on the unequal distribution of wealth...

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"Canada's rich are getting richer, according to Canadian Business magazine's sixth annual Rich 100, a ranking of Canada's wealthiest citizens that hits newsstands today. The collective net worth of the richest Canadians is an estimated $130 billion — the highest it has ever been."

-- The Toronto Star (12/06/2004)

at a time when governments are being squeezed for every bit of funding for various causes and lobbies, it boggles my mind that there are individuals and corporations who continue to hoard wealth for themselves... while i do appreciate the theory behind our economic system, and in an ideal world it would work out to everyone's advantage, there are factors in our daily reality that prevent the ideal from materializing, and so i wonder if there isn't another way we can set up the economics of our society that would eliminate such distinctions as first- and third-world, developing and developed, etc... i think we have reified these categories in such a way that most people believe the world to have to be inevitably divided as such...

my guilt and concern isn't feigned... while there really may be no direct way that i'm affecting anyone else's economic prosperity, the fact is that by supporting this system of inequality, i do play a role in it at some level, and that is where the guilt arises from... i'm not a bleeding heart socialist, i don't have sympathy for people who won't help themselves, but if people are working as hard as the system says they should work and they're not getting the benefits that other people are, then the system sucks, flat out... sure, i acknowledge the reality and understand that we all need to subsist and so we are involved for our own selfish reasons, but it still doesn't stop me from wondering if there isn't a better way.. i highly doubt that there isn't, it's just that testing out the alternatives would mean that everyone would have to let go of their own selfish interest and give up their desire for advantage for the sake of the human community as a whole...

sure, a system looks great when you've bought into it and you're arguing within its parameters... but what if its foundational assumptions themselves are questionable? any arguments going forward will seem sketchy at best... and that's what i think of capitalist economic theory... it assumes a very mechanistic disposition for human beings, and it doesn't take into account other motivations and values that are central to the human experience...


"We become so absorbed in furthering our own perceived well-being and aspirations that the surrounding environment appears distant and irrelevant. Individual aspirations should not be pursued in an insular manner. In planning for our future, social dynamics need to be taken into consideration.

Social, economic and political realities will have consequences on our personal lives. The education system, health care, social programs, immigration policies, homelessness, human rights, rule of law, women's issues, just to name a few, are not just political issues, they have direct impact on our individual and separate lives. The notion that individuals or families within a community operate exclusively and don't rely on their greater environment is nearsighted. Participation in the different facets of society to make it stronger will, in fact, increase the opportunities for its members to fulfil their own personal goals.

In our daily lives we are typically energized by our dreams and desires. Some are driven by their children's best interests; others by taking care of siblings and aging parents. Career-oriented people are motivated by professional advancement. However, it is important to realize that the pursuit of personal goals in isolation from the realities of our surroundings is ineffective, or may even be counterproductive.

Social and political activism should not be seen as a mundane task of the few, but as a self-interested duty with major consequences.

This is not to say that every Canadian needs to become a full-time activist. But it is a plea to all Canadians to look beyond immediate personal needs as a means of achieving a better personal life. Individuals can advance at a faster rate if the collective benefit of society is set as a personal goal for each member of that society."

-- Omar Alghabra, The Toronto Star (03/17/2004)

anyway, i'm getting off my soapbox...

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