Mar
2
Just Thinking
By Jim Gerwing
I can't stop the same old thoughts from rolling around in my head, over and over, something that comes with aging, I guess. At times this is most frustrating, especially when ideas keep mixing together in all manner of weird arrangements and combinations. It feels a lot like watching fireworks. Splendid manifestations of light and sound, but they are gone in seconds, leaving nothing behind but smoke and confusing memories. It is not all that easy to harness my random thoughts into some form of useful ideas. But here goes.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Canadian political system does not work as it should. For example, it is simply not right that any party can win a majority of the seats in the House of Commons while receiving support from far less than 40% of the people who voted. Add the fact that only about 60% of people bothered to vote and the percentage is closer to 25%. Yet, the Prime Minister uses his parliamentary majority to drive through legislation that does not allow for opposition questioning, amendments, or meaningful debate, even running roughshod over Canadian laws. His own party hasn't the moral courage to stand up against what has become a one-man show.
The system of "first past the post" has outlived its sell-by date, but it will not receive a noble grave. Opposition parties are far too entrenched in their own search for power to work together, either in a coalition or by amalgamation, to defeat a party that cannot secure a real majority of the voting public. Am I one of a small minority of Canadians who believe this is insane? I cannot see anything negative about cooperation, compromise, coalitions, collaboration, or common action.
Another major problem in Canada is the uneasy (sometimes unhealthy) relationship between the federal and provincial governments. The feds like to pass legislation which the provinces have to pay for. The provinces haven't found a way to work together to combat this pernicious situation. The rest of Canada's provinces desperately need more of Quebec's spirit of independence in fighting for the rights of the people.
Nothing infuriates me more than facing the fact of an increasingly ignorant and apathetic population. The majority of Canadians have little to complain about when it comes to material things. It is all too easy to criticize those in power. It takes no effort at all to be ignorant and indifferent, or to abstain from voting. It isn't even very hard to join a protest movement, might indeed be fun. It is much more difficult to turn vague dreams into effective participation in public affairs.
That brings me to the Occupy movement. The protest struck a chord in people all over the world. It seemed to lack any more explicit focus than a powerful belief that things are not right. Without a clear defining objective, without a clear agenda, and without a recognized leader, the encampments on public property gradually fell into a form of anarchy, hijacked by a variety of protestors with little in common with the original demonstrators.
That was perhaps inevitable, maybe even somewhat desirable. History shows that revolutions rarely change anything. The two most dramatic revolutions in recent history were the French Revolution and the Russian (Communist) Revolution. Both were aimed at the despotism of oppressive autocracies. Both movements quickly resulted in their own autocratic leaders. Robespierre became the sole spokesman of the revolution. A few years later Napoleon hijacked the revolution, calling himself the Son of the Revolution with autocratic powers as emperor. In Russia, Stalin took very little time to institute a one-man rule even more oppressive than that of the tsar.
The only change that produces radical and more permanent change is evolution. That takes a lot more time and a persistence of vision that this world hardly ever witnesses. Those who mounted Occupy have expressed rather amorphous aspirations. But they are on the right track. Things need to change, and change drastically. It will not happen overnight, because history also teaches us that those who have power will not surrender it willingly. That leaves the burden on the rest of us, the 99%. Does hope lie in the use of social media to stir people into action?
The hard question is this: Do enough Canadians really care enough to take up the challenge of true democracy presented by Occupy?