by: lindsay wincherauk
"Boom" goes the economy... jobs are lost, stores close, and construction halts, leaving partially built buildings dotting the skyline as the fat starts coming off our over-binged cities (Olympic developments excluded).
What created this mess, and more importantly: who/how are we going to dig our way out?
What created? ...we bought everything we've been sold; and we did it on credit, and now, those at the top want their money while we still have some left.
Fortunately, for us, someone is watching out for those struggling to climb life's economic ladder.
Enter Translink, a hard working man (labourer), who happens to be building the shiny glass towers, is forced to take transit. He can barely feed his family, and without question, he can never afford to live in the buildings he constructs, a travesty. Not to worry, Robin will come to the rescue.
"Can I see your ticket sir; you only bought a one-zone and you're travelling two..." CA-CHING --- "that'll be $173," payable to the executive who's making two-hundred-fifty-thousand per year; thanks Robin.
Hell, maybe that wasn't the real Robin; maybe he/she is hanging out at the banks or the credit card companies --- they've always been good to the commoners, haven't they? If I leave my money alone, the banks will give me interest, and the cc's will allow me to keep buying the "stuff" that brings me to a state of euphoria.
Wait a second, my new flat-screen television gave me a hit of pleasure and a whole whack of distraction, but now they want their money back, and if I don't give it to them promptly my $1000-TV ends up being three times that amount, fortunately again, I'm making interest on my savings (insert laughter). I better go to the ATM and make a withdrawal... I have some bills to pay, "...sorry sir/madam, your balance is less than a $1000 so we have to charge you a fee with each withdrawal, on the upside; you did make a nickels interest last month.
Great, a nickel, that'll feed the family! Can we ask one question: who gets the money from my service charges, and the interest from my now worthless used-TV?
Damn, another false Robin; and besides, where are the new "real" dollars we need to support the "make believe" (interest/fines) ones?
"Shhh... they don't really exist; and besides, we put them in the accounts of those who never need to use their ATMs."
In the meantime, the rest of us are all chasing the one "real" dollar in existence; the problem: for every "make believe" one created, "real" becomes harder for those at the bottom to catch.
And we pretend to care about the homeless.
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