Lucius Cassius was an ancient Roman judge who got a reputation for wisdom and fairness in court by repeatedly asking in cases, “Cui Bono?” or “Who Benefits?”
Starting the third year of the COVID pandemic, the answer to old Lucius’ question seems pretty obvious:
Canadian Banks once again posted record profits and bonuses, while at the same time raising rates for their customers, because in times of crisis they owe it to their shareholders to be as greedy as possible.
Your ordinary, everyday, rich folks also seem to be doing okay as well. In 2021, Canadian billionaires increased their wealth by $78 billion. If you’re only a crew member on the good ship “Free Enterprise,” console yourself with the hope that maybe there will be some, um, “trickle down” just for you. Even better, governments across the country are now giving you the opportunity to keep working with crappy masks and even while you’re sick with COVID so you can continue to be a “productive” member of society and keep the profits coming until you drop. We don’t want our billionaires to have to beg for spare change at international gatherings of the rich and useless.
As long-underfunded public services, notably health care, teeter on the brink of collapse due to the pandemic, Canada’s capitalists continue to advertise their, “we’re all in this together” blather while milking COVID relief funds and dodging taxes. Meanwhile, the pandemic rolls on and the stacks of cash provided by working people to the rich by “their” (whose?) governments allow our capitalists to explore exciting new investment opportunities. These include the growing appetite for buying up housing so that working people can compete in the “free market” with some hedge funds in a bidding war for a home. This should really make all of us feel like we’re part of the system, or we’re all in this together, or something or other. Even better, if you’re a greedy sociopath, feelers are going out from various, um, entrepreneurs about handing over more of the health care system to the private sector. With any luck investors can realize a handsome profit and evade any responsibility for their criminal negligence just like in long-term care. Oh and let’s not forget social media companies who jack up revenues by peddling misinformation they know is harmful because it increases “clicks,” or, say ka-chings.
For Canadian Capitalists and their flunkies and shills in government, policy during the COVID pandemic is a “balance” between keeping the economy running and keeping people safe. To translate this dreck into ordinary English, the profits need to keep rolling in without letting so many bodies pile up that the peons begin to wonder whether maybe running the world for the benefit of a handful of greedy parasites is actually a good idea.
We need a Socialist Canada run by and for the people who actually labour and produce the country’s vast wealth…wealth currently denied vital programs, like health care, in favour of those for whom too much is never enough.
