada's financial system regulation is far more sane than the US, meaning Canada's banking system went through 2008 unscathed, while the banks had to be bailed out in the US.
So Canadians, have far less to protest than the Americans.
I don't see why Canadians have possibly less to protest than Americans. Canada somewhat resembles what the US will become in years if they will fail in their struggle with its current the criminal/socialist-run government.
To begin with Canadian living standards have always been lower than these of Americans.
Perhaps you forget a few things that are also a reason why lots of young active people I know move or want to move to the US even in its current sad shape.
Salaries are higher in the US than in Canada.
Taxes are lower in the US than in Canada.
Cost of the most goods is lower in the US than in Canada.
The only reason for higher taxes in Canada (which are completely unreasonable with tax hikes almost every year and services being cut -- things are getting worse each year) is the socialistic ineffective government.
Safety net? I thought it was the Americans who extended their benefit payments during the time of recession. If you're single guy on welfare a check in Canada will be about $450 a month-- how you're supposed to live on that, is this your safety net?
**Moderator Cut**
I'd be making about 2 times more in the US for what I do and pay less taxes and afford buying a home and fully paying it off at spot in couple years. Not so in Canada.
And why do you think the banking system is so stable and content?
a) because housing bubble hasn't burst yet.
b) because government knowingly backed most of the mortgages by a deal with CHMC, which basically means when economy goes down and the bubble bursts banks will have to be bailed out by taxpayers with yet another tax hikes and austerity measures coming.
This is a major fraud and people yet to become angry about the consequences.
And yes, they are pushing now for gun bans and restricting of free speech in the US before people are getting really pi**ed and things get out of hand.
But you see these things already don't exist in Canada, that's why I'm saying Canada is the US in the future if things will go really wrong there.
From someone who have lived and worked both sides of border I cannot possibly see why Canadians should have less reasons for protests.
The reason why it's not happening in Canada on such scale is that Canadians are generally have even less spirit and solidarity which communities and are more indifferent and uninvolved to what's happening to them than Americans.
Last edited by sunshineleith; 10-18-2011 at 01:25 PM..
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