Writing is my artistic expression. My keyboard is my brush. Words are my medium. My blog is my canvas. And committing to writing daily makes me feel like an artist.
I was listening to Chris Williamson on a podcast and he said this quote.
“People think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”
~ First attributed to William Fitzjames Oldham
This reminds me of another often quoted phrase, regarding there being three sides to every argument, the one side, the other side, and somewhere in the middle is the Truth.
I had a phone discussion with a friend recently and we were discussing politics. We saw the topic from two totally different perspectives. I then had face-to-face discussion with another friend about a global issues and again we came from completely different perspectives. In both cases neither of us changed each other’s minds.
In one case I want to be wrong, in the other case I wish that I was wrong, and that my bias, ultimately my prejudice, could be changed. In both cases I recognize that getting new information really didn’t change my view… even though I might be happier and see things more positively if the other person was right.
Am I just a symptom of the times? Am I a victim of misinformation, who is choosing to believe perspectives that are intentionally biased? Am I not able to see the truth somewhere in the middle because I lack perspective, or am I blind to my own prejudice?
It’s getting harder and harder to find narratives that are clearly true. Arguments tend not to be about seeking truth but rather earning airtime, and garnering clicks & shares. The math is such that a false accusation will get millions of social media likes and reshares, but the correction barely gets seen. A fake video gets major attention. A blatant exaggeration or even a lie is simply accepted as close enough to true and accepted.
It doesn’t add up. It doesn’t lead us to the Truth, ‘somewhere in the middle’. No, instead we are left rearranging our prejudices and biases, and sticking to our points of view without ever really thinking.
I don’t get it. A lie used to be something that was called out and the lier paid consequences.
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Sounds silly, but metaphorically a call out to say that you are going to catch heat for what you said. And people in important positions of power were held to a standard that lies and deceit were called out and the consequential backlash was severe. There would be embarrassment, a public apology, and reputational consequences as a result of being caught in a lie.
No more. It’s still embarrassing, just not to the person sharing the lie.
I could mention his name, but I don’t have to. Isn’t that crazy? I can literally say everything I said above, which is completely generic, and relevant to any one of importance. But the moment I say ‘I could mention his name, but I don’t have to,’ the vast majority of the world’s population will know who I’m talking about.
And still he lies. It will continue. When will this unacceptable behaviour catch up with him? When will the backlash be too large to ignore?
Last year, globally there were 60 countries that had elections and, “the staying power of right-wing populism” was a noted trend. And if you looked at the polls just two months ago, it looked like Canada would follow suite with the Conservatives having a significant lead under a very populist leader.
But that all changed when Justin Trudeau resigned and Mark Carney became Prime Minister. Last night Carney was elected for another 4 years. And although I really wanted to see a majority win, a win is a win, and the fact that the upset happened is victory enough. Maybe, just maybe this is a pendulum swing away from more right wing populist parties? Maybe we can see some more centrist, less polarized views shine through across the globe in the coming months and years.
But hopes aside, here are a couple things that I think all Canadians can look forward to with Mark Carney as Prime Minister… no matter who they voted for.
1. Diplomacy
Mark Carney put the President to our south on notice from day 1. When he replaced Trudeau, who Trump was calling governor of the 51st state, Carney immediately did three things: He strengthened economic ties with with Europe & Asia; He reminded the US president that he could sell American debt; And, he signed a defence contract deal with Australia (a deal that would have gone to the US). He did not go to see the US president right away. And the President’s response once they did speak:
“I just finished speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney, of Canada. It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things, and will be meeting immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada,”
No 51st state rhetoric.
And here’s the simple truth about Carney versus Poilievre… Carney starts with diplomacy and Poilievre lacks it. When Trump said this yesterday, on our election day, “
“Good luck to the Great people of Canada. Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America. No more artificially drawn line from many years ago. Look how beautiful this land mass would be. Free access with NO BORDER. ALL POSITIVES WITH NO NEGATIVES. IT WAS MEANT TO BE! America can no longer subsidize Canada with the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year that we have been spending in the past. It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!”
Poilievre responded publicly on Twitter with,
“President Trump, stay out of our election. The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box.
Canada will always be proud, sovereign and independent and we will NEVER be the 51st state.
Today Canadians can vote for change so we can strengthen our country, stand on our own two feet and stand up to America from a position of strength.”
This is not a show of power, it’s grandstanding. I would have been willing to bet real money that had Poilievre won last night, we would have seen ‘51st state’ and ‘Governor Poilievre’ rhetoric surface from the American President.
Carney won’t play the populist all-caps ‘NEVER’ kind of game, he will be firm, strategic, and straightforward. Last night he said,
“I have been warned, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. These are not these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, ever happen.”
And,
“We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons that we have to look out for ourselves. … When I sit down with President Trump, it will be to discuss the future economic and security relationship between two sovereign nations, and it will be with our full knowledge that we have many, many other options than the United States to build prosperity for all Canadians.”
