Sell Us This Day Our Canadian Bread

 You've read this quote here before but...

“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” Adam Smith

Adam Smith is called by some "The Father of Capitalism." His book "The Wealth of Nations," where the above quote can be found has been called "The Bible of Capitalism." You HAVEN'T heard these here before:

 

"Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." Adam Smith

"It is unjust that the whole of society should contribute towards an expense of which the benefit is confined to a part of the society." Adam Smith

 "It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion." Adam Smith

"The disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons of poor and mean condition is the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments." Adam Smith

"Wherever there is great property there is great inequality." Adam Smith

"Most government is by the rich for the rich. Government comprises a large part of the organized injustice in any society ancient or modern. Civil government, insofar as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, and for the defense of those who have property against those who have none." Take a wild guess.

Adam Smith was not the father of capitalism. He wasn't a capitalist for crying out loud! But somewhere along the line, not long after 1776 when "TWON" was published I'm guessing, some rich capitalist thought it would be clever to mislead the stupid people and rich capitalists are STILL chortling and guffawing every time some dope tries to employ Adam Smith in their defense of capitalism.

These are the kinds of games the rich play with the poor. All the fucking time! And, I guess since the poor don't really do much about it, maybe we ARE stupid. Here is yet another example and with an offender I've slagged here before - Westons/Loblaws - as one of the culprits. 

The news is about a week old and already it's waaaaaay down the list of the news stories on CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news website. This was all I could find and it was below news of Dr. Ruth dying, a Waterloo U. hate stabbing, 11.6 billion oil surplus in Alberta, heat the biggest risk of death for BC poor, how tricky it is to predict weather in Alberta, and a story about a pet camel. It's just going to disappear and encourage further similar behavior by big business and our enabling government. 

While it is a bit heartening to discover that Canada even HAS a "competition bureau" and a commissioner named Matthew Boswell, the point made in the linked article above (but not in the vid) is a valid one. Government doesn't have money. This is a concept people really need to grasp. The vast majority of money associated with our government is ours. Or used to be before it became tax. When our government tells us it needs more money, we pay more tax. So when the government GETS money, particularly from fining scumbag corporations for screwing the people of Canada, why doesn't the money go to the people of Canada? Call it reverse taxation if you will. 

Welp, time to go on one of my trundles here. Matthew Boswell tried to block a huge takeover of Shaw cable by Rogers. He failed. In April of this year the merger went through. As you can read if you just scroll down a few stories in my blog, Bell absolutely SUCKS, so there are now basically two internet and cable providers in Canada - Rogers and Telus. How long before THEY conspire against the public and contrive to raise prices? That's exactly what Boswell predicted they would do. It's coming soon to Canadian cable stores near you. 

Look, they're already doing things shadily. In Korea we got internet that was high speed and unlimited for 50 bucks a month. Here we get minutes. Just like on your phone. I just signed up for Telus and am using one of their hubs or eggs or whatever you call it and I'm going to keep you informed on how expensive that is. I'm only doing that because the deal for cheap internet that included home phone and cable TV was a two-year contract. That was information they cleverly kept from me during the sales pitch. Then after agreeing and asking for them to hook me up the day before my online course started, they never came. Nobody called and told me why or anything. I called several numbers and finally talked to someone who told me it could take up to a month to get service. Another thing they knew, but withheld from me. So I cancelled. Well THEN they were calling and sweetening the deal and saying they could come soon and explaining about something called a "drop" that was the problem. Yeah, well that's all well and good, but if you don't tell me about the "drop," you get dropped. I told the service call-girl at the Filipino call center to give herself the lowest grade for customer service too. I've been sent several emails since asking me to rate the service I received from Melissa or whatever her name was. They always say they will record the conversation. You got my rating of Melissa on the recording. Leave me alone!

Anyway, I'm sure there will be other added charges and outrages attached to my new internet provider that I'll just have to suffer with because there are only two left. AND their already outrageous prices are only going to go up like the prices of every staple in Canada.

Which brings us back to the staple of bread. I like bread. It's one of the pleasures of life that age is trying to take from me, but I like bread. While in Korea, bread went from corncrap and cake to some okay white bread and occasionally some good grainy bread. Oh you could pay 20 bucks for a loaf of really good rye or multigrain from an expensive hotel bakery like the Hyatt in Seoul, but I didn't. I made do with what Korea had. Now I live across the street from Ferraro's Grocery where they have a fantastic selection of bread, deli meats, cheeses, Italian stuff... it's great! But it's not cheap. Gone are the days when, living in Nelson when I was 11 or 12, I went to the Super Valu and got 4 loaves of uncut, freshly baked brown or white bread for a buck. Everywhere you go in Nelson you have to walk up a hill or some stairs. I can't tell you how hard it was to walk up the stairs with a paper grocery bag full of warm bread, smell wafting into my nostrils, without ripping off a hunk and eating it. No WAY it would taste as good as it smelled but it was so tempting! Especially in winter. For some reason.

