Just came across a very eye-opening read about wage inequality in Canada on straightgoods.ca.
http://www.straightgoods.ca/2012/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=26
^There is the link to the article. I was shocked to read that the average wage for the top 100 CEOs was $8.4 million a year while the average Canadian working a full-time job earned a humble $44,366. Now, 44 grand isn't a bad salary and an individual (not a family) could live a reasonable life with that income. But 8 million is excessive for anyone. No one needs that kind of money, especially considering the deficits and budget crisis' almost all levels of government in Canada are having. Not to mention the millions of hungry, starving and homeless people all over the world that could have their lives transformed with even a hundredth of 8 million dollars.
The problem isn't just that those CEOs are earning so much money, either. The bigger problem is the fact that they aren't giving back enough. There are so many tax loopholes and hedge funds and tax schemes that people with money use to avoid sharing their wealth with society. The trickle down works only if people with money pay taxes and the government uses that tax money to provide health care, education and essential services to a whole society. It doesn't work if the top 1 or 2% make millions and don't pay much tax on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu5B-2LoC4s
^ That is a link to a very good interview with Warren Buffett, an American businessman, philanthropist and billionaire. He says that he pays more taxes each year than his secretary, and he doesn't even use tax-dodge schemes and loopholes to keep more money in his pocket. Can anyone else see the problem with that?
It is my humble opinion that almost all the world's current financial problems could be solved by increasing tax rates for corporations and incomes over $100,000/year, as well as closing loopholes that allow the wealthy to shelter too much of their money from being taxed. That would generate billions upon billions of dollars in income for cash-starved governments on the verge of bankruptcy all over the world. Seems simple. Is simple. But corporations and wealthy citizens control the media and most governments, so it's unlikely that this will happen any time soon. But one can dream and work towards this goal, can't he?
To me, everyone should pay their fair share to make a better society for all people. Helping out financially by paying a reasonable amount of taxes is one way to do this. Working together and selflessness are not old, outdated ideas. I would love to get your thoughts on this timely topic.
It's funny how little I felt that I could contribute to your blog since I don't watch WWE or follow pop culture very closely. (Which one is Snookie again?) Anyway, it seems to me that our obsession with celebrities must also include the celebrity CEOs like Donald Trump and Jack Welch - a man who agreed to lay off of his own workers to finance his retirement. What do we do about the appalling gap between CEOs and average workers? I honestly don't know. I need - we need - to do something. I think we've managed to avoid civil unrest because of the many comforts that a middle class lifestyle provides.
ReplyDeleteYes, but that civil unrest won't be held off long. The gap between rich and poor is widening and the middle class is shrinking.
ReplyDeleteWhat is scary to me is that these are similar conditions that emerged in the world in the 1930s during the Great Depression. What got the world out of that deep abyss was spending, which could work again. But the really chilling part is what spurred that spending on and necessitated the need for new jobs and new money - World War II. We don't want to go down that road again, but given how bad things are in Europe, a major conflict is not out of the question.
People with money and people in charge need to wake up and see the mess the planet is in and need to start sharing money and resources with those less fortunate. If not, there will be major civil unrest and possibly international conflict. The United States is the best example of a country headed to the first, and possibly the second, of these options.