Talk of affordability conceals real problem — capture of wealth by the rich | rabble.ca
Why do I hate it? Because it conceals the stasis or fallback of the last 40 years and the failure of neoliberalism to deliver even a sustained status quo. People can’t afford houses, cars, child care, though they’re employed and the stats say things are good. Slavery delivered full employment, too. “Affordability” conceals all that and makes it sound like a neutral description, as if the problem belongs to the houses or cars of tuition fees. They lack the element of affordability, the way walls in old houses might contain asbestos that simply has to be removed, because it and the harm it inflicts was only recently discovered.
Am I paranoid? Ideological? Listen, a study reported here this week, found that the 90 companies on the TSX that still have defined benefit pension plans, underfunded those by $12 billion in 2017, while paying out $66 billion to shareholders in dividends. They stiffed their workers and stuffed owners by 5-1.
But it’s even more scabrous…