Society has always had and always will have its faults. The trouble is that these days many of these faults are unacceptable because we are wiser and should know better. We can fix the problems if we have the will. The trouble is too many people don’t have the will. The rights and responsibilities equation is all out of kilter. Lawyers and academics have too much say and so we equivocate. Fence sitters and grey-shaders lead us to where? A warm fuzzy world where there is no right and wrong. But be careful as your child might be nabbed from his sleeping bed or you might be hit by a street racer while you’re out for an afternoon walk.
Witness the recent incident in Vancouver where thirteen luxury cars were impounded for the equivalent of street racing. They were driven during rush hour at speeds of up to 200 km/hr by drivers between the ages of 18 and 22, six of whom still had new driver class licenses. The ‘criminals’ were fined $196 and their autos impounded. I fear that in not too long a time, the vehicles will be returned and that will be the end of it. The lawyers will have won and society will have lost. We will have been taken for suckers.
Another case is the disingenuous polls being bandied about in the recent Ontario election. One poll put out by the (liberal) Globe and Mail has the provincial Liberals ahead by ten points. Another poll published by the (conservative) Sun Media has the Conservatives ahead by ten points. What’s going on? In this case, society is not being suckered by lawyers, but by pollsters and the media. But only if we believe them. Many educated people are indeed governed by a healthy amount of skepticism, and some by outright cynicism. Too many though, are too busy or naive and believe the stories and narratives the entrenched elites proffer them.
What to do? This is the problem. Both situations I’ve illustrated are unacceptable. The trouble is that I lean towards libertarianism and so fear the heavy hand of government regulating evermore even the minutiae of our lives. First and foremost the job of government is to protect us from dangers like 18-year-olds driving Lamborghini's at 200 km/hr at rush hour. If they can’t stop it, they punish the culprits to the hilt thereby dissuading others from following in the same footsteps. Who would disagree other than a few civil libertarian lawyers and academics? This should be easy.
The next bit is considerably harder, but in some ways more important as it shapes the very way we are governed. It has to do with influence and the accuracy (or inaccuracy) willful or not of information. The curmudgeon in me leans towards W.C. Fields admonition that “It’s a sin against nature to leave a sucker in full possession of his assets.” However, if a government is thereby elected because voters were sucked in, then I begin to doubt this. It’s better to inculcate the healthy skepticism necessary for a healthy democracy. Voters should hence view a poll published by the (liberal) Globe and Mail that shows the Liberals leading in the polls with suspicion rather that an opportunity to jump on the proffered public opinion bandwagon. What if following an election it turns out that voters were duped, either by the politicians or by the media? Can the election be overturned? I remember my fury some years back (even though I was far removed and living in Thailand) when the government of British Columbia was re-elected largely on the premise that the budget was balanced. Unfortunately, soon after it was discovered that this was not the case and the premier in the election knew this. Elected on a lie! The electorate had no recourse but to wait four or five years to turf the bums out.
The only real solution as I see it is a paradigm shift. There should be no more four-year dictatorships. A government should not be able to enact major policies without public consultation and approval. A government should not be able to govern without public sanction. The premier or prime minister should not have the power of an autocrat. Of course, the equivocators (fearing any loss of their entrenched power) will say that public opinion serves as an effective sanction. That’s a lot of horsefeathers. Referenda and right of recall à la California is not the solution either as monied interests (special and corporate) love this. You move society toward that ideal America’s founding fathers described many years ago -- ‘a government by the people and for the people’. You have citizen politicians not professional politicians. Government moves forward via dialogue, not dictate. Harmony is fostered, not discord. Rather than waste time and money playing political games, political time and effort is dedicated towards remedying faults and enabling society. Not easy ends by any means, but that is what a paradigm shift entails. The world is undergoing such a fundamental change supported by new technology and communications that it is laughable to think that our society continues to be governed by the same politics as has been in play the last two hundred years.
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