Gap between rich and poor rising faster in Canada

[jacee]

I dont think it has anything to do with what anyone "deserves". Most of the people that get wealthy are just playing the way capitalists are supposed to.

The problem is that the framework is broken. It makes it too easy to simply use money to make more money, and our whole system is rewording WORK less and less, and rewarding INVESTMENT more and more.

It wont stay stable if things continue on their present course for too long... and things could get ugly. Im not sure what that tipping point will be, but I know its there. I wonder how wealth distribution now compares with wealth distribution during the aristocracy or prior to the French and Russian revolutions.

Funny you should ask that ...

What about people who get wealthy NOT playing nice, where nice relies on standards and ethics?

Who made all the money on the subprime mortgages?

[jacee]

dp

Edited September 14, 2011 by jacee

[Guest Derek L]

Funny you should ask that ...

What about people who get wealthy NOT playing nice, where nice relies on standards and ethics?

Who made all the money on the subprime mortgages?

So what about those that made their money playing “nice”? Are we going to be spared during the “revolution“?

[bush_cheney2004]

So what about those that made their money playing “nice”? Are we going to be spared during the “revolution“?

No...we will have to join the rich to fight the poor dumb bastards who couldn't or wouldn't earn (and save) enough money the "nice" way.

[jacee]

So what about those that made their money playing “nice”? Are we going to be spared during the “revolution“?

We'll have to audit the 1percent with 40percent of the wealth of course .

Depends who/what unethical practices you're blowing the whistle on.

The revolution needs you.

Edited September 14, 2011 by jacee

[jacee]

Oh fercrapsake another dp!

Edited September 14, 2011 by jacee

[eyeball]

It wont stay stable if things continue on their present course for too long... and things could get ugly. Im not sure what that tipping point will be, but I know its there. I wonder how wealth distribution now compares with wealth distribution during the aristocracy or prior to the French and Russian revolutions.

How power is distributed in society is probably more relevant. Still not evenly enough it seems.

[jacee]

Who made money on the subprime mortgages?

Was it ethical?

http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_1011979.shtml

" but suckers in Arctic Circle and elsewhere didn't appreciate the risk that they were buying into and the shambolic standards, if they could be termed that, that applied to the underlying loans. "

------

shambolic adjective (Informal) disorganized, disordered, chaotic, confused, muddled, inefficient, anarchic

Sounds like the standards might have been ... er ... nonexistent for all practical purposes.

Is there a board of ethics and standards?

Edited September 14, 2011 by jacee

[CPCFTW]

It's hilarious to hear people talking about a French Revolution. What planet do you people live on? We just had an election and 40% of the population elected our government. I doubt that over 40% of the country wants to revolt. You hippies are so cute.

[CPCFTW]

Who made money on the subprime mortgages?

Was it ethical?

" but suckers in Arctic Circle and elsewhere didn't appreciate the risk that they were buying into and the shambolic standards, if they could be termed that, that applied to the underlying loans. "

------

shambolic adjective (Informal) disorganized, disordered, chaotic, confused, muddled, inefficient, anarchic

Sounds like the standards might have been ... er ... nonexistent for all practical purposes.

Is there a board of ethics and standards?

Very few profited from it except for a few hedge fund managers like Paulson and Soros (and their investors) who bet on the bubble burst and resulting recession.

Everyone knows what the standards were for sub-prime loans... if you had a pulse, you got a loan. Have you been living under a rock for the last 3 years? You keep going on about issues you have no clue about. Why don't you educate yourself instead of reading socialist editorials?

Edited September 14, 2011 by CPCFTW

[Guest Derek L]

No...we will have to join the rich to fight the poor dumb bastards who couldn't or wouldn't earn (and save) enough money the "nice" way.

Yeah, I’m fearful that us “Hundred-Thousandaires” will be caught in the middle between the “fat cats” and the workers “struggle”…..I guess, we’ll have to become the one percenters loyal Mandarins…….

[Guest Derek L]

We'll have to audit the 1percent with 40percent of the wealth of course .

Depends who/what unethical practices you're blowing the whistle on.

The revolution needs you.

LOL I doubt it….never bite the hand that feeds me cake I’ve always said………And I’m not blowing any whistle, myself and many friends of mine could be considered “wealthy” by some, but to a person, everyone I know that is “well off” has earned it…….The few “multi-millionaires” that I know (Still hardly 1%ers) made their money with rental properties, real estate and a roll of the dice……..Hardly making our money “off the backs of the poor”……I remember a quote from Trump in the 80s, that he was once deemed the poorest man in the United States and that a hobo on the street was better off financially…..

[Rick]

It's hilarious to hear people talking about a French Revolution. What planet do you people live on? We just had an election and 40% of the population elected our government. I doubt that over 40% of the country wants to revolt. You hippies are so cute.

And how many of them in this country's French speaking province voted for that fascist form of government.

But please continue to mock, it's simply fuel for the fire of those who have nothing but utter contempt for your kind.

[cybercoma]

The few “multi-millionaires” that I know (Still hardly 1%ers) made their money with ... a roll of the dice……..Hardly making our money “off the backs of the poor”

And hardly "earning" it through hard work or determination. People seem to blame the poor for their position in one breath, then turn around and say that the multi-millionaires earned their fortunes by "rolling the dice". At the same time, those people can't see that perhaps many of the poor were dealt a hand that was beyond their control. If you can become a millionaire on luck alone, why can't you become impoverished through luck alone? You can and many people do.

