POLITICS IS STUPID AND IMPORTANT
or How To Criticize The Government And Not Be A Terrible Person
I’ve tried to stay away from it most of my life.
It’s largely been the domain of nerds, and not my kind of nerds.
At least it’s seemed that way to me.
I’ll be honest with you, as a white, straight male it’s been pretty easy to ignore politics and feel like it doesn’t matter. You may not realize this but white, straight males have had a pretty easy ride.
That was sarcasm, just in case you were in doubt.
The ‘may not realize’ bit not the ‘easy ride’ bit.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that though I may not be directly affected by politics, the people who are affected by politics are part of society which, as it happens, is also where I live.
Therefore if something has a negative impact on society, it will make society less nice to live in, and again, that’s where I live and I’d like to live in a nice society.
So, in the past six or so years, I’ve felt compelled to take more interest.
A little late, I know but I’m trying.
Most recently, I’ve been fairly involved in discussions around a specific Bill that hasn’t passed yet. This Bill will affect me. It’s Bill C-11 and I won’t bore you with the details on that. I’ve already bored you before.
Here’s what’s been annoying me about politics though…
I oppose part of the bill. Not the whole thing.
The opposition party, and no surprise here, opposes the bill. They primarily, as far as I can tell, oppose it because the current government brought it forward and for largely no other reason (ignoring a spurious claim of ‘censorship’, which though kinda technically correct is being made to sound way more scary than it is).
My opposition to part of the bill is being seen by some as:
complete opposition to the bill
a brand new allegiance with my heart and soul to the opposition party
Neither are true.
There seems to be an attempt to make things as binary as possible.
You’re with us or you’re against us. It’s maddening and serves no purpose.
The more I’ve become aware of politics, the less I like it.
As opposed to the government putting forth policy and then having the opposition argue for amendments to make the policies better for all, what we have is just groups of people who want power… damn the consequences.
I understand, of course, that as in Canada, the US, the UK and elsewhere, there are potential dire consequences for one or other party losing power or gaining it.
However it’s frustrating when that desire for power comes at the expense of those who you’re supposed to be serving.
Thanks to some recent really bonkers politicians (looking at you CPC and GOP), I feel we’ve gotten to a point where the smallest dissent is seen as a shift in alliance.
It doesn’t have to be.
I can support the government AND make my voice heard if I feel they can do better. That doesn’t mean I want the Crazytown Bananapants Party to takeover.
I just want the government to do better.
###
Having a false dichotomy of political discourse benefits those who are courting the votes and allegiance of the simple minded. "Us vs them" is easy to understand and digest, and absolute conformity with the Party Line absolves the simple minded of having to think or make judgment calls.
Along with many other things, this society has lost the art of debate. Instead of rationally discussing the pros and cons of a certain position, we bypass reason and go directly to ugly confrontation. Aligning oneself to one party with little thought other than hating the other will not move society forward. There are so many serious issues to resolve and the world seems intent on not working together and being as destructive as possible. I am glad I am not going to be in this world for much longer ( I am almost 80 ) because it is getting uglier by the minute and I don’t want to be around as an observer .