Not empty, boisterous rhetoric, but a firm message that we don’t only have to rely on America, with the underlying threat that this will cost America.
2. Fiscal Conservatism
The simple fact is that with respect to finance, I’d consider Carney more right rather than left on the political spectrum. He actually would have made a good Conservative candidate, one I could have voted for unlike Poilievre. Now that doesn’t mean he won’t run a deficit, but in these trade war times, no country is coming out unscathed. However, I believe that Carney will lead us out of the next few years as a global powerhouse, and Poilievre has neither the experience, skill, or ability to plan any such success. We would have been bullied by the US under him, and that simply will not happen under Carney.
So hopefully Canadians can drop the lift/right wars that seem to consume politics these days. Hopefully we can stand ‘elbows up’ with one another, and let the political pendulum swing a bit to center. While things are going to get tough economically, we have far more to hope for prosperity as a unified country supporting our new Prime Minister.
I’ve written about Smart Voting: “Unapologetically Political – It’s time to Smart Vote”. And I’ve said countless times over the years that it’s our civic duty to vote; that it’s a privilege to be in a democracy where it is our right. I am usually non-partisan in my messaging and intentionally so. I’m even glad there are people who vote differently than me, because I don’t want to live in a society where everyone has the same opinions and political views.
Yet, in this election, I really want to see Mark Carney elected as our Prime Minister. I think I would have voted for him no matter which party he was representing. Because this isn’t about a party, it’s about getting the right person for the job, and he’s the only person for the job right now.
I’m not trying to by hyperbolic. He has the global respect and influence we need right now. He has actually done his homework and has actionable plans to move Canada forward during unprecedented challenges… and he’s been in jobs as important as this in two other seriously challenging times and situations, both in Canada and internationally.
Meanwhile his competition, Pierre Poilievre, is a 20-year politician who doesn’t have a single bill to his name, and really didn’t even shine when his own party was in power for almost half of his career.
I doubt that on election day that I would convince anyone to change their vote. I could go on about why Mark Carney is the best choice we have, and it wouldn’t matter to most people voting against him. So I’ll just say this: It’s election day, your vote matters, take the time to do your civic duty, and when you do, ask yourself not which party you want to vote for, but who is in the best position to move Canada forward during these challenging times?
It has become abundantly clear that an isolationist policy is not one that will work in the 21st century. The question now isn’t about if things will get better or worse, but rather how much worse? We have a global superpower that is going to destabilize world economies, and no neighbours or allies are going to come out unscathed.
I just have to wonder what future generations will think of this era? Who will the good ancestors be? And who will be typecast cast as the villain? While I think the answer is clear, if I go south of the border there would be close to a 50-50 split in responses to these questions. And the divide between the responses would be from people who would not be too neighbourly with one another.
Be a good ancestor with your neighbours. The premise is simple. The outcome unifying and peaceful. We could use a little children’s book philosophy about now.
Even the greatest waterfall begins with a single drop. I can see the droplets connecting, I can see the water beginning to build momentum. It may just be a few streams now, but they are all moving in the same direction. They are collecting into a powerful river, a powerful force. They are heading to a precipice, and they will lead to a great fall.
Go to any social media site and search the hashtag #protest. Or search 50501. Small protests of 30-300 in tiny towns, and larger rallies in the thousands and even tens of thousands in large metropolitan cities.
This isn’t a trickle anymore. This isn’t a small isolated stream of fed up people. This is a strong current going through a nation. People using their right to peaceful assembly to say they’ve had enough.
Let’s hope the peacefulness remains while the water keeps flowing, building in volume and momentum. I’m filled with optimism and hope, while simultaneously concerned about turbulence and dangerous undercurrents. Waterfalls can be beautiful, but they can also be forceful and dangerous. In a perfect world, this will be one of the most epic waterfalls, both powerful and beautiful.
I haven’t voted yet but my oldest daughter sent us a photo of her walk to her nearest polling station today. My youngest daughter lives at home and will either vote early or vote with my wife and I when we go. They have been going to the polls since they were in strollers. They checked boxes for us before they were old enough to vote themselves. And both of them have voted in every election since coming of age.
I don’t know who they have and will vote for, but I know who they won’t vote for. They did not, will not, vote for the Progressive Conservatives. Not because their parents told them not to, but because they agree with us that the principles of the party do not align with the free and open democracy we want to live in.
I am unapologetic for my influence on this.
The global conservative wave, literally at our doorstep, is not creating a political environment I’m comfortable with. Pierre Poilievre does not share social or political values that I have. I believe he will undermine Canada’s multicultural and socially progressive values and he will weaken our country.
I cannot stay silent. Decades of non-partisan promoting of voting as a civic duty are over. I’m not just saying ‘Go Vote’, I’m asking anyone who reads this to Smart Vote.Go to the polls, find your riding, and choose the party most likely to beat the Conservative Party in your riding.
