Is This What the Top One Percent Think of Ordinary People?
The top one percent, like banker Richard Nesbitt, must think unemployed people are funny. He must find unemployed Albertans especially hilarious, judging by this video. (Source: ” Toronto bankster Richard Nesbitt laughs at jobless Albertans,” Rebel Media, December 21, 2016.)
The video shows just what kind of opinions the top one percent thinks about ordinary Canadians, especially Albertans. Nesbitt used to be one of the people who ran the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM), commonly known as CIBC. As COO, he made a comfortable living; sources suggest a comfortable $7.5 million a year, that is. (Source: Ibid.)
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As it happens, Nesbitt could enjoy that kind of salary because of the deposits of many Canadians, including many Albertans. That means oilmen, farmers, and ranchers, who deposited, invested, and used CIBC services. Nesbitt has retired from the famous bank, but he has a new role as the president and CEO of the Global Risk Institute, another top one percent-focused institution, just down the street from CIBC headquarters in Toronto.
Nesbitt, a Liberal Party supporter (the party of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) is keen about the fact he owns three houses. One of these is in Florida, while another functions as a hobby farm. We can surmise that he enjoys boasting that fact, because he put it in his biography. (Source: Ibid.)
Nesbitt also has an incomplete understanding of the extent of the Canadian unemployment problem.
During a recent conference, Nesbitt waxed poetic about the fact that unemployment in Canada is low. In the context of most countries, that might be. But, as one economist in the audience pointed out, unemployment is high in Alberta. Nesbitt replied, “But it’s Alberta, who cares about them?” Other bankers in attendance were laughing. So, is that what the top one percent thinks of unemployed folks?
So, what is the point? Nesbitt’s attitude reflects the elite’s detachment from the struggles of real people. In this case, the object of the “joke” was Albertans. However, any number of weak segments can fall victim to that cynicism.
