Holy fuck. I’d call this one of the largest issues of our time - society is further splitting into haves and have-nots. It drives a bunch of other problems, not least of which is the stark swing to the right of our youth.
(And yeah, climate change is a huge fucking deal, but if we have a growing oligarch class, and an angry proletariat, we aren’t going to get real movement on it)
Those in the bottom 20 per cent of the income distribution saw the weakest growth in disposable income in the first quarter at 3.2 per cent compared with a year ago as their average wages edged down 0.7 per cent.
The lowest income households also saw the largest drop in net investment income as their investment earnings fell 35.3 per cent, while net transfers received, including increased government support measures, rose 31.2 per cent.
The average disposable income for those in the top 20 per cent of the income distribution increased at the fastest pace of any income group in the first quarter of 2025 as they benefited from a 7.7 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
…
Statistics Canada said the wealth gap also increased as the top 20 per cent of the wealth distribution accounted for 64.7 per cent of Canada’s total net worth in the first quarter, averaging $3.3 million per household.
The bottom 40 per cent of the wealth distribution accounted for 3.3 per cent of net worth, averaging $85,700 per household.
Even climate change as a problem is largely driven by the oligarch class. The working class would have been alright driving the smaller cars used to drive in the 2010s, and would have likely been okay climate action even in the late 80s. Especially since the cost would have been much lower if action was taken at that time.
That is if the oligarch class did not wage relentless propaganda on climate change science and any solutions, instead promoting the fossil fuels industry which they own.
If climate change info was pushed like the hole in the ozone layer/acid rain during the same time period people would be totally on board. It would be normal by now.
The changes necessary to mitigate acid rain and the ozone hole didn’t threaten existing oligopolies.
Acid rain was “easy” to solve by shipping production overseas (which benefits the rich, since production costs go down), slapping scrubbers onto emitters (whose costs could be passed on to consumers via fees or tax breaks), or changing the formulation of stuff getting burned. The rich stayed rich without changing their business model.
AFAIU, CFCs (and other ozone depleting compounds) had analogs that were relatively easy to use without changing processes. Once again, no yachts were harmed in the making of that solution.
Addressing climate change means we have to change how we do everything: transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing. Even band-aid solutions like EVs and renewable power require minor change and are getting a shit tonne of pushback. Doing the hard work necessary to keep our climate stable (and avoiding possible extinction) would invalidate a bunch of business models.
I agree with the sentiment, but I’m getting tired of the “eat the rich” slogan.
Unless someone is gonna go full Luigi, the reality is more like “reform tax and investment law!” which sounds way less cool, but way more attainable.
Like I said, I agree, but “eat the rich” doesn’t seem actionable. We can vote people in to change those stupid laws in the next election cycle. “Eat the rich” doesn’t have a clear next step.
I appreciate the thoughtful reply. However, I believe you have misunderstood my intentions towards a path forward. Allow me to clarify.
I am saying the 1%, in a madness driven fit of misguided self-interest, lead us inexorably to a world that has exceeded our planetary boundaries and must collapse due to its unsustainable nature. 8 billion people and counting on a finite planet that is degrading rapidly due to pollution, resource depletion and climate change, to name a few, is going to have A LOT of hungry people.
In this brave new world, famine will be a more prevalent phenomena. There is a reason why Bill Gates, Blackrock and everyone else are huge holders of farmland. It’s why Russia wants Ukraine. As Leonard Cohen once observed, “Everybody Knows”.
I am saying, when you, your family and your community are priced out of food due to multiple simultaneuous global breadbasket failures due to climate change occur, here is a simple and just solution - eat the rich.
Dry rubbed, woodsmoked, char-grilled rich people. It’s what’s for dinner. I suggest an oil rub with cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, mustard powder and onion powder. Cook it low and slow around 225F.
Doesn’t matter if you are their fitness trainer, gardener, handyman or private security or just some dude who never met them until your fateful meal. Eat hardy while you can.
I’m really jaded on whether reforming tax and investment law is a sustainable solution. Because the countries that did that are all trending in the direction of reversing those changes as capital accumulates and gains power over the political system and people (voters) themselves. Even in high union density places like Finland where unions and reformist socialist policy have slowed this process you can see people electing governments on austerity for the many. A policy squarely favouring their rich class. This speaks to erosion of the understanding of why the previous regulatory regime was introduced, who it benefitted, what would be the long term results of abandoning it, how things were before it. And this erosion isn’t random. There’s all sorts of information channels through which the rich convince people in explanations about the world that favour the rich. I hope there is some ingredient that if added would avoid this in the future for a very long time, but I’m not too hopeful. High prevalence of worker co-ops perhaps. I don’t know. Jaded I tell you!
It’s hard not to be jaded. In the past few decades it seemed like we might be able to make progress on climate change. But now we’ve fallen into a weird right wing rut, where people seem to vote squarely against their own best interests.
