The elections are over, yeah.

 

 

The elections are over, yeah.

If there ever was a time when I felt we didn’t need an election, it is now. In my long life, I saw some bad times, but it seems as if now it’s the worst. I will not bore you with the list of crises that we must promptly deal with, since you all know them. (A few deny it.) Can I prioritize? Hardly. I guess that the worst on the list is the attitude of some fellow humans that nothing should be done and things will improve on their own. I calculate this to be our worst enemy. When they say nothing should be done, they forget that most of our problems we caused and we must fix.

At the time I am writing these words, the election is three days away and when you are reading, it will be three days gone. We may have some results. The big question everyone is trying to answer is, did we need elections now. I didn’t think so, yet the strategists tasked with determining if we do or not did. We can blame Trudeau for it, but we know he wouldn’t decide such a step without careful studies and arguments amongst the experts, followed by the caucus and the party hierarchy. The results are a calculated risk that they felt they had to take.

We had a strong minority government enjoying opposition support for most measures needed for dealing with the crisis the country and the world are facing. No credible political party wanted to see the country plunged into chaos, despair, and possibly fighting. The solution was to pump money into the economy in such a way that the economy would not collapse. How it should be done was debatable.

If you pump money in, you stimulate whatever it is, but you must eventually take it back out or have other problems and it hurts. People demand politicians give them good times constantly.

Whatever comes out of the 2021 elections is now determined. The people will have spoken. Now we must get ready for the next elections, which I believe will be Civic elections and after that, the big one, the Provincial elections. We are called to make choices all the time and if we make wrong choices; we pay dearly. As proven in the last little while, some will pay with their lives.

How should people choose who should be handed the reins, be the leader, decide governing all aspects of our lives, even life itself? At the same time, how can we recruit suitable candidates and retain them?

Some will run for the prestige of being leaders. A guy fixed my washing machine and told me he was the mayor of a tiny hamlet. Why? Some may do it for the pay, directly or indirectly. Some have a hidden agenda. They wish to achieve something that will pay off and can only be done if there is political will. They may have pure intentions like, for example, building a new Seniors Centre in town, or may want to sell some parklands to a friend who will reward them somehow later. These days people get into politics often to promote the political or economic core beliefs of an established party.

The Right believes that private enterprise will stir society in the best way and the Left is the opposite. They want people, through democratic controls, stirring society in a predetermined direction for other reasons than personal gain. Each has advantages and setbacks. Some politicians wish to advance a religious way of life or open the door for making profits where they are now restricted, like in health care, for example.

 The opposite would be those fighting for Pharmacare. Drug companies will lose billions if governments will negotiate the best prices for their products and charge them for the publicly funded research constantly done.

We are back to the base question. How do we get politicians who will act on our behalf and be competent? I would say the first step is to pay for what they are worth. Second, have a system to recall them if they fail miserably. Third, make the Media accountable and demand accountability. They/we used to be that way much more than we are now.

How do we choose who to vote for? We could have professionals develop a test that each citizen can perform on every politician. Computers can help a lot.

I watched the last provincial elections here and in other provinces. It was easy to determine that some leadership hopefuls either didn’t publish their platforms or promised things that couldn’t be achieved. This, in my opinion, should be published for all to see and possibly punishable by law.

Elections should not be a contest for who is the best in telling lies but for who is willing to do the most work towards making life safe and enjoyable for all voters. Consideration should be given also for fairness and good moral standards. We should have leaders who are capable, hardworking, and give us a good example.

I watch the news to see what I can learn from these elections to help me decide my actions in the next two. Right now, I may live or die by the actions of those “free” to spread a virus. Only politicians with backbone can save me.

I watch and memorize which of them chose steps to let me live. In the next two elections, that will be the first bar they must clear if I may vote for them. Did they take steps to protect me and the millions of Albertans who are like me? Will my representatives publicly take a stand to choose “Life,” my life. If they coddle the “freedom terrorists” (My opinion), I am not even considering the rest of their opinions and let the people speak.

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.