The World's Richest Middle Class, Is In CANADA ~ Check It Out

[appalachiablue]

(Courtesy Enthusiast)

[appalachiablue]

1. GOP Block on Raising Minimum Wage, Lion of the Senate- 'WHEN DOES THE GREED STOP?"

Last edited Sun Jan 10, 2016, 12:36 PM - Edit history (1)

[passiveporcupine]

6. OK, that made me cry

Why do the good die young?

[appalachiablue]

11. Ted Kennedy was the best, and perhaps one of the last real liberals in national public office.

A true fighter for the people, in another and better era. Years ago I had the fortune to meet him once in the audience of a conference where his son Edward Jr. was a speaker. That was so very special.

[riverbendviewgal]

13. Ted Kennedy had the same type of brain tumour my son had

Glioblastma Multiforme/

It is terminal. My son lived for 18 months after he was diagnosed. He was 6', almost 25 yrs old and never sick. One day at work he had seizures. 3 days later he was getting brain surgery.
I looked up the treatments Sen Kennedy had and my son had the same ones.

It cost us nothing. but the hospital parking.
He had 3 brain surgeries, radiation, chemo, transfusions, psychotherapy - the whole family did too. Home nurse visits as well. He was in intensive care 2 weeks , semi intensive care one week and 5 days in the hospital's palliative care.

his brain was donated for research.

The same time his dad was being treated for Non Hodgkin's lymphoma . He died 18 months after our son..

I am not bankrupt. I feel they got the best of care.

Thank goodness Canada has a good Prime Minister now. The last one tried to destroy our one payer health care.

[appalachiablue]

16. Bravo to Canada for electing Trudeau and moving away from the extreme conservative

policies of Stephen Harper's party. Thank you for sharing the experience of your young son and husband with their treatment for serious medical care, that must have been very tragic for you and yours. We lost our younger brother, a joy to all from secondary brain cancer. How the US has exploited, bankrupted and killed its people over for- profit health care is very disturbing and an obvious sign of deep, systemic problems we have among policymakers that show little sign of improving. All the best to you and the continued success of your advanced home country. Cheers.

[Thespian2]

19. Thank you...

I feel very fortunate to be an immigrant into Canada from the US...

I will have knee replacement surgery on the 27th of this month...total cost will be $0...after moving to Canada, my wife and I dropped our Medicare...saved $800 per month...

[appalachiablue]

20. Thanks for posting & congratulations on your successful move. All the best in the new Canadian home!

Cheers..

[appalachiablue]

27. New Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party, age 44, son of PM Pierre Trudeau

[appalachiablue]

36. Check it out, since 1970 FLAT LINE for US wages compared to other western nations:

[pa28]

2. Same with Australia. Their median wealth is about 4X ours.

We're the world leader in extracting wealth from our own people and funneling it toward the very richest. USA! USA!

[appalachiablue]

4. Thanks, I knew Australia was better but not by that much. And we're awful alright..

Predators plundering our own for more riches for the top wealthiest. The American Nightmare & Disgrace that must End.
-----------------
>PORTRAIT OF AMERICAN FINANCE: Three US Treasury Secretaries, Treasury Staffer & Facebook Executive Laugh It Up Over INCOME INEQUALITY, How They Increased and Widened It. Geithner, Paulson, Rubin and Sandberg, Milken Annual Global Conference, Beverly Hills, CA., April 27, 2015. Hilarious, and a riot, really?

[pa28]

5. It's healthcare costs and we overtax those who are just starting to make it.

Income earners have a big burden in comparison to those sitting on a huge pile of assets collecting income.

Our inequality problem is purely a matter of policy and watching the video you posted it's easy to see why. Policy makers are living in a self-reinforcing bubble and the losers in that particular system are just an external cost, not real people getting screwed.

[appalachiablue]

33. Right on healthcare, unfair tax system, asset mountain & indifferent policymakers which

must change, and soon.

[appalachiablue]

57. To add, I've never heard of any major migration of Canadians to the US which is telling.

[MillennialDem]

48. 5x.

[BlueJazz]

3. One of my customers comes down here in Florida every winter to beat the cold. We were talking..

..politics and I had a good laugh (and agreed) when he said: "People down here don't seem to vote for the best person for the job"

Amen to that.

