Thread by @SOSAlberta

🧵We’d like to take a moment (since we get an *extra* hour today 😉) to highlight the real damage austerity takes on a society, and why we are so concerned about Alberta Budget 2019. /1
#abed #ableg #RealCostOfCuts

🧵We know sometimes its hard to see the collective damage, we know it can be difficult to see why this affects you.
We hear these things all too often:
-It’s OK if they reduces transit operating hours, I don’t use transit anyway. /2

#abed #ableg #RealCostOfCuts

🧵
We hear things like:
“If de-indexing AISH saves some money, we should, I don’t know even know anyone on it!”

“More schools fees are ok, I can afford it!”

“It doesn’t matter if the government assumes public sector pensions! I don’t even have a pension.”
/3
#abed #ableg

🧵
“AlbertaHealth gets too much money, wait times are long, I’m happy to open up space by using private services.”

“#abed cuts don’t affect me, we don’t have kids in the system.”

“Provincial cuts to housing prgms aren’t services we use so cutting them doesn’t bother us.” /4

🧵We understand that it can be easy to look at what DIRECTLY affects you and your family.

And we know that so many of our amazing followers already GET how all of these cuts are bad even if they don’t affect them!
(Big shout out to our amazing SOS champions!)
/5
#abed #ableg

🧵
But the bigger picture,the biggest concern we should focus on, is that these cuts WIDEN INEQUALITY.
These initiatives create a society of have & have-nots & widen income inequality.

And EVERYWHERE large income gaps exist,DEMOCRACY is weakened. /6
theguardian.com/inequality/201… #abed

🧵
Where the rich are far far richer and smaller in number than the poor, democracy is tenuous. In countries where wealth is distributed more evenly, democracy is stable.

Yes, we should (MUST!) be concerned about all the individual cuts - absolutely! /7

#abed #ableg

🧵
But we must also keep in mind that protecting all of these services (whether they affect us directly or not) is a MORAL obligation.
It’s a matter of social justice.
It’s a matter of protecting& strengthening democracy!
For everyone!
/FIN
theguardian.com/inequality/201… #abed #ableg