The only party likely to beat the Conservatives in this election is the Liberal Party. I would love to see them win a majority because this is not the time for a weak minority government. However, if you are in a riding where the NDP is more likely than the Liberal candidate to beat the Conservative candidate, then vote NDP. Same for a Green Party candidate. Smart Voting.
I see some of the non-democratic decisions being made south of our border and they scare me. Pierre Poilievre is a populist, slogan peddling, empty-promises spouting lifetime politician who has done almost nothing to better Canada. He rode the right wing wave to the south and only started backpedaling when he realized that this was going to potentially cost him the election. Unprincipled, shallow, and weak. Not what our country needs right now.
I’m not planning on sitting silent and then wondering why our country voted the way they did. I can’t. I won’t.
What’s happening now might be the biggest change in global politics that has ever happened outside of weapons of war being used. The shift in finance, the collapse of friendly trade, the forming of new trade alliances, and the political and economic alliances that are currently in the works could not have happened in the last 100 years without missiles or guns being fired.
The question now is, can this happen while remaining a political and economic battle, and not one that requires force, might, death, and destruction?
I hope so. I want to believe so.
Ever since I read ‘The World is Flat’ about 20 years ago, I could see that the path forward was going to be about economic strength being based on countries focussing on their competitive advantages. I could see that protectionist policies, tariffs, and isolation would be the demise of even the greatest economies. And that the future powerhouses would be those that have natural resources that the entire world would need.
We are approaching a new era, and the countries that will prosper are the ones who recognize their strengths and are ready to negotiate the way they share those strengths with the rest of the world. Let’s hope we can have peace to go along with our prosperity. The looming question is, can we enter this new era without violence? Can we be a civilized race? Or are we just warring monkeys who happen to wear clothing and buy expensive accessories?
“… it is entirely possible that future generations will look back, from the vantage point of a more sophisticated theory, and wonder how we could have been so gullible.”
— Closing sentence of Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by David J. Griffiths.
I came across this quote today and it made me wonder just how gullible we are as a species? Not just because we don’t understand quantum mechanics, not just because we don’t understand the gap between Newtonian Physics and Special Relativity, but for so many more simple and less profound reasons.
We fight over imaginary lines we call borders. We spend a considerable amount of our existence working for money… pieces of paper that only have value because we believe it has value, while our governments (we also make up silly rules for) print that money in mass volumes to keep our economies afloat.
We break into tribes based on heritage, relative strength, socioeconomics, and even skin colour. And we spend a tremendous amount of the global economy to create weapons to protect ourselves and also threaten ‘those who are not like us’.
We fight over false Gods. Why do I say false Gods? Because there are literally thousands of them, and even the largest, Christianity, doesn’t agree with who gets into heaven. So the vast majority of believers are believers in the wrong religion or wrong sect. Yet hate, discrimination, and wars are all byproducts of people of faith fighting people of different faiths, very often ‘in the name of their God’.
Human beings are playing the game of life with imaginary boundaries, imaginary political structures, imaginary currencies, and imaginary Gods. We are gullible. We are blinded by unimportant things, and in 100 years humankind will look upon us like we were as backwards as we perceive cultures and societies that did barbaric and stupid things 100’s of years ago.
For most of my adult life I have been someone who has pushed the idea that it is our civic duty to vote and have tried to stay non-partisan in that messaging. I’ve voted for three different parties in elections in the last 20 years and so I am not a cardholding member of any party, and can be influenced by policies and principles, be those the principles of the party or the candidate.
The reality that we are in right now in Canada has me choosing to vote ABC, ‘Anyone But Conservative’. But the key here is that I’m choosing the party in my riding that is most likely to beat the Conservatives.
My reasoning for this Smart Voting strategy is simple, the Conservative patry sits on one side of the political spectrum and the other two (or three if you count Green) parties all sit on the other side of the spectrum… competing for the non-conservative vote. The reality is that in the past this split has allowed the Conservatives to get into power.
With the turmoil and instability of US politics, and the wave of conservatism globally, I don’t see a Canadian conservative government under its leader as remotely good in any way for Canada. Polling suggests a Liberal win this year, which under the current leader, Carney, would be great…. As long as it is a majority government that can actually get things done. So this year I would want to vote Liberal (something I haven’t done in a while).
However, I’m going see where the polling is in my riding and vote ABC, because as important as a majority government may be at this time, preventing a Conservative government is more important to me.
It feels weird to be so open about my politics. I truly prefer to be a proponent of civic duty, encouraging people to take advantage of living within a free and open democracy, in a non-partisan way. However, I can’t stay silent when I think that one of our political parties will take us down a path that is undermining the very democratic freedoms and rights I believe in.
So it’s Smart Voting for me. I’ll vote to make sure that the Conservatives don’t get in.
As a side note, I’ve had some interesting conversations with a conservative voter. I don’t believe anything I’ve shared with him is going to change his mind. I’m disappointed, but also respectful of his opinion. Our conversations are civil and respectful, though a little animated. I wish more public political conversations could happen like this. Discourse is healthy, and necessary for a democracy to not just survive, but thrive.