So yeah I love bread. This story is particularly meaningful because of that even though I was not here during the years of the price fixing contrivances that led to the fine. And if you haven't read the article or watched the vid, but are reading this, 50 million, while being a record-setting fine for this sort of thing, is nothing to these companies. To sum it up, Canada Bread - yes, that's the name of the corporation - is being fined 50 mil because Westin/Loblaws ratted them out. They conspired to price fix and between the two, basically every Canadian buys their bread. Weston got immunity so doesn't have to pay diddly and Canada Bread might not have to pay anything either even though it's just a crumb of money to them. In one of the years of the price fixing, just one, they made 1.1 billion bucks. Canadians eat a lot of bread. So I guess at the time of the price fixing, Maple Leaf Canada (talk about rubbing the screw job in the faces of Canadians!) was the majority owner of Canada Bread until it was sold in 2014 to (he's gotta be making this up) Grupo Bimbo, a Mexican multinational. So Grupo Bimbo will claim they were airheads and had no idea about the price fixing when they bought the company. So who will pay? Probably nobody. Well, except the bread-eating Canadians, a phrase that is practically redundant.

So here's an idea: How about instead of a fake fine that will basically be rewarding the government for allowing price gauging in Canada on something we all eat, how about we make these fucking asshole bread companies LOWER their prices? Oh my God! What a horrible concept! That would be GASP socialism! But quote #4 above by the "Father of Capitalism" isn't, right? Give your brainwashed head a massive shake! It's "not very unreasonable" to expect big corporations like Loblaws to contribute to public expense in proportion to their revenue. Buuuuut, here's what we get from Loblaws. Not to mention the price fixing. And never mind MORE than in that proportion. Again, scare word coming, that would be socialism we're socialized to believe. "Oh Mr. Weston, or Mrs. Loblaw, you are so honourable and such a good Canadian citizen!" See quote #5 above. 

15 years of Big Bread getting more and retailers getting a little less more and one giant company MIGHT have to pay a tiny fee. TO THE GOVERNMENT. If I'm a corporation following this story I am incentivized. THAT is probably the only reason we're hearing of this. It's an announcement that the Canadian market is wide open for this sorta shit. And, as one might expect, it's going to spread.

The dude in the video said, "This is just getting started." I've reported myself on the unbelievable inflation that has been in my face since returning to Canada. I think it's already started. Price fixing is the order of the day here. How long have I been home? Since March. 3 1/2 months and I'm already missing the free apartments and negligible taxes I got overseas. Now I'm longing for lesser inflation. And although 18 bucks an hour might sound like a pretty good wage, it pales in comparison to what I could make teaching overseas again.

It's Canada Day eve eve here and I have plans to go over to some friends' place and barbecue some buffalo burgers and listen to Canadian tunes and do what we do on Canada Day here. I haven't been in Canada for Canada Day for a long time. I really WANT to get into it and feel good about my country. But maybe more than ever, that is a hard thing to do.

So as usual my Canada Day post is not a patriotic, hooray-for-us, feel good one. I'll celebrate, but it'll be under protest. That's the best Canada can get from me this Canada Day. 

Addendum: Just in case you think this price fixing, Covid profiteering, supply chain blaming, etc. happens only in bread and phone companies, here's a little vid to watch:

I have to make a slide show for my course this week so I will be too busy to do the planned follow-up to this post about the Canadian housing bubble that is soon to burst. You'll see vids like this one:

The Bank of Canada printed almost 400 billion between 2020 and 2022? Holy! There was only 100 bill before that? Those are some crazy statements, but like Bobby Reich above says, it seems like the forgotten culprit in all of this is something I've been blogging about for years: corporate greed. The Fed, the Bank of Canada, or any central bank doesn't HAVE to raise interest rates to fight inflation. They only do it every single time because the alternative would be to maintain corporate oversight. Go right back up to the top, government by the rich for the rich will solve any problem they can in any way that will not inconvenience the rich. We act like the rising interest rates are inevitable. They're not. Our corporations could easily absorb tough times like the pandemic created. Profits have never been higher! But instead, we allow them to actually profit from them. 

The rich will be chortling and guffawing during the upcoming housing crash and you absolutely KNOW they will be buying up all the abandoned houses at rock bottom prices. 

THAT'S what we should be scared of. This market crash will go a long way to eliminating the already shrinking middle class in Canada. But tomorrow I'll try to put this out of my mind and celebrate Canada Day like a good Canadian dummy. 

