I recently attended a rally for democracy in Downtown North Bay organized in response to the robo-call scandal. Coming away from the event I was a little saddened that it did not go as I had hoped. I must admit that I am somewhat of an idealist - I like to think that we can change the world, that actions speak, that protests have an impact. The feeling that I got, however, leaving the Rally for Democracy was more disappointment, malcontent, and a little bit of confusion.
I wrote this letter to the editor, idealist that I am, explaining that to me Democracy means more than simply casting a ballot in a cardboard box once every four years (although lately it has been happening far more often than every four years). To me Democracy means standing up for your beliefs and having your voice heard. It means holding our representatives accountable.
The reason I was confused is that I felt as though the event was not about Democracy at all. It was about the robo-calls. Yes, yes... I know... the robo-calls "undermine our democracy". I do agree, but I don't think that they are all that outrageous. I think that we need to be angry about this, but there are so many other things that we as Canadians should care about and should be fighting for.
For example, there is a group in North Bay run by a lovely woman who runs North Watch. It is a peace initiative. Essentially they host peaceful protests and rallies, and petition for peaceful environmental, economic and military practices by the Canadian government. I went to their event for Hiroshima last year and was horrified to see that there were only about 7 of us there. There were NO young people, NO families and NO students. To me this is unacceptable. There is an Department of Peace Initiative in Canada that is working towards creating a Canadian Department of Peace and a Civilian Peace Service in Canada. They have 12 chapters across Canada and are run by some wonderful, affluent and intelligent academics and activists in Canada. Did you know that despite our proposed "peace-keeping" international status, Canada actually only employs 2 people in peace-keeping related roles?
The point is, why do we not get outraged about this? Why are we not piling out into the streets to protest the use of our taxes to pay for overseas armed interventions?
So the problem for me right now is that we think that democracy means handing over responsibility for the direction of our country into the hands of elected officials and their party leaders and then waiting another four years to do it again. This is why people don't vote! People don't think that voting makes a difference because guess what! It doesn't!
One final thought, to all you people (yes I said you people) who are always going on about how Canadians "paid the ultimate price" for the right to vote or "fought for our democracy", I guess I must have been absence from Canadian Political History class that day! Sorry to be so blunt, but are you serious?
Read you history books (however revisionist they are, they are pretty clear on this); Canadians NEVER fought for the right to vote. We didn't have to die for the right to cast a ballot. WWI and WWII were not about democracy, especially not our democracy. If the Nazis had won we would not all be fascists. Also, the Cold War between the US and the Soviets was also not about our right to vote--it was about forcing the democratic ideology onto a overbearing and unjust regime (also, that doesn't mean that Socialism has been licked - Socialism has never been proved wrong, the Soviets were).
When we cast off our colonial leaders we did a really shitty job - we are still a constitutional democracy and have not severed ties with ye ol' England. Nor did we fight the Americans for our democracy! We weren't even Canadians in 1812, you plebs! AND...Americans were fighting for their right to self governance and Canada didn't really become a country until 1867 and even then, we didn't have control over our armed forces, we were just an extension of the British empire! We didn't get control of our armed forces until the 1940s (thats right! after the World Wars)
My free advice of the day: read a book.
The letter has just arrived, and delighted as I am, I will respond after all those other"extras" are completed this weekend. Now, as for your "rant," I think there must always be voices in the wilderness. Someone , somewhere, will hear, will agree, will rise up in support. Truly there are too many sheep and not enough leaders. Suffice it to say that the young ( and certainly you are one) must demand change, for it is the beginning of progress. The thing I , as someone older, know is that progress will continue on its own, whether the sheep agree or not.
ReplyDeleteDon't lose hope. Ideals always arise glowingly, and for those who keep the hope alive, tarnished as ideals become over the years, they tend to fuel us and eventually come to fruition.
In my young days, I was a student of the American Constitution and a researcher of the Russian Revolution. Both had at their core a sense of indignation at the political and social conditions of the time, a desire for equal rights and freedoms, and an idealistic view of the world. As I consider the ways American and Russian political and social concepts veered from the ideal of their original constitutions, I recognize the need for those who are jaded, less idealistic, and more incisive to take the lead in political implementation. In politics there will always be those who wish power for power's sake without regard to the many whose free votes brought them to that lofty position. In society there will always be those whose agenda is about money and the accumulation of wealth. Idealistic youth must begin to pressure the electorate to change the way those in authority are elected. ( For instance, in the US the richer you are, the more chance you have to be President; the more rich people you know, the better your chances, even if you then owe big-time once elected) We need to end the power of the media-- those who "look good" tend to get elected. We need to stop paying photographers and reporters big bucks for the scoop that catches the worst in our candidates. WE need to educate -- not for knowledge, but for deep thinking strategies!!!! ( This was my personal contribution to my country) We need always to raise our voices against injustice, inequality, poverty, cruelty, and stupidity. We must protect education. In nearly every country where revolution ended badly, those who were the most educated paid the highest price. And we must always understand history because it tends to repeat itself.
So don't apologize for wanting the best for your nation. Continue to rant. Do understand that ideals never arrive at their conclusion in quite the form they began, so make them the loftiest ideals you can in order for them to arrive in the best form possible. You have many years ahead. Don't give up now.
Now-- go read a book!!!