[appalachiablue]

7. Your customer was spot on. Canadians are good folks from those I've met mostly in Fl also,

during the winter and once in the Bahamas. They definitely did right in just electing the Liberal Party's new, young PM Pierre Trudeau last Oct. and ousting Stephen Harper's Conservatives in power since 2006.

> JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Canada's New Prime Minister Oct. 20., 2015.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/20/world/americas/justin-trudeau.html

[passiveporcupine]

8. I just betcha he's good friends with Hillary.

She laughs at ugly stuff like this too.

I don't think I've ever wished I was Canadian as much as I do at this moment while Trudeau is in office.

[appalachiablue]

10. Bravo for Canada electing Trudeau. Good for them and their success! I also never thought

about living in Canada but the way things are going here it would be a real improvement. Too late for moi, but for younger relatives I advocate they try to migrate, sooner than later. Whether they have to pay off all college loan/cc debt to do so I'm unsure.
Are you referring to laughing jokerman Hank P. and HRC being close?

[passiveporcupine]

14. Are you referring to laughing jokerman Hank P. and HRC being close?

YES!

[appalachiablue]

17. Got it. Lean In Sandberg seems a barrel of laughs too. When I watched CSPAN occasionally

she was televised once at a CA tech museum conference with Eric Schmidt et all. Most of the time was spent in laughs among the group and talking about why more parents don't put their kids in summer Tech Camp, like she does.

[passiveporcupine]

21. Yeah, she can be clueless

[DirkGently]

9. Sums a lot of things up well.

What's more, unlike with a lot of "memes," these things really are related.

[appalachiablue]

56. The factors are critical to people's living standards, quality of life & interrelated for sure.

[forest444]

12. From the latest Credit Suisse study on global household net worth:

In terms of wealth, the disparity has gotten even worse than income numbers alone might suggest.

The U.S. is still number one by far in terms of number of millionaire adults (14 million; compared to 2.5 million for the runner-up, France); but the median U.S. adult is now 27th in terms of net worth. The number one cause for this lag (though certainly not the only one): astronomical health care costs.

Median net worth per adult (US$ 000), from the 2014 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report:

Australia________225
Belgium_________173
France__________141
United Kingdom__131
Japan___________113
Singapore_______109
Switzerland______107
Canada__________99
Taiwan__________65
Germany________54
United States____53
Chile___________17
China___________7
Brazil___________5
South Africa_____4
World__________4
Russia__________2
Indonesia_______2
India___________1

http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1312773/credit-suisse-global-wealth-report-2014-1.pdf

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. But..but...we are the sole owners of the American Dream!

[forest444]

25. Worst of all, we had it.

And by allowing our democracy to degenerate into a lobbyocracy, we ourselves lost it.

Not by enemy invasions, or predatory creditors, or unelected tyrants, or natural disasters - but by the poor choices of so many of our fellow voters over the years. Quelle tragédie.

[enid602]

32. statistics

Amazing statistics in your chart. Looks like Australia wins the prize. Odd that Germany is so low. I always thought they had a pretty solid middle class.

[forest444]

53. Thank you, Enid.

In Germany's case, my guess is that the median is weighed down by households in the former East Germany - who I understand are stiill struggling after 25 years of reunification. Everything, as they say, takes time.

So good hearing from you again, Enid. Belated Happy New Year! All the best to you and yours.

[enid602]

54. Germany

Also, in the case of Germany many people work in unionized industries, and have solid fixed benefit pensions. Here, not so much and one's retirement is more heavily dictated by how much you've accumulated in life. Happy New Year to you as well.

[appalachiablue]

37. Correct, we blew it ourselves with no other cause to blame. A dismal record of what we've become.

[appalachiablue]

18. Thank you, another report among several lately on our steadily declining working & middle classes.

Unhealthy and incredible.

[forest444]

24. Sad, but true.

The report does not estimate the causes for this reversal in longstanding trends which, as we all know, historically had U.S. households at of near the top of net worth rankings. But astronomical health care costs are probably the biggest culprit.

[appalachiablue]

43. Correct, escalating profits for the US healthcare system and pharmaceutical industry are

plundering Americans at an unprecedented rate. The devastation is massive and atrocious especially in a once advanced society and the wealthiest nation in history.