But before I complain without offering a solution, do you know where inflation hasn't been that big a problem? Switzerland. Know why? Price regulation. Here comes that scare word again... "But isn't that socialism?" Well, what if it is? Shall I make you up some tee-shirts that say, "Inflation is better than Socialism?" And shall I charge 100 bucks apiece because of supply chain issues? Actually, that might not be a bad idear... Or maybe I'll just get a shirt that says, "I'd rather be red than do without bread." Oh man, I am SO flagged! lol

Addendum to the addendum:

Let's see what happens with this... A $230 inflation fighting rebate. If you have kids it could be as high as $630. It works out to 2.5 bill. Probably 2.5 bill of Bank of Canada printed new money. ANYthing to avoid price regulation eh?

I Wanna Be a Caveman

 Okay, time to stop bellyaching about my problems with the Canadian busybodies that have taken over every aspect of life in my country piling on licensing, certification, fees, rules and regulations until I feel like somebody will be waiting outside my bathroom door to charge an effluent re-assimilation fee every time I take a shit. I mean on top of sewage taxes and the skyrocketing prices of toilet paper of course. s i g h...

Now to bellyache about some OPP's felt by homeowners in America. These are other people's problems not just because I'm not American, but because I have no hope in fuck of ever owning, buying, or even financing a home. I might as well watch the Chuck E. Cheese story suggested by John Oliver at the start of the vid below because even though I have never been to a Chuck E. Cheese, there's a chance I will before I die. Actually, the Chuck E. Cheese video is suggested at the start of the full video where this dandy little bit of satire comes from. Watch the full episode on HOA's if you think these outrageous actions are in any way exaggeration.

Things are not as bad as all this in Canada... yet... but give us time. We usually catch up to the States pretty quickly in areas that fall into the category of widening the income gap, shrinking the middle class and turning average citizens' lives into gladiatory stand-offs against our fellow bondservants for the amusement of our owners. Here's an article from a few years ago. I'm sure it's far worse now.

Okay, I guess I am exaggerating. But not as much as you might think if you've somehow been sheltered from the reality of life in Canada/US for a while by - I dunno - living and working in Asia for many years. My bestest buddies from over in Asia, The Fam, have just arrived safely back in the US of A and are currently house-hunting and encountering daily the heartache and the thousand reverse culture shocks that flesh is heir to when one takes up arms against a sea of rival house-hunters. Odds are, since 80% of homes sold now up there come with HOA's whether the buyers know it or not, they'll end up exposed to the neighborhood tyranny that can come with one. Like many of the people in the video, they're already gut punched by the outrageously unchecked inflation in the housing market along with the simultaneous explosion in sellers' abilities in belief suspension exhibited in the elasticity of their acceptance of what qualifies as "fair" market value. Greed shame has been surprisingly easily replaced by pride, boasting, and self-congratulatory back slapping when prospective sellers (and we've all heard them) talk about how 8 years ago they bought such and such property for 100,000 and now it's worth half a mil. What are they expecting us to say? "Oh clever you! You've made no additions or repairs to your house or property, the roof, plumbing, fixtures, furniture, and base structure are all 8 years older and more dilapidated. With your fixed mortgage, you've paid thousands less in payments than you would have if you'd rented a comparable home. You've done no work at all, saved money, and are getting 400 grand for it. Congratulations! You've earned it!" 

Now this is not the case for everyone, but many. And if you're like me and often wonder how people can delude themselves into support for government that makes laws that allow life to become so miserable for all but the privileged few who can buy homes, this kind of real estate appreciation engineered by strategic inflation and interest rate control and easy money that comes with it is one thing that goes a long way toward loyalty to the devil. A tweet from 2019 has become a meme that I need to insert here:

"First we overlook evil. Then we permit evil. Then be legalize evil. Then we promote evil. Then we celebrate evil. Then we persecute those who still call it evil." Dwight Longenecker.

Which stage do you think the real estate market has reached? But before you answer, there are several "advantages" that come with such evil that I would consider to be worse than just getting rich by screwing your fellow citizens. And the worst part? It's not even a new thing!

The following are excerpts from an article I wrote for my masters course last year about something that happened in the States 90 years ago!: 

 I am going to concentrate on two interrelated areas in the US, ethnicity, and its almost requisite corollary – poverty, in relation to good neighborhoods, schools and jobs, where the idea of merit has traditionally been accepted erroneously as the top criterion of acceptance, when affluence was, in reality, more important. In America, where the concept of all people being created as equals is entrenched in their constitution, it is still more difficult for the disadvantaged to go to good schools, get good jobs and live in good neighborhoods.

