[Letter number 2 in what will most likely be a series of Letters to the Editor of the Era-Banner that I am not allowed to send because I am a declared candidate for an election that will happen sometime in the future. I wish I had realized that when I declared for the Green Party I would lose my voice at the Era-Banner but such is life. Now I get to make my letters longer. Ha!]
Dear Editor,
Re: Voter turnout low because politicians lie, letter from Mr. L. Rothwell, Feb 11 / Re: If you care about democracy, vote, editorial, Jan 28
With all due respect to Mr. Rothwell I must challenge his hypothesis that when "80 per cent of voters... stay at home. Then, maybe, politicians will get the message."
While there are a few directions my disagreement could take - including my belief that when 80% of voters stay home we will live in a true oligarchy where only the select few have any say in government and tyranny will reign and Canada will weep. Though, this scenario is fairly close to the mark with respect to municipal elections. Anyways.
That was not the point.
What I really wanted to dispute was Mr. Rothwell's obvious anger towards 'politicians' and his categorization of them as "people who lack integrity and ethics."
Of course, as a recently declared political candidate I take it a little personally that because of my political choice I suddenly have no integrity nor ethics. I actually consider myself to be a person possessing both integrity and a high ethical standard.
But that is still not the point, though closer to it. The point is - there are no politicians. There are merely people, just like Mr. Rothwell and myself, that have chosen to join in the political process.
Politicians are not usually born. They are made. They are people who have decided to pursue a public life - hopefully in the service of their country and the best interests of the electorate.
Do these people sometimes lose focus and become swayed by the pretty, shiny danglings of lobby groups? Yes.
Do they sometimes pursue power to the exclusion of everything else. Yes.
Do these people sometimes let us down? Yes. Often.
Do we have a democratic crisis in Canada? Yes. I believe we do.
But my point is that sitting at home and whinging about it is not the best use of one's time.
Stand up. Get engaged. Make your voice count.
And if you can't find a single political candidate that you can trust - then take the leap and become a candidate. For municipal, provincial, or federal politics quality candidates are desperately needed.
Of course, it would be super-spiffy if you would support me and my bid to be the first Green MP for Newmarket-Aurora, but if you can't, then get your butt out there and run against me.
I also have an issue with your contention that "the population is a lot more educated these days." Hardly. When the anti-proroguing rally was being organized most people did not even know that our democracy had been suspended. They didn't understand what it meant. And they didn't know why they should care. Some were happy to get the 'liars' out of Ottawa for a while. People know far more about what Britney Spears is up to than what our PM is doing showboating in Vancouver.
But that isn't the politicians fault. If there are issues with our democracy it is because we expect 'someone else' to take care of it for us.
We are the change we wish to see. We are the smallest unit of a democratic society. And it is up to us to keep it safe and keep it strong. If we don't have anyone to vote for then it is up to us to find them - or to become them. That is what I did. And it is what I encourage everyone else to do.
That is why I am so proud of local organizers like Liz, Neale, Nick, Carter and everyone else who helped make the January 23rd rally such a success - and who are now organizing a public meeting in Aurora on February 25.
Holding the Line on Democracy will take a frank look at what is happening in our society and, hopefully, send people away feeling more educated, more empowered, and more motivated to take action to keep our democracy strong.
Mr. Rothwell, I am personally inviting you to join us. It's kind of fun to be around other people who care as passionately as you obviously do.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
If democracy doesn't function, it isn't the fault of politicians
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
I don't see how another 10% drop off in voters will show politicians anything. As the Newmarket Watch blog reported this week, a 30% voter turnout is normal in Newmarket and yet I've see no crisis or change in political behavior because of this shameful level of participation Another 10% drop simply means they can pack the voting booths with their friends that much easier and less people will be engaged enough to run against them.
Seeing it works so well locally the higher levels of Government can't wait for us to all disengage from the process. Yeah so don't vote, that'll really show them! Mr. Rothwell's fix is exactly what the status quo politicians want.
The statement that people are more educated these days is true if you simply measure the number of degrees and years of school but having been in the system as a mature student I'm convinced modern universities are little more than diploma mills for a large portion of students. People may have more information available to them these days but they don't seem to have the training in critical thought required to utilize such information, further they are so fixated on the constant stream of pop culture pap that little insignificant things like politics, freedom and democracy are ignored.
Want a simple comparison of today's public vs. say those of the 50s? download a 60 year old newspaper and compare the level of reporting, vocabulary and grammar in articles or the letters to the editor. What little news that isn't gossip and entertainment these days is written at a level that a village idiot could understand and probably improve upon.
I think it is often the lazy who most loudly feign contempt for politics rather than say "that the hell is going on?" , "I don't understand this issue" , "why is this happening?" and "what do I have to do to fix an obviously broken system?" Ask the questions, that is the one action that truly threatens the status quo, inaction entrenches it.
The power of individual action does matter and if such actions are just they will flourish and spread, on the other hand refusing to act, refusing to vote, or refusing to defend your neighbors rights as you would your own family's have consequences that are far reaching.
CSB/GAB: Awesome comment. Love your passion. And we need to be passionate about our democracy. It's all we have between us and the abyss.
Post a Comment