Politics are a funny business. When you get elected to represent a huge number of people you take on a lot of responsibility. Not only are you charged with representing the views of the electorate in the formation of laws and allocation of tax dollars, but you are also forced to make decisions that are in the best interests of people regarding issues that they may not understand in enough detail to know what is best. In a very real way, you take on the role of a parent for the people who elected you. It is your job to guide them to success in the future and ensure their happiness in the present.
At least that is how its supposed to be. I would even like to believe that that is how it once was. I'm fairly confident that the first couple Prime Ministers and Presidents had the legitimate best interests of people at heart when they were forming the foundations of Canada and America. Whether that is true or not, things have fallen a long way from the ideal state they are supposed to represent. Modern politicians often lack even the most basic respect for their constituents. They try to scare us with appeals to nationalism, saying that the Canadian or American way of life is in jeopardy and that we must act to restore things to the way they used to be.
Some of the rhetoric can even sound appealing until you stop to think about it for five seconds. Hell, who wouldn't want to live in an idyllic "Wonder Years" fairy tale that never actually existed anyway. But alas, many of us are cursed with the ability to think for ourselves and realize that "traditional values" and "The Canadian/American dream" are not at all what is at stake as our countries move forward; we are being presented with scare tactics meant to freeze us in our tracks and vote for the guy who promises to do the same for the country.
Times change and laws need to keep up in order to avoid stagnation. Think of where we would be if women couldn't vote, if we didn't have a constitution that guaranteed racial equality, if the government could declare martial law whenever it wanted. Progress is a good thing and it in no way threatens societal morals and future prosperity. That is why I get so angry when I see ads like this one:
A classic example of how modern day "conservativism" is so far removed from what it is supposed to be that most people can't even begin to relate to it. The priorities of conservatives have shifted from decentralized government to extremist propaganda. Rick Perry might not explicitly blame gay people for the "war on Christmas" but he comes outrageously close.
I may not be American, but the trends that I see in Canadian political ads aren't much better. I'm sick of being treated like an ignorant, bigoted child. The worst thing of all is that the guys who are running for president don't even care about gay marriage. Its all smoke and mirrors meant to distract people from the things they really do care about. Namely, perpetuating inequality by failing to tax the wealthy, degrading the environment as they attempt to put more money into the hands of "the 1%", and taking money away from scientific research that continues to point out how screwed we will be if they are able to fulfill their first two objectives.
It really scares me that in 2011 an ad like that can make it to air. It shows a huge amount of disrespect for the average American and promotes ignorance and intolerance on a level that is full-on disgusting. Its encouraging that the YouTube tally stands at nearly 300,000 dislikes to 6,000 likes, but that still means 6,000 people are buying what Perry is selling.
The tide is beginning to turn and people are tolerating less and less of this nonsense. In the last Canadian Federal election, the only party that didn't resort to using attack ads was the NDP and their support grew to the point that they are now the official opposition. I'm proud to be alive at a time when the average person is once again thinking for themselves and slowly bringing about the changes that need to happen. The fact that we have a Conservative majority government and that the House of Commons is broken beyond repair tend to wash out a lot of my optimism, though.
I guess I'm just left with hope that, next November, reason will once again trump fear and that Obama will become a 2-term president. I'll be biting my nails until then.
-Steve
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