There’s a lot of labour unrest brewing in the western world these days and lots of general world unrest to go round. Wages and working conditions seem to be popular negotiating items in the free world. The post-covid employee love affair with remote work and the associated freedoms it brings remains strong. Many organizations are leaning in to the new reality with flexible policies and retention strategies to beat the band. Many people are negotiating their way through the changing world and coping, while many are struggling.
Differences are growing and in some ways gaps are widening on many measures where they are intended to narrow. Gaps in affordable housing, gaps in availability of healthcare, wage gaps, debt-to-income ratio gaps, social safety net gaps. Recent estimates of household income distribution reveal that wealth decreased for a broad range of households, but especially for the most vulnerable, including the least wealthy and households younger than 45 years (StatsCan, 2022). Since 1995 the global share of billionaire wealth tripled – the largest increase ever (UNESCO, 2022). Arguably there are gaps in the gaps.
I’ve been increasingly inspired by the great drummer and music legend Neil Pert lately and the iconic Canadian band Rush. Their song The Oaks and the Maples is amazing. While its generally reported that Pert did not write the song as a social statement, it does have a certain appropriateness for our present time and the unrest attributable to many social gaps. Even if Pert didn’t intend the double entendre its worth noting the song’s finale highlited below. Differences and gaps are often resolved with blunt tools. Mind the gap! I remember the days of wage and price controls.
There is unrest in the Forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the Maples want more sunlight
And the Oaks ignore their pleas.
The trouble with the Maples
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the Oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the Oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made
And they wonder why the Maples
Can’t be happy in their shade?
There is trouble in the Forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the Maples scream ‘Oppression!’
And the Oaks, just shake their heads
So the Maples formed a Union
And demanded equal rights
‘The Oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light’
Now there’s no more Oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet,
Axe,
And saw…
Oaks and Maples in Harmony?
Image courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/bg/ (Creative Commons Share Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Jules Fauteux 