In the growing darkness of Harperland, it's hard to know what's the truth, what is illusion, and what's just another Big Lie.
But sometimes the truth is so blinding, like a fire in the sky, that it's impossible to ignore it. Or live like so many Canadians in a state of denial.
For if you're a progressive, and you are serious about bringing down the Con regime, this result should serve as a warning.
Because the writing was already on the wall...
And setting aside all the other factors that contributed to the by-election results, this is the truth that burns.
If this set of by-elections pre-sage anything, it is that if progressives of all stripes don't find practical and effective strategies for surmounting vote fragmentation, there is every possibility that the Harper Conservatives could ride up the middle in 2015 and win yet another majority government, despite the majority of Canadians opposing their policies. Political contests are important, but only if they carry with them the tangible possibility of the expression of the political philosophies that are in contention. Otherwise they amount to little more than academic political exercises.
It's not an easy truth for some to accept. The hyper partisans for whom politics is like a game.
The old people who dream of the past, and just want things to be like they were back then.
(click pic to enlarge)
Even though that Canada is long gone, and what's left is being destroyed by the Cons.
The young people, who think if you put on a parka and go down to the beach in late November, in Canada.
You can pretend it's summer...
Even as the planet burns.
But the truth will catch up to us all, for it is a simple one. United we will win, divided we will lose.
Are we really prepared to defeat ourselves instead of the common enemy? When they are so few, we are so many, and they are so evil.
The New Democrats' efforts to help Canada send desperately needed medication overseas to people suffering with HIV/AIDS was defeated in the House of Commons Wednesday – an action some are calling a “travesty” and a “betrayal.”
I don't think so eh?
The sooner we learn to work together, young and old, red, orange, and green.
The sooner we will destroy the Cons.
And end this living nightmare...
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Here are my thoughts, expanded on Brandon's, and Nathan Cullen's, etc.
ReplyDeleteWe can co-operate for an election cycle at least enough to install a proportional system so Prime Ministers are indirectly chosen by the majority of voters, instead of those most able to cheat in the present system. Legislating away the party leaders' power to approve locally selected candidates should end also, as should there be laws governing voter databases used by national parties as data mines and spy machines.
hi John...All of this sounds great to me. I just think we should all agree that whatever happens the Cons can't be allowed to win the next election. Can you imagine how we would feel if the vote split again, and we were facing five more years of this criminal government. At the very least we should explore all options, so we can be prepared to do whatever we have to do to make sure that never happens...
DeleteYou know what would break that deadlock? If any of the opposition parties actually was progressive. "Not Harper" isn't enough. They're all, Harper included, trying to claim the political center which Harper, aided by Ignatieff and Layton, has already moved well to the right. Who is championing what should be such progressive causes as decarbonizing Canada's economy and reversing inequality of income, wealth and opportunity? No one and that's why the voting public is disengaged. Yes, Harper's a shit, but that's his nature. What then is the Liberal and New Democrat excuse?
ReplyDeletehi Mound...I know where you are coming from, and I admire the way you have made the environment such an important issue. And I am more of a lefty than any of the parties, so I will probably never be satisfied either ;)
DeleteBut although the Libs and the NDP aren't perfect I still think that they are much better than the Cons, and getting rid of them should be our main priority. For while we might be able to nudge the progressive parties into being more progressive, the Cons are hopeless, and we can't let them continue to slowly destroy this country...
I agree with John. We need to call our MP's and ask them to support a coalition of the left. We also need to call our local RoboCON and tell them to cross the floor! They can't all be BAD people,they just need to be broken from the CULT MOLD and educated.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that mandatory voting would go a long way to ending a lot of the hype. Politicians would then have to educate our youngsters. They couldn't afford to secretively indoctrinate large groups of selected young people. At least it might offset some of the right wing cult behaviors, and maybe only the truly paranoid or stupid would attend these groups. We need to reduce them to the nutbar fringe status they used to have because at the moment they are seem to be increasingly, the norm. Keep up the good work in doing just that, Simon!
hi Sue... I have always loved the idea of a coalition, it seems like such a Canadian thing to me, cooperation and compromise in the name of a higher ideal. As everybody who has read this blog knows during the battle against prorogation I was practically floating on a cloud. Only to come down with a rude bump. I also agree with the idea of mandatory voting, and much more civic education in our high schools. I think that many young people, certainly all the ones I know, have progressive instincts, but due to this lack of education don't know how to act on those instincts. Finally, I think the idea of reaching out to the Cons is a good idea. I've noticed that some of them have started voting against the wishes of their Great Leader, and I'm all for encouraging them to rescue their party from the hands of the Reform clique. As I told John we are facing a unique time in Canadian history, and we must put our country first...
