From the equality of rights springs identity of our highest interests; you cannot subvert your neighbor's rights without striking a dangerous blow at your own. Carl Schurz

Monday, March 12, 2012

Indifferent To Democracy

Indifference and democracy go together about as well as oil and water, which is not at all. Yet that is precisely where we are today, far too may Canadians have checked out and no longer seem to care enough to even bother voting let alone get angry,even when they see wrongdoing on the part of the government or to be more precise the ruling party.

I keep telling myself and others to relax these things take time but I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I have been wrong. I now fear that the apathy that infects Canadian society is dangerously close to terminal.

 I attended the Toronto rally for democracy on Sunday and to say I was disappointed in the turnout would be an understatement. While several hundred showed up given the gravity of the situation that crowd should have numbered in the thousands. As we marched to Old Cityhall we were met with looks of bewilderment and bemusement just as has been the case with each of the marches in which I participated over the the last year or so. So many have no clue what robocon even is and of the ones who do many just merely shrug their shoulders and say oh well,  I wonder whats on the telly tonight.

This from The Star's meagre coverage of the event displays this indifference in all its glory:

James Ho, an onlooker who watched the rally make its way up Yonge St., said he was wary of some of the government’s latest tactics, like the recently proposed online surveillance legislation, but he hadn’t really followed the robocall scandal.
“I just don’t want to see our tax money wasted on another election,” he said.
This is perhaps Harper's greatest accomplishment, convincing enough Canadians that democracy is not worth the effort nor the expense. This more than anything, even robocon, has delivered his precious majority and abets his neoliberal and social conservative agenda

Okay now that I have that out of my system back to the ol grind of trying to convince people that democracy IS worth the effort and the expense because if we continue as we are we will pay a much higher and unimaginable price.

A little something to make you smile:


5 comments:

  1. I thought the turnout was disappointing though according to the police it was more than a few hundred. I find most Canadians impossible to understand. The situation is eerily like 1933 in Germany. Hitler got 44% of the vote; I guess they didn't have proportional representation then either. Harper got 39%. Actually Harper is more like Putin than Hitler though. The Germans certainly had more excuse for ignorance than Canadians do these days, since they have so many modern communication and information devices. But Canadians seem to be proud of being ignorant.

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  2. Wow~what especially caught my attention is "I just don't want to see our tax money wasted on another election."
    So instead, lets see our tax money wasted on prisons for pot smokers. Legislation to take away our rights to freedom of speech, expression, privacy. Have our OAS disappear. Have our Armed Forces undergo, not an upgrade, but an old name change so they are proud to fight for us, so we can turn around and treat them like shit once they return and obtain "veterans" status, pump tar-sands shit through pristine wilderness in BC and transport down the Pacific coast without regard for the environment, Frack the shit out of our land, polluting billions of gallons of our fresh water... and the list goes on and on... Apathy trumps Democracy... This reminds me of an old story, its author escapes me at the moment, and also the exact references, but it goes something like this: They came for the young lads who ran the streets, and I did not speak up for them. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out for them. Then they came for farmers, and I did not speak up for them. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up... Wake up Canada.

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  3. UGoddaBKidN Here is the quote by Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller

    First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me

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  4. Freedomlover Framing is important one could say a few hundred or hundreds both accurate but each creates a different image in the readers mind

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  5. As a society, we have created conditions ideal for the ascent of a powerful authoritarian such as Harper. His secrecy and iron fisted control of information create the foundation for all his other manipulations and abuses.

    When he was head of the National Citizens' Coalition, Harper himself wrote this:

    "Iron-fisted bully tactics have no place in a free and democratic society. Information is power. The less control the government has over the flow of information, the less control it can exert over its citizens."

    And that very form of abuse served as Harper's blueprint once he clawed his way to power.

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