I like that Mr. Anthony has distanced himself from all politicians. Hopefully that part of his message is conveyed to the public.

When the people cannot see a way out, more likely seeing a way down, they do strange things. Like write songs about their plight. And then they take to the streets. In big numbers. Like they did in 1848.

"Sixteen Tons" was written in 1947. Since then, mining became a fairly lucrative occupation for blue collar workers. They are not poor any more.

Alberta has had several instances of raising its minimum wage substantially. In the last big raise (about six years ago), the business people said it would collapse the Alberta economy. But that never happened. No fast food joints closed down that I know of.

My hypothesis is that if an employee on financial edge gets a little raise, he is more likely to spend that raise that gives similar local employees more work. The local economy seems not to suffer. But give a CEO a raise . . . .