I dunno. I think everyone was implicitly on board with neoliberalism for a couple of decades, and now they find themselves poorer and lower status than before. So they blame the trappings of big-L liberal parties, scream that they want woke to end, and shoot themselves in the foot.
people see to vote squarely against their own best interests<
So much of this it is unbelievable. I have a buddy who has been unemployed his whole life, lives with his mom, who both rely extensively on physical and mental health services while both collecting disability pay. He is also bisexual. He is a trump supporter and votes conservstive in every level of election. I literally cannot comprehend it.
Holy fuck. I’d call this one of the largest issues of our time - society is further splitting into haves and have-nots. It drives a bunch of other problems, not least of which is the stark swing to the right of our youth.
(And yeah, climate change is a huge fucking deal, but if we have a growing oligarch class, and an angry proletariat, we aren’t going to get real movement on it)
…
Even climate change as a problem is largely driven by the oligarch class. The working class would have been alright driving the smaller cars used to drive in the 2010s, and would have likely been okay climate action even in the late 80s. Especially since the cost would have been much lower if action was taken at that time.
That is if the oligarch class did not wage relentless propaganda on climate change science and any solutions, instead promoting the fossil fuels industry which they own.
If climate change info was pushed like the hole in the ozone layer/acid rain during the same time period people would be totally on board. It would be normal by now.
The changes necessary to mitigate acid rain and the ozone hole didn’t threaten existing oligopolies.
Acid rain was “easy” to solve by shipping production overseas (which benefits the rich, since production costs go down), slapping scrubbers onto emitters (whose costs could be passed on to consumers via fees or tax breaks), or changing the formulation of stuff getting burned. The rich stayed rich without changing their business model.
AFAIU, CFCs (and other ozone depleting compounds) had analogs that were relatively easy to use without changing processes. Once again, no yachts were harmed in the making of that solution.
Addressing climate change means we have to change how we do everything: transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing. Even band-aid solutions like EVs and renewable power require minor change and are getting a shit tonne of pushback. Doing the hard work necessary to keep our climate stable (and avoiding possible extinction) would invalidate a bunch of business models.
Hence the resistance.
👏
I totally agree.
It’s the inevitable outcome of policy created specifically to do so. There was never any doubt as to where we would end up.
Just remember, when you are hungry, eat the rich.
I agree with the sentiment, but I’m getting tired of the “eat the rich” slogan.
Unless someone is gonna go full Luigi, the reality is more like “reform tax and investment law!” which sounds way less cool, but way more attainable.
Like I said, I agree, but “eat the rich” doesn’t seem actionable. We can vote people in to change those stupid laws in the next election cycle. “Eat the rich” doesn’t have a clear next step.
I appreciate the thoughtful reply. However, I believe you have misunderstood my intentions towards a path forward. Allow me to clarify.
I am saying the 1%, in a madness driven fit of misguided self-interest, lead us inexorably to a world that has exceeded our planetary boundaries and must collapse due to its unsustainable nature. 8 billion people and counting on a finite planet that is degrading rapidly due to pollution, resource depletion and climate change, to name a few, is going to have A LOT of hungry people.
In this brave new world, famine will be a more prevalent phenomena. There is a reason why Bill Gates, Blackrock and everyone else are huge holders of farmland. It’s why Russia wants Ukraine. As Leonard Cohen once observed, “Everybody Knows”.
I am saying, when you, your family and your community are priced out of food due to multiple simultaneuous global breadbasket failures due to climate change occur, here is a simple and just solution - eat the rich.
Dry rubbed, woodsmoked, char-grilled rich people. It’s what’s for dinner. I suggest an oil rub with cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, mustard powder and onion powder. Cook it low and slow around 225F.
Doesn’t matter if you are their fitness trainer, gardener, handyman or private security or just some dude who never met them until your fateful meal. Eat hardy while you can.
Bon appétit!
I’m really jaded on whether reforming tax and investment law is a sustainable solution. Because the countries that did that are all trending in the direction of reversing those changes as capital accumulates and gains power over the political system and people (voters) themselves. Even in high union density places like Finland where unions and reformist socialist policy have slowed this process you can see people electing governments on austerity for the many. A policy squarely favouring their rich class. This speaks to erosion of the understanding of why the previous regulatory regime was introduced, who it benefitted, what would be the long term results of abandoning it, how things were before it. And this erosion isn’t random. There’s all sorts of information channels through which the rich convince people in explanations about the world that favour the rich. I hope there is some ingredient that if added would avoid this in the future for a very long time, but I’m not too hopeful. High prevalence of worker co-ops perhaps. I don’t know. Jaded I tell you!
It’s hard not to be jaded. In the past few decades it seemed like we might be able to make progress on climate change. But now we’ve fallen into a weird right wing rut, where people seem to vote squarely against their own best interests.
I dunno. I think everyone was implicitly on board with neoliberalism for a couple of decades, and now they find themselves poorer and lower status than before. So they blame the trappings of big-L liberal parties, scream that they want woke to end, and shoot themselves in the foot.
But yeah. I gotta hope!
So much of this it is unbelievable. I have a buddy who has been unemployed his whole life, lives with his mom, who both rely extensively on physical and mental health services while both collecting disability pay. He is also bisexual. He is a trump supporter and votes conservstive in every level of election. I literally cannot comprehend it.