For the loser now, will be later to win

A recent posting brought up a dilemma: does one give up on their political values simply because the trend in society might be moving in a different direction? Or does one stick to one’s principles especially when this is the case?

The idea of political parties as being the be all and end all of our political expression, it is perhaps a fact of life in what we refer as the liberal democracies (or what I refer to as the de-mockeries). This tends to lead low brow individuals to comprehend the voting system as being one of winner takes all. While in the US system this may be the case, under Canada’s political system the winner of an election is not always free to act as they please. In a minority situation, governments must rely on the support of other parties to stay in power. And in Canada, no minority government has lasted a standard term, with most lasting less than two years.

This is why in Canada we have a viable social democratic party, while in the USA they have a solid two party system. In the US, the two main parties inevitably take over 90% of the popular vote, while in Canada the social democratic party of the NDP has more than once taken over 19% of the vote. Canadian institutions such as the CPP and an enlightened egalitarian medical treatment system for all regardless of personal income are the result of NDP influence on the less progressive parties.

This is precisely the reason why one must stick to their political beliefs regardless of the trends in a society. As Canada moves towards being annexed (at least culturally if not in actual practice) by the expanding empire of the US republic, it is important that we continue to feel free to speak our political minds freely.

So yes, for the short-sighted it might seem a waste to support any party other than the usual suspects. For others, supporting the mainstream parties and then complaining that nothing ever changes, this reflects the politically ignorant nature of the average voter. Most voters cannot take the time out of their daily lives to truly investigate what our governments are up to, and so the average voter cannot truly be blamed for what they get in government. And because the average voter is not well educated to understand the nature of propaganda, they tend to fall victim to the whisperings of the two corrupt and entrenched parties; that any party other than the Liberals or Conservatives would spend the nation into oblivion.

One can only be grateful that the ‘give up’ attitude expressed by some individuals who simply cannot comprehend the nature of Canada’s political system has not always been the norm. The last time an informed public effected any real change in a liberal democracy was perhaps during the Vietnam War. It is my belief that someday enlightenment will return to the public again, although some tough times will first have to befall us as punishment for our collective negligence to act now for real change.

I refer to Bob, who perhaps best stated the importance of never giving up on one’s principles:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
and there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order isRapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

~Bob Dylan

Never give up on expressing independent thought.