Many of us who work at The Advocate spend a lot of time thinking about how life could be better for people in our Kawartha Lakes community, and for all Canadians. That is, how do we achieve a more equitable society, within a capitalism framework, where there isn’t such a great chasm between the wealthiest and the poorest?

When we consider these questions we refer to the kind of wealth that defies all sense of decency. As of June 8 last year, the world's richest five men owned over $400 billion in wealth. Thus, on average, each man owns nearly as much as 750 million people.

As I wrote in a feature story in last month’s Advocate, too many of us from all political stripes seem to believe that the ‘free market’ needs to be left alone to do its thing to make lives better for people. It is the ‘trickle down’ lie that has been perpetuated for decades, all the while inequality continues to increase.

We let politicians talk about the market, as if our economic system was a thing onto its own, instead of a rigged game, written by people who wield power.

At the Advocate we think about these things, not because we are anti-capitalist, but because we are not happy with the current rule book which has entrenched inequality at the expense of lower and middle income Canadians.

The late Robert Hielbroner, one of the world’s great economic historians, discusses the reality of capitalism in his CBC Massey Lecture presentation on ‘Twenty-First Century Capitalism.’

There is only one answer to the problems that plague capitalism, Hielbroner said.

“The problems must be addressed by the assertion of political will. In one form or another…the undesired dynamics of the economic sphere must be contained, redressed, or redirected by the only agency capable of asserting a counterforce to that of the economic sphere. It is the government.”

Of course we should add ‘the people’ can also be a force to Hielbroner’s comment, but that is perhaps implicit in his comment about government. But citizens can still summon a counterforce beyond electing their government every four years or so simply by speaking up. (Contributing Editor Trevor Hutchinson reminds us of that in his analysis of the proposed merger between Ross Memorial Hospital and Peterborough Regional Health Centre. We all love the Ross in our community and we want to ensure it remains a great community health centre.)

But from mergers to mega-corporations and the concentration of assets at the corporate level, we just don’t believe this improves society. We believe it improves the bottom line for a small minority. We must speak out for people, not the rigged economic game that too many politicians bow down for.