The other night, I listened to a couple of news stories on the radio. One noted that a locomotive manufacturing company in London, Ont., wanted its assembly line workers to take a 50 per cent cut in wages in order to keep the company in business. In the other news report, a study indicated that the top 100 CEOs in Canada make 189 times the income of the average worker in this country. The study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said those CEOs each made on average $8.4 million in 2010.
“Canada’s CEO Elite 100 have left the rest of us behind in their gold dust,” the authors of the report concluded.
I contrasted the millions going to the senior executives with what might be the resulting incomes of those Electro-Motive Diesel workers in London – going from about $32 an hour to about $15.50 an hour. And I tried to rationalize all that in light of what many of us are doing this time of year. Traditionally, when New Year’s Day comes along, we think about the coming 12 months and plan important changes in our lives. We think about getting more fit, or losing more weight, or acquiring more of this or taking more of that. More, more, more, seems to be the common denominator here, when perhaps status quo – or keeping what we have – might be a better wish.
In the Christmas season just past, how many of us – whether six years old or 60 years old – thought about what more the traditional gift-giving might bring us? That bestselling book, that piece of clothing with the high-end designer label on it, or even that gift certificate from a favourite chain store.
Then, during whatever number of days we had of work-free lounging between Christmas and New Year’s, which of us wished we could have just one day more? I know I did. While many of my fellow instructors at colleges around Ontario had additional days off this week, I lamented that my faculty mates and I were back on the job bright and early Monday morning. In light of the December 2011 unemployment figures in Canada at 7.4 per cent and the potential plight of those locomotive workers, it made me feel awfully guilty I’d even thought of getting an extra day off.
And while I wasted time wishing for more time off, I should probably have felt thankful for the time I have. Just before Christmas, I visited a friend facing a catastrophic illness. Exactly my age and with a similar career path, this friend has given extraordinary talent and time to his family, his working colleagues and countless classes of aspiring journalism students. In other words, he has given back much more than he has ever taken from life. I know. I have watched him plan and care for his wife and sons, collaborate with those media co-workers and inspire students of his profession to greatness on their own terms. Now he faces the toughest battle of all – the battle for as many more days with those family members, co-workers and students as he possibly can, despite the odds against him. And I thought I deserved another day off.
I’ve also been watching with some concern the looming presidential election in the United States, a nation that in some ways invented the phenomenon of wanting and expecting “more.” President Barak Obama continues to grapple with the same crippling unemployment rates and just as sluggish an economy as other Western nations, but now he faces a growing chorus of naysayers who claim the American people can and should expect greater things from their president.
With half a dozen Republican candidates now jockeying for the GOP nomination, I listen to the rhetoric of a political battle that pits the philosophy of being a brother’s keeper against the philosophy of looking out for individual rights first. And while both political perspectives have merit, each promises to taking less and give more. How can either side be believed when Americans live and benefit from the wealthiest culture on planet? And how does that culture (or ours for that matter) rationalize demanding more, when so many cohabitants on the planet haven’t a roof over their heads, a full stomach most days of the year, or the freedom to elect those who govern them?
My New Year’s Day resolution list was shorter than my Christmas wish list, which was non-existent. It was just put into clearer perspective by the disparity between workers and executives I read about this week, the looming political battles I anticipate in the U.S., and witnessing a friend trying to hang on for one more day.
This year I resolve to be more thankful for what I have and to expect no more than my fair share.
