I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over these political issues, and it breaks my heart, too, the way ideologies turn us into wary, suspicious cynics of each other.
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On Sunday, September 7, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked Canada’s Governor General to dissolve Parliament. We are going to the polls on October 14. The first obvious contrast with the U.S. system, is the time: basically five weeks in order to campaign. So much else is the same: the jockeying for votes, the polarization between left and right, the demonizing of the competition.
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What do I think is the best way to govern a country? I don’t know if there is a best way, or even a better way. Is it possible to come up with a system that will benefit everyone equally? I don’t think so. Most parents will tell me a method of child-rearing that works for one child could bomb with another. Each child is different, with different strengths, weaknesses and needs. The parents will (hopefully) have a foundational core of values they want to pass on to their children, so they will grow up to be happy, secure, contributing members of society. The children become adults, making their own decisions, taking responsibility for their lives. The shy, retiring child will get there in a different fashion than the boisterous life-of-the-party type, but both can get there. In an ideal world, all children will get there. Most parents will also acknowledge that many children will not get there. Despite the heart-breaking efforts of the parents, many children have a variety of handicaps that will make getting there much more difficult, if not impossible. And here I’m talking about parents who are good, the ones who love their children and try their best to make wise decisions for them.
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But what of the parents, loving as they may be, who keep their children dependent on them because they do everything for them? They never teach them to take responsibility. Do these children grow up, able to live rich, fulfilling lives? Some do. Others remain children all their lives, turning to their parents every time things go wrong.
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Or what of the parents, still loving, who think it’s best to throw their children into the deep end. Are these kids any better equipped to grow up into mature adults than the ones who are coddled at every step? Some kids do learn to swim that way. Others will drown.
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So in our politics, we must look at our goals. Between left and right, there may not be a huge difference in goals. The gap lies in the road to the goals. How to bring about a stronger, safer and healthier society. The gap also perhaps lies in the very definitions of what it means to be strong, safe and healthy. In Canada, the election issues always take us back to jobs and the economy, public health, public safety, environmental responsibility and political integrity. Foreign affairs are considered, but are not as important as health.
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So what do I think is the best way to govern our country? For those who, because of physical, mental or emotional debilitating weaknesses, we would need a system in which these people can be cared for, helped, encouraged. For those who, because of life’s circumstances, they find themselves facing insurmountable challenges, we would need a system that would empower them to climb those mountains. Is it better to set up these helps through government, or to enable the people on the ground to dispense that help? Either way has its pros and cons. Do we give a man a fish or do we teach him to fish? What if he can’t learn to fish? What if there are no fish?
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If government does it all, there is the danger of always looking to government, an anonymous, faceless entity, for the solution. Too much government keeps people children, unable to make their own decisions, take adult responsibility. Too often, when some disaster hits an area of the country, the cry goes up, "The government should do something." I agree. The government, elected by the people to be leaders, should do something. But the very nature of government sometimes hinders the what, when and how. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the governments on all levels were slow to act. (I know this is an American example, but I doubt if things would be much different here in Canada.) I sincerely believe that the will to help was there within all the individual members of government. The problem is they were hampered by the machinery of government. They could not get there quickly enough. But who did get there? The ones who were already there. It was private citizens who took up the challenge. It was churches and other private groups who, being on the ground, could immediately put helps into place. Oh, they had to learn as they went, and it was a steep, steep learning curve, but they were there. They didn’t have to mess with red tape. So many of them were able to hit the ground running, and they are still running.
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Too much government keeps us all children. Not enough government is anarchy. I want neither. So where do I stand? In an ideal world, I would be a political conservative so I can be a private liberal. How I can get there, I don’t know, but that’s what I’d like.
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