Last week, the world gasped collectively. The Festering Orange Felon is back for another four years. How the hell did that happen?

Sitting as a northern neighbour, watching for themes, not details and having personally voted nearly 600 times (federally, provincially, municipally, and in referendums), I have a theory. This theory has come about because I have been disappointed far too many times when my choice was lost, naturally thrilled when my choice won, and knowing in my bones every single time that my pick was far superior to everyone else. (yes, there is a touch of snark there.) My theory is

The People are Always Right

I came to this conclusion about twenty years ago when I had to admit that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t right in my picks and that the party I didn’t choose was doing a pretty darn good job with the circumstances it found itself in.

Today, I’d like to share the circumstances the world is finding itself in.

Rebounding from COVID has been, to put it mildly, difficult. Getting all the supply chains back into formation has substantially increased the cost of food, gasoline, and all the basics we need to get by, taking a much bigger slice out of our earnings.

Some groups have negotiated and secured better earnings for themselves and their members. Those double-digit wage increases have helped compensate for the double-digit inflation numbers we all grapple with. Unfortunately, far more of us have had to contend with single-digit increases.

Then there is the huge swath of the population that has not seen any increase in earnings power. And that swath has fallen further and further into poverty. Taking on the second, third and fourth jobs has not helped. I am thinking especially of the seniors, disabled, under-educated, immigrants, and mentally afflicted.

The new and used auto market has yet to settle into a dull roar after the massive price increases from the worldwide shortage of computer chips. And if automakers are like grocery magnates, there is no impetus to reduce the cost of goods for the ultimate consumer.

Real estate valuations began their massive upward trajectory around 25 years ago and have increased nearly 50% in the last five years alone. What cost about $500K at the end of 2018 now costs $750K. The funny thing is that no one anywhere has seen a corresponding hike in their earnings power.

In the late 1970s, an interesting business trend came into focus: getting bigger for the sake of being the biggest, improving productivity, minimizing waste and redundancy, paying for performance, and rewarding stakeholders. The buzzwords were globalization and free trade. The US was the first to introduce these concepts, and governments everywhere agreed to open their borders to encourage the titans of industry to set up shop. All of this was done in the interest of greater wealth accumulation.

Except 50 years on

Most companies have become huge monoliths, smaller players eking out a living or roadkill. The path to prosperity and wealth accumulation was hijacked. To improve productivity, good-paying jobs were shipped off to third-world countries where labour was more expendable and remuneration was peanuts. The pursuit of minimizing waste and redundancy meant full-time positions became first part-time, then freelance, and ultimately gig work. Manufacturing and heavy labour jobs fell out of favour as technology became faster, cheaper, and increasingly disruptive. Unsurprisingly, paying (executives) for performance and rewarding shareholders remained the prime directive.

The once vibrant middle class has been hollowed out. Most of us are now working class, working poor, or destitute. Those in the old upper class have slipped to the middle class, and the real upper class is reserved for the super-rich.

Today, far too many young people are still living in their parents’ basements. Educated or not, they face a future where finding a good-paying job is frustrating, and thinking of buying a home and building a family is nearly futile. They face the stark reality that they will never be able to have what their parents have, and their hope for a better future has permanently disappeared. The parents of said young people want opportunities for their kids and, yes, for them to leave the nest and stand on their own two feet.

Today

Far too many people can’t easily make ends meet. Worse, all the social systems we’ve relied on are nearing collapse. There is a growing global problem with illicit drugs, with addictions, with petty thefts, with mental issues and depression.

The promise of a better future brought about by the flames of globalization did not pan out. Sadly, globalization heaped more consumerism, worse food choices, more diseases and way too much death and destruction of the ‘good parts of society’ for all of us.

We humans like to give the other guy a chance. We love success stories where the underdog wins. We will grudgingly endure a lot in the name of fairness, goodness, progress and moving forward. But we do have a breaking point.

I do not see a lot of fairness, goodness, progress and moving forward anymore for the average person. Sadly, we have all heard and maybe even been part of the increasing crescendo of ‘what about me?”

When enough people get to the ‘What about me?’ stage, the breaking point is reached. Change is only made when the people vote for a new direction. Whether it is the right change, of course, never really matters. What matters is that there IS change.

Like most government leaders, the Festering Orange Felon won’t be around forever. In due time, the pendulum will ultimately swing back. Then, as now, we must never forget. The People are Always Right.