Corn Laws

[hedgehog]

Sawfly, you are spot on.
The house of lords controlled everything,the price of food, of housing, and they had the power to bankrupt you at any time.
If you didnt vote in the tory booth at election time, an eviction notice soon followed.
it was a straightjacket, and now we have the modern version, but we cant escape it by emigrating.

[hedgehog]

stonepicker, the free trade was a good thing for the colonies, but bad for a uk farmer on a fixed rent.
the corn laws were all about maintaining landlords lifestyles, not interrupting trade.

[foragefarmer]

Stonepicker

Hers's some facts of the growing gap between the rich and poor. Your remark about "some people see negativity in everything" is not true in this regard, as less and less people are seeing prosperity in the world, including here in North America.

The wealthiest 1% will soon own more than the rest of the world's population, according to a study by anti-poverty charity Oxfam.
The charity's research shows that the share of the world's wealth owned by the richest 1% increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% last year.
On current trends, Oxfam says it expects the wealthiest 1% to own more than 50% of the world's wealth by 2016.

[hedgehog]

well said.

[stonepicker]

Maybe it's time you quit worrying about the 1%. Never in history have so many been so prosperous. You had better hope that we always have rich people who build factories and wealth in the country. History has proven that governments can't run business efficiently, so who's left to create jobs?

[foragefarmer]

Stonepicker

I don't worry about the rich. I do worry of my children who are finishing their post secondary educations, finding secure jobs.

Google the the heading below. It paints a picture we should all be concerned about. Every nation must be concerned with the eroding of the middle class. Stonepicker, I would think even you are aware of what is taking place worldwide.

"Three quarters of workers don't have stable employment, says UN arm ILO"

[Hopalong]

The topic was prompted by election of NDP government in Alberta and question of which direction it takes in trade policy.
Talk of dropping support for crude oil pipelines in favour of refining and other value added within province.
Could it mean the same thing for grains industry with support for livestock and other value added and less incentive to ship bulk grain out of province?

[Hopalong]

Also prompted by COOL legislation issue with United States.