OPINION: A new report calculates how much you’d have to make per hour to afford rent. The result is an indictment of all levels of government
The solution involves taxing and regulating the wealthy, and investing directly in public works at a large scale–all which is utter heresy to the neoliberals that comprise both major parties and much of our civil service.
Our government and our representatives are not psychologically equipped to do the right thing. Fer chrissakes, Andrea Horwath’s platform was more right-wing than Mike Harris’ was in the late 90s, and she’s the progressive option.
We’ve had almost thirty years of not investing in society, of handing out cash and tax breaks like the supply-side pixie dust it is and just hoping that it’ll all work out. It hasn’t. And now, like someone who patted themselves on the back for saving money by not doing any home repairs for thirty years–and then blowing all the money we saved on a new boat and a trip to Vegas–we’re staring at a roof that’s collapsed and wondering what the hell we’re going to do.
The answer? Again, tax the wealthy. Marginal tax rates at 90% for the rich, corporate tax rates through the roof, increased taxes on capital gains, including unrealized ones, estate taxes: all of it. It should all be on the table, because we’ve let it get so bad that the only fixes are horrifically expensive. We should have done this twenty to thirty years ago. That would have been the best time. The next best time is now.
Will the rich leave? Sure they will. Fuck’em. Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. I’m sure someone equally smart but less greedy will pick up where the parasites left off.
“Markets do not solve the problems they create.” Very quotable!
And nobody is embarrassed or ashamed.
Certainly not every boomer who’s retirement investment is their house that has appreciated 4x in the last ten years.
There will come a time when nobody will be able to afford to buy their home but the corporations. At that point they will all coordinate and take turns to LOWBALL retirees.
I haven’t seen this take, but damn, sounds plausible.
I’m sure there’s quite a few politicians that are “concerned” about this situation…
In Ontario, the minimum wage is $15.50, but the rental wage for a one-bedroom apartment is $25.96 and for a two-bedroom unit, $29.90. In B.C., a $15.65 minimum wage is up against $27.54 for a one-bedroom and a whopping $33.10 for a two-bedroom. The closest any province comes to affordability is Newfoundland and Labrador, where a minimum wage of $13.70 is chasing a one-bedroom cost of $15.94 and a two-bedroom cost of $18.08.
Toronto leads the pack at $33.62 for a one-bedroom and $40.03 for a two-bedroom. Ottawa is second in the province at $26.68 and $32.37, still way above the minimum wage. Third is Barrie at $25.62 and $29.56, followed closely by Guelph at $25.77 and $28.83, and Hamilton at $23.02 and $28.77. Of the Ontario cities included in the study, the most “affordable” for renting is Thunder Bay, where an affordable one-bedroom requires a wage of $18.54 and a two-bedroom needs $22.60.
ODSP is just $13k a year. The equivalent full-time job pays $6.50/hr. The Ontario government would very much like disabled people to just die, and they’re offering MAID rather than help.
As someone who is very much for MAiD I disagree with this rhetoric, it’s also not something that is very easy to access. The government definitely fails vulnerable people constantly and ODSP is a joke. I’d love to see those making the decisions to live on a 6.50$/hr salary, see how they’d manage.
I’m also for MAID but it has to be offered as an alternative to other solutions. They have to actually provide other options to exhaust before considering MAID! When we’ve been suffering for decades for want of any political attention whatsoever, and then the only thing they give us to relieve the situation is actual fucking death, it sends a very strong message.
Recently they expanded the eligibility for MAID to include even more disabled people. But no new help for us. What are we supposed to understand from this?
Is it not currently being offered only by the request of the person, and considered only after the person has exhausted all other treatment? That was my understanding of the eligibility requirements from the government website. I’m actually asking, I felt like the news were very sentionalised so I looked it up. Although, yes, there has been some rogue people recommending it instead of the (little) help available.
I do wish there would be expanded treatment options for all types of disability and illnesses, the healthcare system is fucked and not much is being done to actually help. Personally, I don’t feel like the sentionalised version of MAiD would actually do much to help that either because it would just put more stress on another part of healthcare. There needs to be more for every sector.
I literally saw a landlord post today “don’t be mad at the landlord class, be mad at your elected officials for letting it get this bad!”
Which is basically the same as saying “don’t be mad at me for hitting you, be mad at my parents for birthing me!”