[jacee]

LOL I doubt it….never bite the hand that feeds me cake I’ve always said………And I’m not blowing any whistle, myself and many friends of mine could be considered “wealthy” by some, but to a person, everyone I know that is “well off” has earned it…….The few “multi-millionaires” that I know (Still hardly 1%ers) made their money with rental properties, real estate and a roll of the dice……..Hardly making our money “off the backs of the poor”……I remember a quote from Trump in the 80s, that he was once deemed the poorest man in the United States and that a hobo on the street was better off financially…..

A "hobo" on the street doesn't have Trump's connections. I'm sure he had a few things left to pawn. (What an a$$,He really has no clue.)

Ahhhh ... so you're not the 1percenters ... you're just the suckers they're coming after next.

[Guest Derek L]

And hardly "earning" it through hard work or determination. People seem to blame the poor for their position in one breath, then turn around and say that the multi-millionaires earned their fortunes by "rolling the dice". At the same time, those people can't see that perhaps many of the poor were dealt a hand that was beyond their control. If you can become a millionaire on luck alone, why can't you become impoverished through luck alone? You can and many people do.

I know a few people, and know of many more, that “rolled the dice” and lost near everything………some recovered, some partially and some not……It’s almost like there’s no clear-cut definition/reason on why some are “wealthy” and some “middle class and some “poor”……..One thing is clear, you’ll never be “wealthy” working for someone else……….And as the world’s economy further globalizes, it will increasingly become difficult to maintain being “middle class” well working for some else directly……..Some will end up working for the temp agencies, other will become “sub-contractors”………..

[CPCFTW]

And how many of them in this country's French speaking province voted for that fascist form of government.

But please continue to mock, it's simply fuel for the fire of those who have nothing but utter contempt for your kind.

Who cares what the French speaking province voted for. The rest of the country voted 50% for Harper. If Quebec wants to revolt they'll surrender faster than you can say "cheese".

[jacee]

I'm ok with stats but like most people (I think) economics baffles me. I think that's a large part of the problem: Our eyes glaze over and we leave it all up to politicians and the business interests they toady to and we let them take advantage of us.

So ... Just researching some things of possible relevance to the question ...

Why is the income gap growing in Canada?

IE, HOW are the wealthiEST accumulating more and more of the wealth?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenue_as_percentage_of_GDP

How taxpayers with money offshore can come clean

http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&articleid=1123

http://www.offshorelegal.org/offshore-banking/panama-offshore-banking/divorce-protect-your-money-offshore-from-your-cheating-ex-wife-or-ex-husband.html

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[Argus]

No and it can't happen here soon enough for my liking.

Nothing like a lot of blood, murder, raping and destruction, eh?

Argus seems to think that the poor are simply lazy rather than believe they often work 70+ hours per week in their jobs just to survive let alone put anything away in savings.

Apparently you don't read very well. Sometimes the poor are lazy, and sometimes they're stupid, and sometimes they make dumbass decisions like getting pregnant at sixteen, or zoning out and becoming druggies or alcoholics. There are a lot of reasons people are poor, but being victims of an unfair system is rarely one of them.

But somehow I get the feeling he's never experienced what today's blue collar'd worker has to go through.

You apparently know even less about me than you do about income inequality. Not to mention blue collar workers. Does that include cops, firemen and bus drivers, who make upwards of $70k a year? What about plumbers and electricians and welders and the like? They seem to be commanding pretty high pay rates, too. So who are these mythical poor blue collar workers?

Edited September 14, 2011 by Argus

[Argus]

And don't kid yourself about who works harder ... nobody works as hard as a roofer or a ditchdigger or their wives with 3 preschoolers.

Smarter maybe ... but is preying on others an ethical trade?

What 's wrong with this picture?

The problem is the picture you're painting which suggests those who work 'smarter' are somehow being unethical and preying on others.

I work 'smarter' than ditch diggers and I make a lot more money than them, as I should.

[Argus]

The problem is that the framework is broken. It makes it too easy to simply use money to make more money, and our whole system is rewording WORK less and less, and rewarding INVESTMENT more and more.

You clearly haven't paid much attention to the stock market this year...

[Argus]

And how many of them in this country's French speaking province voted for that fascist form of government.

Fascist? Apparently you have no awareness of what that particular ideology means. I would suggest you do a little research before you come on here and make silly comments.

But please continue to mock, it's simply fuel for the fire of those who have nothing but utter contempt for your kind.

What would his 'kind' be? Could you define it for us, please? I suspect it means "you people who disagree with me".

Edited September 14, 2011 by Argus

[Argus]

And hardly "earning" it through hard work or determination. People seem to blame the poor for their position in one breath, then turn around and say that the multi-millionaires earned their fortunes by "rolling the dice". At the same time, those people can't see that perhaps many of the poor were dealt a hand that was beyond their control. If you can become a millionaire on luck alone, why can't you become impoverished through luck alone? You can and many people do.

Yeah, but barring some sort of physical or emotional disability they don't STAY poor simply due to bad luck.

[Bob]

The gap between the rich and the poor isn't a problem, and it certainly shouldn't be some governmental policy to increase "equality" of wealth through coercion (although the leftists will disagree with this point, seeing "equality" as some fort of glorious objective to work towards).

[fellowtraveller]

The French Revolution featured the execution of much of the ruling class by chopping off their heads.

Can we at least agree a first step in Canafda to getting rid of the rich will require we bring back the death penalty?

Thank goodness for computers. Instead of having a mob encircle the mansions we can just have Canada Revenue Agency filter the tax returns and send them a Notice Of Execution.

My friend the union millwright made about $150 k last year, is he up for the chop too?