Are Canadians as Fed Up as the People in Ohio?

This past Tuesday, the voters in Ohio told their state legislature that they have had enough. In response to a law enacted with the help of the wealthy Koch Brothers that essentially stripped all collective bargaining rights from public-sector workers, and despite efforts by the wealthy right to suppress their voice, citizens got busy collecting signatures to put [that law] to the test of the ballot box. On Tuesday night, the people defeated the anti-worker law, Senate Bill 5, by a resounding 61 percent majority.

You can read the full story here, but the question I can't help asking myself is whether or not Canadians would have been so vigorous in their defense of workers' rights here. We seem to place as our highest priority our own convenience, and when labour disruptions loom, as they did last summer with the the postal workers and more recently with Air Canada flight attendants, there is nary a word of protest from the general public when the government acts unethically by either imposing a settlement, as it did with the posties, or prevents the attendants from striking a private company by referring the dispute to the Industrial Relations Board (on the flimsy pretext of health and safety concerns) that ultimately led to a binding arbitration contract, the same contract, by the way, that the attendants had already rejected.

Given the ability of our own government to stir up envy and resentment amongst those who are struggling, I don't doubt that we will see a broadening of the definition of 'essential service' in the future.

And that, despite the demagogic rhetoric of our government, will ultimately serve the interests of only a very narrow band of Canadians.

The Trial of Goldman Sachs

Even if you only have time to watch the opening statements by Chris Hedges and philosopher, activist and professor Cornell West, this video, a mock trial of Goldman Sachs by members of Occupy Wall Street, is well-worth watching. The array of 'crimes' committed by the investment banker and the absence of any meaningful penalty for those crimes are an ample illustration of the core truth being promoted by the Occupy Movement.

Why the Occupy Movement Has Relevance in Canada

Thee are many who assert that the Occupy Movement has no relevance in Canada because we have a social safety net and other measures that provide a modicum of protection to the most vulnerable. They also argue for the superiority of our banking system, which required no government bailouts because it is more tightly regulated than in the United States and other jurisdictions. However, those espousing this perspective ignore a larger truth about the relationship between the powerful wealthy and government policy:

As long as provincial governments and the federal government continue to lower corporate tax rates despite the fact that current rates are more than competitive with those in the U.S. and despite the fact that we have a growing national debt;

As long as government tells its citizens that some hard choices are going to have to be made (i.e., health care spending, federal transfers to the provinces, etc.) because of that debt and deficit;

As long as the poor are made to pay by living on benefits that keep them well below the poverty line;

As long as government refuses to even consider increasing taxes on the ultra wealthy;

And as long as the working and middle classes are made to subsidize the lifestyle of the power elite while suffering a steady decline in their own standard of living, job and retirement prospects, there will be a need for an Occupy Movement that attempts to speak for those who have lost their voice.

Finding Freedom in Handcuffs

That is the title of Chris Hedges' latest column at truthdig.org, written after his arrest for sitting on the sidewalk in front of Goldman Sachs in New York. It is a powerful indictment of the immorality that pervades the ethos of unfettered capitalism, and a poignant reflection on some of the experiences that led Hedges to support and be part of the Occupy Movement.

While some may recoil from his evocative but strong imagery, his words help bring us to a truth that few are willing to truly confront as we go about our daily lives, ensconced in our layers of identity that insulate and isolate us from the true meaning of humanity.

Chris Hedges' Indictment of Goldman Sachs

Prior to his arrest the other day for sitting on the sidewalk in front of Goldman Sachs, Chris Hedges issued the following indictment of the investment banking and securities firm:

Goldman Sachs, which received more subsidies and bailout-related funds than any other investment bank because the Federal Reserve permitted it to become a bank holding company under its “emergency situation,” has used billions in taxpayer money to enrich itself and reward its top executives. It handed its senior employees a staggering $18 billion in 2009, $16 billion in 2010 and $10 billion in 2011 in mega-bonuses. This massive transfer of wealth upwards by the Bush and Obama administrations, now estimated at $13 trillion to $14 trillion, went into the pockets of those who carried out fraud and criminal activity rather than the victims who lost their jobs, their savings and often their homes.

You can read the rest of the indictment, which includes its unconscionable food profiteering practices, here.

Sticks and Stones...

Emboldened and enraged by the demagogic politics that substitute for reasoned discussion in the United States, an unemployed man is shown misdirecting his anger at Democratic Massachusetts' Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren in the following video. Calling her a 'socialist whore,' he adds that she is in the service of a 'foreign-born boss,' President Obama.

As long as the right is able to engender fear, anger and hatred instead of real hope, the Occupy Movement will have a steep upward battle in convincing that member of the 99% that progressives are not his enemy.

The Arrest of Chris Hedges

If you advance to the 30 minute mark of this video, you will see Pulitzer Prize winner, author, and activist Chris Hedges, along with other Occupy Wall Street protesters, being arrested by the NYPD for sitting down on the sidewalk in front of Goldman Sachs, one of the chief architects behind the global collapse of 2008.

Ironic does not begin to describe this travesty.