"When governing is all short-term economic growth, then aboriginal rights and environmental protections become inconveniences to be ignored or managed. Refugees, the unemployed and the poor come to be seen and treated as freeloaders, a drag on the economy, rather than fellow citizens, often victims of an increasingly mean version of capitalism. And criminals are turned into convenient scapegoats for our fears and discontents, the most heinous offences and frightening offenders used to blind us to the reality that those are people in our prisons, most of whose lives could be repaired.
"Our leaders try to convince us that the health of the so-called job creators is more important than that of the weakest among us....
"On measures of equality, we are slipping to the bottom relative to other rich countries.
"The debate brewing about how to measure success is not just about measurement."
Full article: The mean test: Have we stopped caring about Canada’s most vulnerable?.
