Skip to content

Something worth supporting

These days, my wife’s eyes glaze over when I start to talk politics. I don’t blame her, as I find myself a bore these days.
Airdrie opinion

These days, my wife’s eyes glaze over when I start to talk politics. I don’t blame her, as I find myself a bore these days. It’s not that I’ve lost my passion for making the world a better place; it’s just that most of the talking points are the same as they were ten years ago.

Part of the reason things never get fixed is that it’s easy to point out policies and procedures that need to be improved or no longer work. But the other part of the problem is that we don’t force folks that point out problems to give us solutions. I’m not talking about vague rhetoric like “we will fix healthcare” or “we will support our cause or special interest group.” I mean actually telling us how they will fix healthcare or support the group or cause.

We consistently allow our leaders to get away with negativity towards their adversaries, and we fail to hold them accountable for coming up with a solution. We allow them to brand each other as "racist" or "communist." There is no more "right" and "left." Those terms have been replaced by "alt-right" or "extreme left," because they conjure up extreme images in our minds. We allow them all to get away with it, time after time.

The worst part of this tactic is that each label forces supporters to dig up some obscure quote or photo to back up their claims. They all do this, and the rest of us share it on social media like mindless minions. The more it’s seen, the more the label sticks. If you wonder why it’s hard to find good, objective and open-minded people to run for office, it’s because most smart people know they’ll be attacked the moment they put their name on a ballot. If they run as an independent, they have no mindless minions to help them spread the word and, therefore, obtain little to no media attention.

I’m one of those guys that believes our education system should return debate class to the curriculum. In a proper debate, you must justify every claim you make. You lose points for silliness like name-calling or not having a solution to a problem you identify. You must justify your stance. Today’s political debates are nothing more than an attempt by all participants to identify why voters shouldn’t support the other person. They aren’t forced to convince anyone why they deserve support.

In three months, our neighbours to the south will elect their president. Many Canadians shake their heads in disbelief that the choice for leader of the most powerful nation in the world is between two incredibly flawed candidates. But as we shake our heads, let’s step back and take a look at ourselves. It’s not uncommon for me to ask someone who has a strong opinion on the U.S. election, “Who’s your MP?” Unfortunately, I'm never surprised when they can’t tell me. We are no different, and therefore, we are no better.

How do we take back control? For one, we must view every meme or news story from an unknown website as propaganda because that is indeed what it is. Secondly, never share or contribute to the negativity. You don’t have to end friendships. Just scroll by their posts.

One final thought – after both the 2012 and 2016 U.S. elections, I was amused by how many Canadians posted or even wore t-shirts bearing the images of the president-elect that stated, “Not my president.”  If you’re a Canadian, you made no actual difference because you can’t vote for their president. No president will ever be your president. All you did was help take the attention off of what is going on in our own country.

Find someone or something you can support right here in Canada that will make our country a better place for all. Our future depends on us controlling the real issues that need to be dealt with in our own back yards.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks