Archive for the ‘Equality Policy Context’ Category
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Hate and the law: how to deal with bigots
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
Dec 19 2011
Eradicating racial hatred is a noble goal but it cannot be legislated out of existence. The Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits communication “likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt.” This is impossibly vague and subjective… The legislation does not permit a defence of truth and ignores progress made by feminists, gays and civil rights activists, many of whom were contemptuous of, and hateful toward, their oppressors… Bigots are best defeated through open debate, rather than judicial or legislative fiat, precisely so their ideas can be exposed to both hatred and contempt.
Tags: multiculturalism, rights
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Is the Western world history?
Sunday, December 18th, 2011
Dec 16, 2011
Recurring global economic crises are highlighting the inherent conflicts between the values of the market economy and those of democracy. We are failing to keep these largely contradictory influences in balance. The dictates of the marketplace are overshadowing the values inherent in our Western democracies… In a market economy the individual is often treated as a commodity, whose value depends on their unit cost, education, age, and even gender and race. But in a democratic society, the promotion of the individual is supposed to be paramount.
Tags: economy, ideology
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How first nations can own their future
Saturday, December 17th, 2011
Dec. 17, 2011
Truly progressive governments recognize individual property rights and enforce the rule of law, thus allowing people to reap the rewards of their initiatives. Individual property, voluntary yet enforceable contracts, open markets – these have been the holy trinity of economic progress in the Western world since the Industrial Revolution, and they are transforming China, India, Brazil and many other previously impoverished countries. The formula for progress is no different for first nations…
Tags: economy, ideology, Indigenous, participation, privatization, rights, standard of living
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Leaner government, less crime
Saturday, December 17th, 2011
Dec. 16, 2011
… the key is income inequality. The only three cities in the country with double-digit violent crime increases were all boom towns… where the influx of wealth drove up criminal opportunity… Every other city saw declines, because they suffered more economically over that period than they benefited. Less disposable income equals less vice, equals less gang crime, equals fewer homicides… The only two other cities with increases at all – both single digit – were… both economically devastated… (They) demonstrate that economic desperation — true poverty — drives people to crime.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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A novel solution to inequality: Pay poor people more
Friday, December 9th, 2011
Dec. 9, 2011
The OECD says that inequality is growing even in countries we think of as paragons of egalitarianism… This trend looks set to continue. The developed world’s cherished standards of living are under fierce assault. This is especially the case in Europe… Reversing it, however, should require a focus on alleviating poverty, not reducing the stock of wealth further… perhaps by setting a higher minimum wage (many countries do not have one). A concerted effort to pay poor people more would help to bring the minimum closer to the median wage in rich countries.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Inequality Is Not Inevitable
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
Dec. 8, 2011
The paper… considers the many economic and social factors that contribute to high poverty and rising inequality… Poverty and inequality are complex problems that require a set of linked interventions related to affordable housing, early childhood development and child care, education and skills training, and decent employment opportunities that pay a living wage. This paper focuses, however, upon the crucial redistributive role of the federal government through income security programs and a progressive income tax system.
Tags: child care, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
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OECD calls time on trickle down theory
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Dec. 5, 2011
Trickle down theory is dead. The belief fostered by Ronald Reagan in the U.S. and Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. in the 1980s, that if the rich got richer, their income and wealth would trickle down the income scale so that a rising tide lifted all the boats, has had the last rites pronounced on it – by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Its report “Divided We Stand” published on Monday highlights how income inequality is rising almost everywhere in the developed world.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Canada’s wage gap at record high: OECD
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Dec. 05, 2011
“Income inequality increased during both recessionary and boom periods, and it has increased despite employment growth”… The richest 1 per cent of Canadians saw their share of total income rise to 13.3 per cent in 2007 from 8.1 per cent in 1980… Two factors explain Canada’s growing gap: a widening disparity in labour earnings between high- and low-paid workers, and less redistribution. “Taxes and benefits reduce inequality less in Canada than in most OECD countries”
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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The Wrong Inequality
Sunday, November 13th, 2011
October 31, 2011
… two forms of inequality exist in modern America. They are related but different… The zooming wealth of the top 1 percent is a problem, but it’s not nearly as big a problem as the tens of millions of Americans who have dropped out of high school or college. It’s not nearly as big a problem as the 40 percent of children who are born out of wedlock. It’s not nearly as big a problem as the nation’s stagnant human capital, its stagnant social mobility and the disorganized social fabric for the bottom 50 percent. If your ultimate goal is to reduce inequality, then you should be furious at the doctors, bankers and C.E.O.’s. If your goal is to expand opportunity, then you have a much bigger and different agenda.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Idealism in a ‘deeply cynical age’
Sunday, November 13th, 2011
Nov. 13, 2011
… we have a political system which has fallen into the hands of the corporate lobbies and we have a business elite which violates the law with alarming frequency and a Wall Street financial centre which not only broke the law but helped to create one of the most painful financial disasters in economic history that we’re still living through. That’s why people are upset. They want a restoration of democracy. They want money out of the political system and they want a fairer economy.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
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