To the Editor:
Re: "As job toll mounts, investors are waking up to the size of the crisis." Edmonton Journal, July 7, 2009.
Surprise, surprise! The "economic recovery" predicted by the financial gurus earlier this year has failed to materialize. In their effort to promote a "positive" attitude, the corporate media continues to avoid calling the current economic situation a "depression." The preferred language is "recession."
But for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have lost their jobs because of factory closures and business failures, it's more than a "recession." It's a genuine "depression." For the half million Canadians who have been living on credit and are in default with their mortgage or credit card payments, the senior citizens who have had their retirement savings plundered, those farmers who are facing bankruptcy because the price they receive for their commodities is lower than it costs to produce them, the word is "depression."
Not all Canadians, however, are affected by the economic downturn. Many corporate executives, both private and public, continue to receive their exorbitant salaries and lucrative bonuses. Publicly funded bailouts enable them to continue living their lavish lifestyle.
So the rich get richer and the poor poorer, a natural progression as capitalism gradually collapses.
William Dascavich
Edmonton
