economy

[Duncan]

yea but even food people argue is packaged in packing that's imported

[nature boy]

not all food is packaged. and you don't have to buy food at the supermarket, but you can buy it directly at the farms.

[Duncan]

haha.. yea but we all know none of us really do that unless it's at a farmer's market... and even then, farmer's markets are more expensive than supermarkets which kinda make it so that only those people with the money to care can care about this issue

[nature boy]

everything made in canada is going to be more expensive. that's the whole reason why no one buys canadian, and why work is outsourced overseas, and why we even brought up this discussion.

[joel]

most supermarkets label where there food is grown as well, they may even be regulated to do as such (i don't really know for sure). getting local produce is not all that difficult and not necessarily more expensive.

plus the people who sell corn/berries/etc... off the side of the highway... i am pretty sure they don't import that stuff into the country to sell off the back of a pick up truck.

[nature boy]

yeah, and the fact that their spray painted sign usually says where they're from.

[geForce]

Even then, how do you know they used Canadian made spray paint.
Or that the stuff they're selling is from where they say it's from... they could've bought it from Superstore and re-branded it as their own.

[nature boy]

you're not buying their spray paint.

[geForce]

I was just going along with what's been said in this thread. There was argument about how purely "Canadian made" something is based on where it's assembled, where the components are from, etc.

[joel]

usually stuff you buy off the highway is cheaper than the supermarket... farmers get to cut out the middle man. so if they are buying it from superstore and then re-selling it off the highway, that's not too smart of a business model.

[geForce]

Oh really? I didn't know that.
I never bought anything off the highway before, so I was just guessing they were charging a premium for bringing quality Chilliwack corn directly to you.

[se7entse7en]

[nature boy]

[joel]

an article regarding the increasing income inequality in canada:
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/oecd-r ... 17776.html

[nature boy]

too long. coles notes please.

just kidding. i thought it was interesting that it said (from what i understand) that improving education would boost the economy. i don't know if that's true, as with a master's degree i'm among the top 5% most educated canadians, but i only make average wage. winnie has a master's degree too and right now she makes jack all.

and another thing i gather from the article is that the end game is to buy real estate. really? is that how we base our worth? it may be for the economy but i feel like if we promote this "american dream" we lose a lot in the way of family systems, relationships and ideals for social justice. having/owning a house isn't a bad thing, but it's a bad thing if that becomes our value, that our worth is measured only by our property. so much so that we go to great lengths (i.e. debt for life) to gain it.