I've been thinking a great deal about messages and sub-text recently and hierarchy and power structures and how decisions get made and how levels interact and why levels interact the way they do.
And I've a few things to say to my fellow citizens which I think are really necessary particularly as we've entered difficult times in some parts of Canada. Lines are being drawn in the sand. Public sector vs. private sector workers are being pitted against one another. Unionized workers are being challenged by minimum wage and contract workers. Boomers with pensions and benefits are being confronted by unemployed youth. Eastern Canada is being put into conflict with Western Canada. Resentments are being fostered. Entitlements are being questioned. Internationally respected programs are being eliminated.
And I get the money issue. It is always useful to examine finances and decide where to get the most bang for our buck.
However, I think there's something else going on. I think there is a subtext to this message of "the cupboard is bare" that isn't really being talked about. I think these uncertain times are being used by governments and corporations as the perfect opportunity to ditch responsibilities, abandon hard fought for rights and weaken legislation. There's a continuous message coming at us: we're in debt, there's no more money, we have to cut back, we must give up on the environment if we wish to have jobs.
Here's the thing though - there is money. Lots of it. Trillions. Some of it's sitting locked up. Untouched. Inaccessible. Belonging to only a few. Unshared. Removed.
There was money for the CEO of Caterpillar to give himself a multimillion dollar raise while the workers in the London plant were abandoned and jobs shifted to a US state that has in its turned abandoned legislation that protects people in the work place.
There's enough so that Dalton McGuinty in the last election could cancel a project that is now costing Ontario taxpayers more than $180 million so that he could save the butt of one MPP in one riding.
And now he says we must cut wages, benefits and programs. This may be true. We may need to make cuts.
What worries me though is that I see many people caving, not questioning, not challenging the message that they are hearing. I see them just accepting. And I want to say to them. Please. Don't give up so easily. Don't abandon what your parents and grandparents moved to this country for and in some cases, put their lives on the line for so that you could have a better life. Please fight for what will make the lives of all citizens of Canada better, not just those already at the top.
And I've a few things to say to my fellow citizens which I think are really necessary particularly as we've entered difficult times in some parts of Canada. Lines are being drawn in the sand. Public sector vs. private sector workers are being pitted against one another. Unionized workers are being challenged by minimum wage and contract workers. Boomers with pensions and benefits are being confronted by unemployed youth. Eastern Canada is being put into conflict with Western Canada. Resentments are being fostered. Entitlements are being questioned. Internationally respected programs are being eliminated.
And I get the money issue. It is always useful to examine finances and decide where to get the most bang for our buck.
However, I think there's something else going on. I think there is a subtext to this message of "the cupboard is bare" that isn't really being talked about. I think these uncertain times are being used by governments and corporations as the perfect opportunity to ditch responsibilities, abandon hard fought for rights and weaken legislation. There's a continuous message coming at us: we're in debt, there's no more money, we have to cut back, we must give up on the environment if we wish to have jobs.
Here's the thing though - there is money. Lots of it. Trillions. Some of it's sitting locked up. Untouched. Inaccessible. Belonging to only a few. Unshared. Removed.
There was money for the CEO of Caterpillar to give himself a multimillion dollar raise while the workers in the London plant were abandoned and jobs shifted to a US state that has in its turned abandoned legislation that protects people in the work place.
There's enough so that Dalton McGuinty in the last election could cancel a project that is now costing Ontario taxpayers more than $180 million so that he could save the butt of one MPP in one riding.
And now he says we must cut wages, benefits and programs. This may be true. We may need to make cuts.
What worries me though is that I see many people caving, not questioning, not challenging the message that they are hearing. I see them just accepting. And I want to say to them. Please. Don't give up so easily. Don't abandon what your parents and grandparents moved to this country for and in some cases, put their lives on the line for so that you could have a better life. Please fight for what will make the lives of all citizens of Canada better, not just those already at the top.
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