"The one thing that can stop the rise of the far right is the one thing mainstream parties are currently not prepared to deliver: greater equality. The rich should be taxed more, and the revenue used to improve the lives of the poor."

— Writer and Guardian columnist George Monbiot

“War-taxes are the only ones men never hesitate to pay, as the budgets of all nations tell us.”

— Philosopher William James, from his 1910 essay “The Moral Equivalent of War”

Many of our leaders rightly say that Trump hasn’t merely imposed tariffs — the US President has declared “economic war” on Canada. We are experiencing an assault on our economy, employment and sovereignty, all aimed at softening us up to accept annexation. In the face of this, much like the early days of the COVID pandemic, we are invited to make common cause; “we’re all in this together”, our leaders implore — elbows up!

But if we are indeed standing on the breach of an economic war, how best to sustain social solidarity — a widespread feeling of shared sacrifice and purpose? And relatedly, why are our leaders failing to institute what is normally understood to be a foundational price of war, namely, tax increases on corporations and upper-income people?

Wartime, after all, is generally financed by special war taxes, with a particular duty borne by those most fortunate. That’s why the First World War saw the introduction of Canada’s income tax.

Yet in contrast, we seem to be entering the current fight with our aspiring leaders doing just the opposite — competing over who can provide the biggest tax cuts, with the largest gains going to the most comfortable.

Is this a serious fight or a phony war?

Successful mobilization requires that people make common cause across class, race and gender — and that the public have........

© National Observer