Editor, The News:
Re: Don’t trust polls (Letters, Nov. 23)
I really agree with Mike Boileau.
I will go even further on this matter.
The French economist Thomas Piketty, in his book Capital, in the 21st Century, explains that, since the 1900, half of the population in the developed world has not really benefited from the economic system we have in place.
Specifically, they have almost no wealth (only 0.5 per cent of total), and their only achievement has been to sell their labour force at a better price than earlier times.
He also explains that since the 1990, the concentration of wealth is increasing, the poorest half is losing the very little wealth that it had acquired. The worst case is in the U.S.
The globalization process is making this matter worse.
Workers in the developed world not only have to fight the increase in concentration of wealth, but also have to fight the loss of jobs due to globalization.
I suspect the polls are systematically asking for opinions to people in the upper half of the population, which somehow have managed to survive relatively well in this economic system. The issue is that, in a democracy, everybody is entitled to vote.
It is not clear to me why Canada would be immune to these two global forces. Brexit and Donald Trump’s triumph are events that are just around the corner for us. A Trump-style politician is ready to listen to the poorest half at his next election.
Alex Gidi
Maple Ridge
