I Did Not See That Coming

Archived from Sep 28, 2023:

I think it will come as no surprise when I say I’m not wild about the government. Now, I’m not a libertarian, god no. Conceptually, governments can exert massive good for the communities they serve. Humans are social and have lived in groups for thousands of years, but when those groups expand into the hundreds of thousands and millions, it’s beneficial to have systems in place that support those communities. While yes, I agree personal freedoms are important, to behave in this day and age as though you literally need no one else and have in no way benefited from large scale social programs is the belief system of an edgy 17 year old who got their hands on Atlas Shrugged. Even small scale, libertarians have wonderfully demonstrated how much we need one another and integrated social systems, with bears (I strongly suggest giving this one a read, it’s a hoot). Self sufficiency is great, but so is having a city wide, well managed compost program.

My biggest issue in government is money. To allow monied interests to dictate how our communities and countries are run has two main effects; first, it dilutes the power and dignity of the vast majority of people while upholding the opinions of a wealthy few. Second, it means that public service attracts not those who wish to serve the public, but those who want money and power. It doesn’t take much critical thought to realise this combination will create a government that privatizes formerly public services when they’re lobbied just right and woefully under taxes the people with the most. There has been no shortage of bribery and lobbying in Canadian politics, and this moral cowardice and utter selfishness understandably degrades public trust in the institutions that are meant to serve us. Do we all remember the SNC-Lavalin Affair? Or how about the current resignations over Ford’s lies about the Greenbelt in Ontario? Why would we have any faith in people who are so clearly only in it for themselves and their wallets?

Sometimes, it seems, this combination results in the entire House of Commons giving a standing ovation to an actual Nazi. Good job, guys.

This is, of course, atrocious. As many of you know, I’ve read my fair share of books about World War 2, but I don’t think you need extensive knowledge about the conflict to raise your eyebrow when someone is described as “fighting against the Russians” in WW2. Who, pray tell, do you think was fighting against the Russians? Frankly, I’m not going to explain to you why this display is both disgusting and embarrassing, I don’t feel the need to. What it really got me thinking about is how wholly performative our politicians are. Chrystia Freeland, for example, has made herself an outspoken voice in Parliament regarding Ukraine and beamed while giving Hunka a standing ovation with the rest of the MPs. She has written academic papers specifically about Ukrainian Nazi units in WW2, so did she not know or did she not care? Are either of those acceptable when it comes to those with the most power in our country? Not a single MP had enough critical thought to put two and two together, and if one had, clearly they were too much of a coward to say anything. It is beyond shameful.

This is what happens when liberalism is defined by maintaining the status quo. Making huge promises on which they rarely deliver, they allow for things to get worse because while their policies are stagnant, the planet, the economy and technology are not. They cede, inch by inch, to extremism and fascism, leaving space for things like transphobia and xenophobia to fester and be exploited by extremists. They allow the Overton Window to shift and shift until they find themselves clapping for a Nazi, likely themselves wondering how this ever happened. And therein lies the issue; regardless of their actions, the material ways in which they effect our lives, they believe themselves to be good people. They are not critical of themselves, the systems they perpetuate and are frankly, too cowardly to look the consequences of what they have wrought in the face. They believe an alignment with the word “liberal”, no matter how shallow, absolves them of soaring housing costs, unaffordable groceries and a collapsing environment. Let me be clear: it does not. We need better, hell, we deserve better and that will only come with my favourite balance of emotions: righteous rage and compassion.

Bonus:

The title is, indeed, a pun.

Thank you, as ever, for being here friends. I’m almost done Doppelganger, and next week will probably talk about the shortcomings of the online left and the perils of extreme black and white thinking. What have you been thinking about lately?