Comment 70081

By Kiely (registered) | Posted September 27, 2011 at 10:36:36 in reply to Comment 70073

This was done in the 20th century through a combination of progressive taxation, public education, broadly accessible public infrastructure, libraries, community centres, unemployment insurance, social services, CMHC, public health care, and so on.

Nice notions Ryan, but it was mainly accomplished through people willing to fight, be incarcerated and die for what they believe in. The Wobblies, Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood, miners, rail and garment workers that went on strike to DEMAND those policies. They fought police, Pinkertons, hired thugs and died in gun battles for the 40 hour work week, a fair wage, benefits, etc...

Now many people that have benefitted from the hard work of those hardnosed labour organizers sit back in their middle class comfort and criticize unions and labour or someone throwing a rock at a bank window after said banks destroyed our economy, all the while lamenting the erosion of the middle class... they forget that the middle class didn't just happen, it was fought and paid for in blood. And once the elites realised we would no longer be willing (or informed enough) to keep fighting that fight they began clawing those things back slowly but surely. Remember the Mike Harris 60 hour work week?

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/mar200...

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