Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Rich Get Richer




My grandfather in his wisdom, had a saying. "The richer get richer, and the poor get poorer". He experienced first hand the Great Depression and knew the meaning of this old adage. This saying has born itself out and continues to do so because it's the truth.

Naomi Klein is a wise woman, a brilliant journalist, author and activist, who also speaks the truth.
Listening to her today on The Current made me sit up, take notice and I listened intently to what she was saying. What really resonated with me was what she said about crisis and how we choose to respond to it in ours lives. Crisis either makes us stronger or we become overwhelmed and succumb to it. Naomi Klein relates this what she calls "the new shock politics".

I was one of those individuals that wasn't shocked that Donald Trump was elected, nor was I ever a die hard fan of Obama. I've never put my faith in American politicians nor Canadian politicians for that matter.

But as Naomi Klein points out Trump is not like any other politician that's ever been elected. He's a reality TV star, pushing his brand, with his goal being to make the rich get richer and is a culmination of the Western preoccupation with capitalism, accummulation of wealth, power and control. It's what she refers to as being a "corporate coup".

Her message is not one of fear mongering, but reality. It is also not hopeless, but a  hopefuI message, based on higher ideals and solid values that are actualized into activism.
 I look forward to reading her book No Is Not Enough.

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