[moondust]

28. Where do those numbers come from?

I briefly looked through the Credit Suisse report and did not find them.

[forest444]

52. They're there, moondust.

While a statistical table with global results would have been nice on their part, these figures are detailed in the country summaries in the second half of the report. Make sure to look for median net worth figures (we all know the old median/mean trick).

[Overseas]

22. K&R. Sigh...

[appalachiablue]

23. A penny for your thoughts...

[Overseas]

34. Just wishing I could move to Canada.

And so sad we didn't push for a recount and have Al Gore as president.

[appalachiablue]

35. Same here on both subjects. How this country & the world would have fared so much

better if the Presidency had gone to Gore. While it's too late for me I hope two family millennials will consider migrating to Canada or Australia unless major changes take place here soon. It's a sad state of affairs particularly since 2000.

[Overseas]

39. Yes. And if Reagan had not bamboozled the whole country so successfully.

Talking about how it was "Morning in America" and making America great again, he crushed unions, cut corporate taxes and got the whole transfer of wealth going full steam ahead.

Made the false ideology of Trickle Down Economics seem real.

[appalachiablue]

41. The 1980 election of Dutch Reagan was another seismic change for the worse.

I was living and working in DC when that shocking event took place and recall how we cheered when Pres. Carter came in to see the play 'Amadeus' at a local theater right after the Nov. election. What that California right wing monster and his regime brought in altered the entire course of this country namely crushing the working and middle classes and re-establishing a craven plutocratic ruling class and an ignorant, violent populace we are now contending with.

If and until we eradicate the scourge of Reaganomics, Thatchernomics and neoliberalism and start to restore sanity, fairness and democracy nothing will be healthy or prosper here. A more accurate slogan would have been "Hell in America" for the H.wood B-actor, a painted old clown who donned thick face makeup, lip rouge and dyed hair as my director described after seeing him at a daytime event soon after the Inaugural.

[Overseas]

58. Well said. K&R.

[StrayKat]

26. Canadian dollars?

Is that $10.45 in Canadian dollars? That's about the same as the $7.25 in USD.

[laundry_queen]

29. It's hard to say where the number came from

I have the average as $10.86 in Canadian dollars. And yes, currently it seems REALLY low in USD because our dollar is sliding in value lately. However, not too long ago we were at par, so it's hard to compare value of the minimum wage in that manner.

For example, in 2012 when our dollar was at par in December, our average minimum wage was $10.14/hr.

[laundry_queen]

30. There needs to be some clarification

As a Canadian...

Yes, we have single payer. YES, it's great. Yes, we don't pay for surgeries, ER and so on. If my kid is sick, and I need to take her to the doctor, I can get her in tomorrow and I won't pay anything, and she will get great care.

But. Some provinces still have premiums. And I still have to carry private insurance for dental and drugs. So not free. And - there have been stories of people going to the hospital, being diagnosed with cancer, being treated...free at the point of delivery anyway...going home on maintenance therapy and finding out that their expensive cancer drugs have been deemed 'experimental' by their private insurer and so they have to fight to get their cancer drugs covered - the same drugs that would be covered IN the hospital. Or they only cover 70% so they end up having to pay $500/month for one drug (peanuts compared to some US stories for sure, still as unethical as hell.) The insurance companies have their slimy tentacles all over the place here too - our next big fight is Pharmacare for ALL.

When my fellow friends to my south finally decide to make the big switch, I sure hope you go ALL the way and include drug and dental coverage in your single payer

[enid602]

31. Some observations

Minimum wage: A CAN10.45 minimum wage is only worth USD7.41.

Health costs: Per capita health cost in Canada is not $0; that is merely what they have to pay out of pocket. The OP is misleading, claiming that per capita health costs are $4,316 higher in the US than Canada.

Banking: Whereas the US has 8200 banks, Canada only has 72. According to Huffington Post CA:

"The Global Financial Stability Report found that Canada is one of a handful of countries where the three largest banks -- RBC, TD and Scotiabank -- control more than 60 per cent of all banking assets.
In the U.S., where too-big-to-fail banks brought the economy to the brink of ruin in 2008, banks are far less concentrated; the three largest control about 45 per cent of all bank assets."

With the petroleum market on the skids and likely to stay that way for a while, the threat of bank failures in Canada is quite real.

