Reply To: On Tyranny Lesson 2: Defend Institutions
My mother was a child in the Netherlands when the Nazis occupied her country, so she knew a thing or two about fascism and living under it. After the war, she immigrated to Canada. Just 20 years ago, she voiced her concern about the growing divide between rich and poor in Canada, knowing such inequality destabilizes society and plants the seeds of war. I don’t think it has gotten better since; it’s just been a more gradual process and less pronounced than in the US. There are several factors that have slowed this down, but I by no means can point to any expertise in these areas. But I think you are right Jane, we have a different sort of social safety net than in the States. This is in part because we do have universal medical care, higher taxation across all income groups (including higher corporate taxes), stricter banking regulations that protect consumers, unemployment insurance and welfare. But with increased housing costs, and increased everything costs, it is getting more difficult for middle-income wage earners to get by and those in poverty are slipping into more desperate circumstances. Canadian food banks reportedly have had a 90% increase in the use since 2019. That’s a troubling indicator. If we have more people being food insecure, it’s not going well. Also the average Canadian household debt is growing every year. So also not a good indicator. And the statistics over the past decade are showing the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
One of the positive things America did after WW2 was to not let Japan and Germany become economically isolated, recognizing that supporting their post-war economies would stabilize their societies. So it’s so strange and ironic to now see the American government purposely economically isolating itself from its allies and then declaring their intention of taking what they want by force from other countries (by tariffs, by annexation, by withholding aid). All of these things are not only destabilizing to the world economies I think it will turbo charge the gap of rich and poor even more in the US.
