NEW ECONOMY

The Economist, April 4-10th 2009 (www.economist.com) has some interesting observations. Their 'interpretations' or what theologians would call 'apologia' leaves something to be desired but I must congratulate their writers on data collection. The Economist sells better on Wall Street than in east Vancouver.

In "The Rich under Attack" article it states that "rising inequality - the top .1% of Americans earned 20 times the income of the bottom 90% in 1979 and 77 times in 2006."

"In the "Easier for a camel" article it states that "A survey by Oliver Wyman, a consultancy, estimates that the financial crisis has caused high-net-worth individuals (as the banking industry calls the rich) to lose $10 trillion or a quarter of their wealth." The annual Forbes list found that the global number of billionaires last year fell to 793 from 1,125."

Forgive me if I'm wrong but even stupid rich people don't just 'lose" trillions of dollars. Let me look in the upholstery of your Rolls if you can't figure out where the loose pocket change is slipping away.

Trillions didn't fall down from Wall Street to east Vancouver., either. That's for sure. Your fat cousin is more likely to have taken a quarter of your wealth than anyone in my neck of the woods.

A 'consolidation of wealth" at the top is all that appears to be happening. A very few are getting a whole lot richer.

When Bush et al bombed the shit out of the once beautiful city of Baghdad, Saddam Hussein et al dropped out of the previous "1,125 gang" when it became the "793 club".

I've studied Roman mythology. Zeus and Mars and all those other gods have fights and party with the goddesses Venus and Diana. The gods and goddesses have special powers that mere humans don't have like "tax havens" and "swiss banks" , nuclear weapons and assassination squads.

It's all way above my pay scale. The rich are getting richer. The poor are not necessarily getting poorer. As a peasant I think I'm doing better than my Scottish forbears who lived in the shadow of their English feudal lords. I'm grateful for indoor plumbing but am a little pissed that you're taking the fish and killing the whales.

What I won't do is think I'm 'less than'. I'm a spiritual being living a human existence. In the eyes of God we're all equal. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when some of my superiors meet St. Peter. What I have to wonder about is how I share my albeit small peasant's portion and whether I will do the next right thing.

Perhaps I can also pray that the war on Mount Olympus is over so that 'trickle down' economics from their drunken parties might resume. Besides even the rich have to sleep sometime.

When Troudeau said that Canada was the mouse sleeping beside the American elephant I think he might have got his rodents mixed up with his bilingualism difficulties.

My Canada is a beaver with teeth.

Roll over Beethoven!