“The only time discussion of class warfare arises is when those with the most wealth and power start to be critiqued,” says Peter Gilmer of Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry. “Then suddenly it’s class warfare. But when low-income people have their benefits cut and see austerity measures put in place, that’s rarely discussed as class warfare.”
“During the boom, those on fixed incomes actually had their lives get worse because the costs of many things, especially rent, went up. Then, when there was a downturn, the first place the government looked to make cuts was on those who were hurt by the boom,” says Gilmer.
Michael Truscello, a Calgary academic and co-editor with Ajamu Nangwaya of a 2017 book on social activism with the provocative title Why Don’t the Poor Rise Up?, agrees with Gilmer. “Capitalists deploy the term ‘class warfare’ the way Donald Trump refers to ‘fake news’. They are simply referring to something they don’t like, but the words ring hollow when used by the class conducting the warfare. Capitalism exploits workers and the natural world so completely that the richest one per cent now own half the world’s wealth, and over 15,000 scientists recently warned humanity that we’re causing a mass extinction,” says Truscello. “Yet, somehow, the rich are claiming persecution?”
“Trickle down” is the catchphrase that’s been used to describe wealth at the top filtering down to lower income people. It sounds half-assed reasonable (maybe), but rising child poverty rates, record high debt-to-income ratios, an eroding social safety net, crumbling public infrastructure and more prove it just doesn’t happen.
“Avoiding taxes through legal loopholes is now standard practice,” says Truscello. “To avoid paying the existing tax rates, which are already at record lows across the G8, the rich and their corporations have bought political acquiescence and rigged the system to normalize tax havens. Large Canadian corporations have over 1,000 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens,” Truscello says. “This adds up to about $15 billion in lost tax revenue. Canada, for various reasons, already does not collect almost $50 billion in taxes annually. Meanwhile, health care, public transit, education and other public services go underfunded.”
So next time you hear cries of class warfare from Canada’s privileged elite, remember who the true victims are.
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