We need to start with the neighborhoods because where you live figures largely in where you go to school, who you have within your social network, how you speak, behave, think, all can have an enormous effect on your acceptance to college/university and/or your ultimate position in the workforce. Neighborhoods are not created equally in America. This goes back to the Federal Housing Administration that was created in 1934. It was necessitated by the Great Depression, during which massive numbers of mortgage foreclosures took place. The FHA part of FDR’s “New Deal,” was designed as a way for the government to help people buy houses by underwriting, or financially backing, their mortgages. In the years following WWII, this discriminatory agency of the federal government (Truman/Eisenhower) withheld mortgage money from certain urban areas using data that suggested probable loss of investment in those areas. This was called “redlining” and it was assessed mostly on racial composition. Virtually all black neighborhoods were redlined, and as a result, nobody bought, nobody built, and urban blight was consciously manufactured. This despite opinion polls that routinely reflect the notion that people being poor and jobless is their own fault. 

"Section 8" mentioned in the full HOA video refers to the housing act of 1937, around the same time, that has since been amended many times, but still, evidently, contains many of the discriminatory lending policies of the old FHA. 

Truman was a democrat, and he was concerned with human rights. In the Housing Act of 1949, his administration opposed the use of restrictive housing covenants by the FHA, which shows how a federal agency can flout presidential preferences and persist on an old policy trajectory until a new president, with views more congruent with an agency’s long-established policy, is elected. Even the president might not have the power to change discriminatory policies in housing despite violations of the 14^th Amendment’s equal protection clause, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1866. It's a civil rights quagmire.

I think somewhere behind this civil rights quagmire is the usual culprit when almost any bad situation is investigated: for-profit industry. Housing is big business and there must be money to be made by segregating it. Segregation of education and the workforce is merely collateral damage to whatever industries are profiting. Perhaps fighting for-profit with non-profit is a solution. I recently read an article in which a group of tenants in the Bronx had their apartment purchased by a new landlord who threatened rent increases and evictions. They approached a non-profit organization that bought the apartment and sold each tenant the apartments for $2,500 each. That’s just over two month’s rent for apartments that are worth $72,000! It’s food for thought. 

However, we all know this is a dream that won't likely be repeated. I guess this means there are a lot of people who are fine with getting rich at the expense of their fellow citizens, keeping the "riff-raff" out of their neighborhoods, separating rich and poor hoods with big roads, building their countries in elitist ways. It's hard to believe it's 80% though. I think a LOT of that 80% is somewhere in the beginning stages of the Longenecker meme and would gladly take an honest alternative if it were offered. Both in Canada and America. But I could be wrong. 

Why was I writing about this in my schooling? It has a great deal to do with schooling, which, in turn, has a great deal to do with maintaining white supremacy, class competition, and some of the other "us vs. them" ideation that plagues our countries. You are probably thinking that Canada is not like that, but don't kid yourself. When it comes to making a living, supporting and educating our kids, Canadians will drop the gloves and chuck knuckles too. 

In 2018, when I lived in China, a student from Beijing was 41 times more likely to get into a top Chinese university. Not 41% more likely, 41 TIMES! When I lived in Beijing there were lots of empty apartments, but I lived in a hostel. Many of the people I worked with did as well. This was because it is quite common for parents of university aged children to buy apartments in Beijing (not rent, BUY) solely for the purpose of increasing the chances of their children of getting into good universities. Barbaric, right? But I think you will find that if we examine the patterns of residential segregation in Canada and the US, there will be a strong correlation to proximity to better schools. We are privately segregating both our homes and our educations and the number one criterion is money. Of course, if you design a system in which poor people and people of color get less of what is necessary for success in public education and, by extension in life, then the achievement gap is caused by the availability gap, isn't it? I mean, those were NOT poor or even middle class Chinese just buying Beijing condos and not living in them. And with the carefully engineered housing inflation in the US and Canada, it will not be average people who can buy homes and participate in HOA's for very much longer if they even can today.

When a real estate agent speaks of a "gated community" nowadays, what is the general impression they are hoping to give? Who are the people in the community hoping to "gate" out? And is there any better, or more absurd example of social, ethical, and cultural decline than neighbors whose dandelion seeds are reportedly infesting lush, green lawns being penalized, fined, foreclosed, or evicted by the HOA while we are all aware that if you are 35 or younger, good luck ever getting a home, much less a lawn in your lifetime!? 

If rental rates were not so outrageous and landlords were not so mercenary about raising rent and/or evicting tenants, I'd almost be happy to have escaped this decidedly oleaginous aspect of home ownership. I mean if I thought I could find a cave where I could live without some smarmy landlord holding out his/her hand every month and smiling at how much cleverer he/she is than I to have purchased the cave through the benefit of arbitrary social standing and nothing more, yet FULLY believing that he/she had somehow earned that privilege, I would. But I don't think that cave exists. Anybody know where I could find a cave like that?