Them’s that got shall get

I am a male, Caucasian Boomer. Because of this, and this only, I have experienced preferential treatment throughout my life.

The waves of protest against systemic racism pulsating from Minneapolis around the globe has certainly impacted this group in which the happenstance of birth has placed me. There has been a great deal of self-examination to identify our role in allowing this staggering injustice to continue.

I’ve observed the common response to this epiphany involves promising, as the sullied British Empire icon Baden Powell instructed his scouts to do: “Be pure in thought, word and deed."

This can be reinforced by cutting a cheque to a suitable NGO that is involved in this struggle (and can provide a tax receipt of course). I don’t consider these actions without value, however they cannot be seen as an end in themselves. What has positioned us to show this display of generosity? Where did this surplus come from? Statesponsored racism has been a fundamental instrument in the acquisition of wealth for hundreds of years. This has been protected and formalized by a corresponding centralization of political power. Profits gleaned from the slave trade and annihilation or subjugation of Indigenous cultures around the world have fuelled this rapacious colonial appetite. Unfortunately, today’s global economy is built around many of the same tenets and is bolstered by toploaded trade agreements and egregious infusion of public resources. International conglomerates in the extraction industries such as mining, oil and gas and forestry are prime examples of using displacement and subjugation of existing cultures simply as a tool of the trade. Manufacturers will go to wherever has the lowest cost of labour and the most pliant politicians.

In a more local context, our current political system applies the same, neoliberal template. In order to maintain their margins our three key industries: farming, fishing and tourism, require a supply of workers who are typically paid less than what they need to pay their bills. Government reduces taxes and provides massive direct subsidization to keep this model intact. There’s simply not enough revenue left in the public purse to take meaningful steps toward real equality in our society.

I suggest that my fellow Boomers look at how they acquired all their stuff. Where have their investments been accumulating points as they peer into their retirement years? If we honestly want to help eradicate racism and an array of other glaring inequities endemic to our society, we have to stop profiting from them. We must direct our resources toward eliminating an operating system whereby the needs and whims of the corporate boardroom dominate public policy.