A nation at the volcano's brim. Besides the rush of cocaine and the warm draw of the red stuff, there's three ghosts that are pushing us toward the pit: incompetence, ideology, and juvenilization. Our most important federal ministers are either duds or unqualified or both. The veneer of equality is taking precedence over the substance of anything else. And Jen's completely right about the odd singsong tone to the whole dance...we are being piped into the clouds by a man who has never had to grow up himself.
It's this last point that's most concerning to me because it undercuts our ability to course correct. The CBC panel last night immediately following the last leader's (Singh's) message was a case-in-point. Old man Coyne had to ruin the party by pointing out that last night's charades undercut our Westminster system of government -- that the media is being complicit in the trivialization of parliament. Of course the other panelists turned up their noses at this, and Rosemary Barton responded with the rhetorical strategy of a seven year old..."But Stephen Harper did it!" And Andrew Coyne looked just as out of place as he would in Neverland. And the nation seems to be looking somewhere upwards in the clouds. Or into a deep red, bubbling abyss. Maybe starting to be shaken out of it by how sick we feel after making all of these changes for the sake of our health. Or by all that money we're spending in order to avoid spending more of it. But that lava just feels so warm and so nice.
We are being addressed as children through the toughest crisis of our lifetimes. Better news, smile a bit. Sad news, show a scowl. Wag your finger at us and tell us not to be naughty. They are disconnected from the reality that everyone is a little scared, more are emotionally suffering, and a lot have no idea how they’re going to earn a living in a few months. The correct tone is grave. Our moment is not being met by the rhetoric of the leadership we have.
Reading this column four months on (Jan ‘21) adds a delightful frisson of horror to your ominous warning. We have indeed marched towards our fate with eyes open and smiling faces, believing the myths of our national goodness and imperviousness to reality. Well done!
Why do you think this is, Dave? In contemporary poltics I would attribute it to the consolidation of power in the PMO (see my comment re: Justin Ling's last piece). Why would anyone with integrity and exceptional talent want to join the cults of personality that recent governing parties have become?
Not only is this trend unhealthy for our democracy, it's also bad for the parties. They become mired in the personality of their leaders. It's no better being the master than the slave. The Conservative party is still crawling out of the stilted paranoia that Stephen Harper left behind. And now, just like the Republican Party, Liberal policies are what their leader says they are. Which is why a lot of their positions (i.e. buying a pipeline to bring in the green revolution, empowering women by dumping the most competent ones around you, being open and transparent by repeating the words open and transparent, etc.) sound a lot like a preschooler who wants to have his dessert without eating his vegetables.
I appreciate your perspective, Dave. I'm too young to remember the events you talked about in the 90s, so it's helpful to get that contrast with the smaller changes more recently.
It seems that the changes in the 90s roughly correlate with the beginnings of the bipartisan neoliberal consensus in the US. The way the Canadian government has decided to respond to COVID, it does seem that this will be used as another fundamental shift between the state and its citizens. Of course we will only fully realize this in retrospect.
A nation at the volcano's brim. Besides the rush of cocaine and the warm draw of the red stuff, there's three ghosts that are pushing us toward the pit: incompetence, ideology, and juvenilization. Our most important federal ministers are either duds or unqualified or both. The veneer of equality is taking precedence over the substance of anything else. And Jen's completely right about the odd singsong tone to the whole dance...we are being piped into the clouds by a man who has never had to grow up himself.
It's this last point that's most concerning to me because it undercuts our ability to course correct. The CBC panel last night immediately following the last leader's (Singh's) message was a case-in-point. Old man Coyne had to ruin the party by pointing out that last night's charades undercut our Westminster system of government -- that the media is being complicit in the trivialization of parliament. Of course the other panelists turned up their noses at this, and Rosemary Barton responded with the rhetorical strategy of a seven year old..."But Stephen Harper did it!" And Andrew Coyne looked just as out of place as he would in Neverland. And the nation seems to be looking somewhere upwards in the clouds. Or into a deep red, bubbling abyss. Maybe starting to be shaken out of it by how sick we feel after making all of these changes for the sake of our health. Or by all that money we're spending in order to avoid spending more of it. But that lava just feels so warm and so nice.
We are being addressed as children through the toughest crisis of our lifetimes. Better news, smile a bit. Sad news, show a scowl. Wag your finger at us and tell us not to be naughty. They are disconnected from the reality that everyone is a little scared, more are emotionally suffering, and a lot have no idea how they’re going to earn a living in a few months. The correct tone is grave. Our moment is not being met by the rhetoric of the leadership we have.
Reading this column four months on (Jan ‘21) adds a delightful frisson of horror to your ominous warning. We have indeed marched towards our fate with eyes open and smiling faces, believing the myths of our national goodness and imperviousness to reality. Well done!
Why do you think this is, Dave? In contemporary poltics I would attribute it to the consolidation of power in the PMO (see my comment re: Justin Ling's last piece). Why would anyone with integrity and exceptional talent want to join the cults of personality that recent governing parties have become?
Not only is this trend unhealthy for our democracy, it's also bad for the parties. They become mired in the personality of their leaders. It's no better being the master than the slave. The Conservative party is still crawling out of the stilted paranoia that Stephen Harper left behind. And now, just like the Republican Party, Liberal policies are what their leader says they are. Which is why a lot of their positions (i.e. buying a pipeline to bring in the green revolution, empowering women by dumping the most competent ones around you, being open and transparent by repeating the words open and transparent, etc.) sound a lot like a preschooler who wants to have his dessert without eating his vegetables.
Why the dearth of talent, Dave?
I appreciate your perspective, Dave. I'm too young to remember the events you talked about in the 90s, so it's helpful to get that contrast with the smaller changes more recently.
It seems that the changes in the 90s roughly correlate with the beginnings of the bipartisan neoliberal consensus in the US. The way the Canadian government has decided to respond to COVID, it does seem that this will be used as another fundamental shift between the state and its citizens. Of course we will only fully realize this in retrospect.