Adam’s posted something (and something else) that fits well with the observations of John Ralston Saul regarding the relationship between free trade and wealth: it’s not just Canadians that are worse off, it’s everyone.

CNN reported:

Between 1995 and 2005, productivity — a measure of the quantity and quality of what workers produce per hour — grew 33.4 percent. But hourly wages rose only 11 percent, with almost all of that increase coming during the late 1990s, according to EPI.

Looking back even farther, the disparity is greater. Since 1979, productivity rose 67 percent, while wages rose only 8.9 percent.

Yep, that sounds about right.

So people are working collectively harder and longer, for less benefit? How did they trick us into agreeing to that?

Oh yeah, they made us believe that we need them, and that they have a right to our labour at whatever crappy price they’re willing to set. Well, until the commons unbrainwash themselves, they’re going to have to live with it. We’ll see how much longer it takes till everyone’s as pissed off as Adam.

Though, to clarify, for one thing, I do think this has less to do with Bush and more to do with a generally materialist, classist society. It’s all about whether making money on an individual basis is regarded as relatively more or less important than things like the dignity of the populace, stability of the society, general happiness, and a generally relatively wealthy populace. It seems to me people have forgotten what good things these actually are, and how much they benefit society in general.

At least the Americans aren’t stuck paying European-styled tax but working American-styled jobs for American-styled pay.