[laundry_queen]

38. Read upthread about your first point

you cannot compare it in that manner. In 2012 when the Canadian dollar was at par, our minimum wage was at $10.14. Much, much better than yours. Our dollar is currently at a very low point, but that doesn't mean everything we buy changes value that fast. You cannot plug it into some exchange calculator and say, 'see, their minimum wage is low too!'. Now that our dollar has plummeted, you watch our minimum wage go up quickly. Alberta's is already planned to go up to $15.20/hour by 2018. Other provinces will be under pressure to follow suit.

[enid602]

40. buy Canada

I didn't see the thread. But the loony's decline is important when you consider how much of Canada's winter produce is imported. And manufactured goods as well. Now would be a good time to buy Canadian!

[laundry_queen]

42. Yep

Food prices are about to skyrocket here. Bad news for this single mom of 4 (3 teens). I'll be buying more local. I have a garden too which helps in the summer. A lot more cheap vegetables will be in our groceries anyhow. More cabbage and carrots. Less arugula and asparagus.

[pampango]

44. Canada seems to remember FDR's way of governing much better than we do. n/t

[appalachiablue]

51. Yes, thank heaven! Bravo Canada, may you continue to prosper...

[pault420]

45. This article says the rich in Canada are taxed LESS then the rich in America

Can someone get the sources of this meme, I hate constantly using memes with misinformation that cause a "got you" moment when I'm debating or posting facebook.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/10/28/trudeau-tax-hike-rich_n_8412188.html

That with the other posters mentioning of how a lot of medical expenses has to be paid out of pocket after surgery, isn't all that inspiring to point to Canada as a model of universal health care.

[appalachiablue]

46. RESOURCES FOR CANADA'S NO. 1 MIDDLE CLASS, 2014:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/upshot/the-american-middle-class-is-no-longer-the-worlds-richest.html?_r=0





http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/how-did-canadas-middle-class-get-so-rich/361053/

[Yavin4]

47. Simply put, Americans vote their racial prejudices over their economic interests

Canada and Europe have just as many racist assholes as we do, but the difference is they vote what's in their best economic interests first and foremost. Even the most right wing Canadian/European political party won't dismantle their health care system.

[MillennialDem]

49. Check this out

http://www.middleclasspoliticaleconomist.com/2013/06/us-median-wealth-only-28th-in-world.html

Country Median Wealth
Per Adult
1. Australia $193,653
2. Luxembourg $153,967
3. Japan $141,410
4. Italy $123,710
5. Belgium $119,937
6. United Kingdom $115,245
7. Iceland $ 95,685
8. Singapore $ 95,542 (non-OECD)
9. Switzerland $ 87,137
10. Denmark $ 87,121
11. Austria $ 81,649
12. Canada $ 81,610
13. France $ 81,274
14. Norway $ 79,376
15. Finland $ 73,487
16. New Zealand $ 63,000
17. Netherlands $ 61,880
18. Ireland $ 60,953
19. Qatar $ 57,027 (non-OECD)
20. Spain $ 53,292
21. United Arab Emir. $ 47,998 (non-OECD)
22. Taiwan $ 45,451 (non-OECD)
23. Germany $ 42,222
24. Sweden $ 41,367
25. Cyprus $ 40,535 (non-OECD)
26. Kuwait $ 40,346 (non-OECD)
27. United States $ 38,786

[appalachiablue]

50. This is shocking and unless the US makes some fast and serious fundamental changes

the vast majority of Americans have only a continued, dark future in which to struggle to survive. The depths of corruption and misery reached in this country must end, somehow. The information is appreciated. How sad that it will probably only reach a small number of informed Americans.

I'm reminded of the grotesque painting by Spanish artist Goya, 'Saturn Devouring His Son' which depicts the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus ('Saturn' in Roman) who feared that one of his children would overthrow him so he devoured each one. Rubens also portrayed the disturbing subject, and the Goya work is used on the office wall of character Bretton James played by actor Josh Brolin in the film, 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps', 2010, so I just read.



Francisco Goya, 'Saturn Devouring His Son', c. 1819, Museo del Prado, Madrid.



Scene from film 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps', 2010.

[KentuckyWoman]

55. Healthcare in Canada is not FREE.

I hate that meme.

The costs are better shared by all, but providers DO get paid by someone.