tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post4126868615025397085..comments2024-03-28T10:07:24.955-04:00Comments on Northern Reflections: Twinkie NostagiaOwen Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-28559589553533669592012-11-20T07:39:26.189-05:002012-11-20T07:39:26.189-05:00I agree, Bejiing. The leaders of the day believed ...I agree, Bejiing. The leaders of the day believed that the best way to keep the Red Menace at bay was to keep workers happy.<br /><br />So there was an unwritten social contract: we'll share the wealth, if you'll support capitalism.<br /><br />When the Berlin Wall fell, the captains of capitalism no longer saw the wisdom of sharing the wealth.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-67695914301643607262012-11-19T19:47:31.638-05:002012-11-19T19:47:31.638-05:00I also think that the threat of an economically an...I also think that the threat of an economically and militarily viable communist state played a huge role in empowering unionized workers and painting corporations as responsible and caring social contributors at that time. The real 'red menace' was the economic threat of workers revolting and embracing socialism and communism. For sure there were the McCarthy witch hunts but there was only so much abuse they were willing to foist on the ordinary folk (except for people of colour but that's another ugly legacy).Beijing Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05579118045254845839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-33093511712734934172012-11-19T09:42:32.375-05:002012-11-19T09:42:32.375-05:00What Oliver Wendall Holmes said about taxes still ...What Oliver Wendall Holmes said about taxes still remains true, Lorne. They are the price we pay for civilization.<br /><br />There is a connection between increasingly regressive taxation and a meaner society.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-46835611954600054072012-11-19T09:30:58.419-05:002012-11-19T09:30:58.419-05:00Thanks for the link to the Krugman piece, Owen. I...Thanks for the link to the Krugman piece, Owen. I have been thinking a lot lately about the contemporary notion of taxation; undeniably, one of the truly diabolical achievements of the right-wing propaganda machine has been convincing such a broad spectrum of the electorate that taxes constitute theft by the government, of course conveniently ignoring the essential role they play in maintaining the life that we prize in Canada. It is time to start getting the latter message out.Lornehttp://www.politicsanditsdiscontents.blogspot.canoreply@blogger.com