Turn out the lights, the Party is over!
My life partner insisted on watching a leaders’ debate in our totally unnecessary Canadian national election.
Debate? Call it a Festival of Patriarchy!
Four preening men, shouting over each other to claim they alone can lead.
And one calm and assured woman saying we need to set aside our political differences. To rebuild society after the covid pandemic, and bring all hands on deck to mitigate, and, adapt to climate change.
Since she leads the Green Party, the men ignored her and turned to savaging one another. They didn’t even stop to listen, as each claimed the blue ribbon of phallocracy ought to be pinned to him alone: priapic in their desire to dominate and shout down one another.
And as with the last half dozen Canadian elections, so many voters wish one election box said “none of the above.”
The coarse tribalism of political parties is so jarringly out of place, when the demands of our time call for co-operation, collaboration, conviviality, common ground, and common purpose.
“Politics as usual” heads the list of all the ugliness we should have left behind in the world before the pandemic. Yet here it is. And it is ours to suffer.
Will’s memorable description in Macbeth captures our political moment:
“Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Which leads me to ask: if you’ve never had any desire to join a political tribe, why would you vote for one? In a country of 38 million people, fewer than a million Canadians belong to national political parties. Yet the rest of us are supposed to rally behind one of these self-selecting clubs, and decree that only one of them has the answer.
And it’s not as though there are significant differences between them. All the national parties believe in state-funded medical care, subsidised public education that costs a fraction of the tuition charged in most developed countries, and social supports for those who are unable to secure the necessities of life. They agree on the principles — and the underlying values — and quibble about the details.
Yet come election time, this remarkable unity is ignored. The old Patriarchal norms, and the toxic masculinity that continues to corrode our power structures, once again impede the advancement of an inclusive and pluralist society.
We deserve better. And we need to pursue that better way of being and belonging. When we delegate our civil power to elected representatives, we can and should expect that they will seek consensus and common ground, because that is the best fulfilment of their province to govern in the interest of all their constituents.
About two thirds of Canadians vote for parties of the centre and centre-left; about a third vote for parties of the centre and centre-right. Yet given the convergence on our broad principles of governance, there should be little difficulty in finding a common agenda. Especially when it comes to addressing the calamitous consequences of climate change.
It’s time to transcend political parties. And elect representatives who will commit to working across party lines, to shape a future that works for us all.
Please connect with me. satya@cambridgestrategies.com
