Quote:
Originally Posted by westopher
That perfectly proves the point. Not everyone is a pair of engineers and bank managers. By simple math, these jobs are in the top 10% of earners (this is a total guess but I'd say fairly pessimistic, they could be even higher based on what we see with average incomes) to buy a fairly basic home and have room to raise a child.
Is that what entitlement looks like? That example is a pair of what would be considered very skilled people, considering for every bank manager, there are 20 relatively skilled people below them. Yeah you don't need to be a genius to be a teller, but you aren't pumping gas either.
There is no entitlement to thinking you can live a normal life in the city you choose to live in. This isn't a third world country, our citizens should have some sense of opportunity, and the possibility of "moving up a class" through hard work and dedication. Thats not really a thing anymore. Middle class people don't get rich. Poor people don't reach the middle class. The ability to do that is what sold immigrants on coming here, and its no longer a reality.
So if this pair of what should be considered elite can barely get into a starter home, where are the other 10 couples(or even harder, singles) below them supposed to live. We will reach(and I promise we already have) a point where unskilled workers in the city will cease to exist. People of all economic groups are required to have cities function the way they do, like it or not.
This problem goes far beyond the real estate market here, the real estate market is just a perfect visual of the problem of income inequality that faces canada. More money ending up in less hands, means the control of those with it are becoming exponentially higher. Its a fundamental flaw in unregulated capitalism.
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I don't disagree with your observations. The middle class, as we know it in North America, is eroding. The gap between the rich and poor is widening and while Canada has a larger social safety net than the United States, it's inadequate in Canada's two major cities.
I don't know what the solution is, to be quite frank.