We manage to do it 30 even 20 years ago, as well. I agree with a living wage, or at least wages that pace cost of living increases. I don't believe the rich are the cause of our decline in personal wealth, or the ability to become rich with effective choices, education, inheritance and hard work are a problem either. I believe the loss of a large manufacturing based labour market, is at the root of our decline. We had huge growth after the population culls of ww1 and ww2 as industry was huge, population was small in Canada, and the war effort spurred so much growth in a young industrializing nation. From the 30's to the 70's, we had huge growth in manufacturing which also required huge effort in raw material supply chain, which always suited Canada...we got lots a stuff here to cut down, mine from the ground, and lots of space to grow food. People were worth something and educated nations did very well. Since we have moved away from manufacturing, and towards increased automation (now computer assisted and robotics) we have rendered human labour (and people themselves) as less important to the economic production of our country. We have changed our reliance on material wealth from self-production to importing our goods from nations who are seeing the exact same growth in this millenium, that we saw in the post war era. Manufacturing the 'stuff' for North American and free world developed societies , which we see as 'wealth', is lifting communist and 'less developed' countries out of poverty by stimulating growth and opportunity among their citizens. People are important to developing nations, but here people (or labour) are 'too expensive' and demand 'too much' to sustain economic profitability. We have allowed manufacturing and production to be moved offshore. Our technological advancents are so entrenched into the manufacturing sector and have displaced so many 'regular' jobs. We don't produce enough GDP per person (proportionetly) to have general individual wealth levels like the past. High tech industry and manufacturing don't require the same amount of human bodies to produce income, for business owners, yet they are literally the hands that feed us. Its nice that we are generally smarter, but as individuals we have a 'hangover' of want and desire left from a growing and booming manufacturing era, coupled with a personal demand for more and better stuff. Is it corporate greed? Or are we as Canadians mirroring this 'greed' in wanting more stuff for less work? Less work is available and more people want more? Nowadays we are turning to government to 'correct' this disparity, which seems to get us more taxation (from the dwindling rich?) and more regulation on the resource extraction industries and manufacturing, and hence less jobs. My personal wealth has been chipped away mostly because of increasing fees and taxation on my 'necessities' in the last couple decades, not because of lack of working hard, and becoming more efficient (constant learning and adaptation). It is being nickle and dimed to death by fees and an ever increasing funding of government and bureaurocracy. It is also being chipped away by dwindling dependability of owned products in our households and a 'throw-away' society. Who is to blame? Who can rectify these things for the betterment of all? My family is all service workers and this is what most of the frontline job growth areas are, and even that sector is becoming threatened. We can't grow wealth by serving other Canadians, we must have trade in our national favour to grow, otherwise we are just recirculating the money made from the past. Growth away from fossil fuels and resource extraction will only benefit us if the product of this growth makes our essential needs cheaper in relation to our individual wealth. This is not happening, and it looks like it won't be anytime soon, if we are all ashamed of own successes of the past. We always want to be better for each other and our planet, but we are taking way from the older foundations of that principle, yet want to have more but we work harder and smarter for it. I am not ashamed of the 'West' or our past. We have the ability to lead the world, but seem to be stumbling all over ourselves, and our expectations of what personal wealth and happiness are.
The only thing I can do is keep working and helping out my kids, and keep up with taxes, while settling for less 'stuff'. Oh and voting too LOL.