Easter and politics.
When I went to grade one, I was very proud of
what I learned. All my teachers in the school were people who survived wars and
told us we were lucky to go to school and have an education. They didn’t. Most
of them escaped from authoritarian regimes and knew the value of being able to
vote for the government they wanted.
Each day I accumulated more knowledge and
knew that in many places, kids were not as privileged. This lasted until my
parents moved to Canada and my formal education ended. Life went on and I accumulated
knowledge until I managed to continue school and eventually earn a university
degree. I never missed an opportunity to vote. I learned that here in the land
of plenty, voters’ apathy is a problem. My adult kids tell me that there is no
point in voting since elections are fixed. Doesn’t matter who you vote for, the
average person loses.
I go to a nomination election in Coleman.
There are two very capable young women competing to be our provincial
representatives if the party wins. The room is packed and parking is non-existent.
Wow, the voting public is fired up. Three years ago, I attended a protest
meeting where doctors and nurses were fighting the same government to keep
their pay and benefits. Something has changed.
I listened to our Premier’s speech in the
capital, and it is so positive. She is ready to fight the Harper designed,
Trudeau implemented Carbon Tax. There will be many energy high-paying jobs for
people who will flock to our province. We can’t find workers now for existing
jobs. Her party is going to fix health care by importing doctors and nurses to
replace those who left. They are building new schools, but not rehiring the
teacher’s aids they laid off. I am not impressed.
If there is one thing I learned in school and
life, is that politicians are full of unrealistic promises before elections and
only look at the viability of being able to fulfill them long after elections.
Trudeau is a master in that art and his loyal opposition is even worse. They
win elections by the amount of money donated to their campaigns by lobbyists,
not by doing what matters to the voting public.
If it was up to me, I would allow only a
given amount of money for political campaigns and make it illegal to make
campaign promises which will not be worked on during a mandate. Punish those
who mislead the public intentionally or do not do their homework and price what
they promise. We punish for false advertising. It is the job of the media to
expose those who win leadership positions by telling lies. Why is our system,
which was designed to work well, not functioning? Why can’t my children have
faith that democracy works?
In the meantime, I can’t just sit and wait
for things to improve or for some savior to emerge and fix all the problems. He
is not coming. The only solution is for enough people to wake up and do
something. Showing up to vote is only one tiny step.
The first step is for people to look at the
world soberly and realistically decide what kind of world they wish to live in.
Away with the band-aid solutions voiced by emotional politicians who have no
intention of fulfilling promises. Education and experience are things we must
use. We are not voting for the most popular kids in school who want power,
prestige, and no risk. We are voting for capable leaders.
I want a world that works for all those
living in it, rewarding hard work while shunning cheating and lying. For
example, I don’t want to hear about yet non-existent carbon capture
technologies while increasing air pollution by the day. I am looking for
peacemakers, not stronger weapons. I need health care, not more money in some
disappearing heritage fund.
This article is too short to describe all
that I am looking for, but we can find it in the Christian New Testament under
the Beatitudes. Each of the other world religions has it in their holy books if
you care to do the research.
The world that I am describing is not my
original idea. My community reminds itself about it each Easter. They are also
reminded that for some people; it was worth sacrificing their lives to achieve.
Thank God we are not called yet to give our lives for a better world. Others
before us figured out how it can be done simply by learning, paying attention,
and voting in democratic elections. They sacrificed their lives and shed their
own blood, so we will have the right.
I see young kids going to school to learn
about life and eventually lead the world, and I think. Are we changing the
world by teaching one child at a time what is really important?
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