DeleteI certainly agree with the latter two assertions. Unfortunately we do need lists - at least in the ridings. They often aren't used effectively on election day but could be a very useful tool if they are used. They're mostly used nationally for fundraising, as far as I can see.
ReplyDeletehi James...yes it would be great if the progressive parties opened up a bit, and shared some information with those who want to make sure that the Con candidates don't profit from a vote split, and that a progressive candidate wins. I myself am open to any new ideas that can get us out of the rut we find ourselves in. For doing the same thing, and expecting a different result, strikes me as insanity, and I know we can do better...
DeleteGet 2 two progressives into the same room and get 3 points of view. The NDP are not the Liberals and Liberals are not the NDP. So hence, well, you are fucked. Of course I am not saying that is a bad thing, which of course it isn't.
ReplyDeletehi anonymous...look this may be true, and I certainly find myself caught in the crossfire between friends who support different progressive parties. But I tell them that when I look at them, and at their party programs, I don't see much difference. And since all of us share the desire to evict the Cons, let's do that first, and then argue afterwards... ;)
DeleteAre they? Are they really? Can you really say that there is no difference between the NDP and the Liberals. Or even the Greens? Are you really all one and the same.
DeleteThey aren't, and they won't sell themselves out. The CPC will win, again, and you "progressives" will go back to blaming each other. It would be sad if it wasn't so damn funny.
Typical Anonymous reformatory supporter, getting everything backwards.
DeleteIt would be funny if it was not so damn tragic
Ah, a typical lefty who thinks they have a clue. Their hubris blinds them.
DeleteJames Laxer (York U) bets that Harper is so toxic that he will retire in 2014 just before the 2015 election, and the CPC will lose despite vote-splitting.
ReplyDeleteUplifting.
hi Rick...you know I wouldn't be surprised if James is right about Harper retiring before the next election, and I would like to see the Cons fighting themselves over who should lead their post Harper party. And if that happens great. I just want people from all progressive parties to talk to each other, so we are prepared for every contingency....
DeleteJimmy Laxer? The Jimmy Laxer who nearly killed the NDP with a half-baked Waffle? Yup, now there is a guy with all his dogs barking to be sure.
Deletehi anonymous...Geezus... I had to look up the Waffle on the internet...only to discover you were talking about something that had nothing to do with food, and happened in the SEVENTIES???? Look I admit my time isn't money, but it's still precious !!!!!!
DeleteUnless of course you want to talk about Harper's shady past, and his association with radical right-wing groups, then I'm all ears. ;)
But seriously, the reason Harper and his gang live in fear is that they know that the day progressives unite its game over.Period....
Well maybe you should know the history of your own side before you go spouting off about the other. No one lives in fear of the left. Why should they? The good money is that they will slit each others throats first, then what is left over will be to weak to do anything. Yup, progressives will defeat themselves, like they have done so often before. Ah well, ain't like that's a bad thing.
DeleteAll this screams out for some sort of proportional representation.Force our politicians to work together for a change rather than this bullshit farce where one party holds power due to vote splitting. Funny that I heard lots of talk of it during the Liberal regime when the Right was fragmented but it seems to have fallen off the radar now that the situation is reversed.
ReplyDeleteWhat most on the right don't understand (because most are not capable) is that the right tends to be more united for the simple reason that their reason is simplistic. It is easy to find agreement among the dimwitted and ignorant. If your answers to complex problems are hopelessly simplistic and motivated by some notion of an imaginary, idealized past, you will find easy agreement among your fellow troglodytes. If, on the other hand, you are looking for real solutions that reflect the complexity of life and society, agreement will be much harder to come by. This is what explained the rise of fascism in the 1930s. While men like Franco and Mussolini found scapegoats and looked to centralize power, the socialists and democrats found difficulty uniting behind simple solutions.
ReplyDeleteThis scenario is always true. The right looks at crime in the African-American, or Native community, and figures they must all simply be shiftless, lazy, and prone to crime. The left, on the other hand, looks for the real complex interrelationships that cause crime. And the solution to that kind of outlook is deep, long-term, and complex.
Yup, all the smart people are on the left and all the dumb people are on the right......speaking of people with simplic answers to everything.....I thought the world isn't black and white......lol.
DeleteYou're comments on FN people are bizarre.
Delete