A New Post

Check out my new post over at a group blog, Takeoffeh! which is just getting rolling.

The Importance of Voting

With an election all wrapped up, and $300 million spent, a good friend asked me the other day if his vote mattered.  His concern was that on a day to day basis, who he voted for made no impact on his life.  I thought about this briefly, and agreed with him.  It’s true, not much changes from the election of a new government at the federal level for my friend’s demographic, that being single white male.  On this basis, he has no reason to vote or not to vote.

However, let’s take a broader perspective and examine the question again.  Imagine two countries, one where you can’t vote, and one where you can.  Who makes the decisions in the first country?  And if they have free reign to do as they please, with no democratic checks on power, then a citizen’s well being and future is up to the whims of whoever is in charge. 

In a country where there is a democratic system (like Canada), with votes and elections, then we’ll have leaders who want to please the citizens and keep them happy.  All parties want to either gain or hold onto power, so they all end up being mostly the same and not much changes.  And in Canada the bureaucracy and judicial branch also provide a certain amount of inertia to government policy, pushing things incrementally or resisting sudden swings of policy.  Big change, the kind that my friend would notice, is only possible when the citizens of a country either demand it or accept it from their leaders.
 
This line of thinking came to me today while I was listening to the CBC; a listener was describing the first time their parents got to vote.  The parents had immigrated from some undemocratic country, possibly communist, I missed that detail.  When it came time to vote, they put on their finest clothes and headed to the polls.  They took it very seriously and attached a strong importance to voting because prior to living in Canada they did not have the choice to vote or not to vote.  So, yes voting doesn’t really matter, but in a democratic system, it’s the only thing that matters.

Alaskans on Palin

Not my usual sphere, but I enjoy reading The Daily Dish, and here you’ll find a video where two Alaskan women are interviewed about Sarah Palin.  They discuss what they believe about Palin, including why she was chosen to run for VP, how she governed in Alaska, and an awesome comparison to Hilary Clinton.  An insightful interview from folks on the street.  Watch it here.

Dion at the Empire Club

Caught Dion’s speech today while I was at the gym.  He spoke with passion, displaying more emotion and humanity than what I’ve seen from him in the past.  He’s reaching out, attempting to identify with Canadians hopes and fears.  Also, he’s downplaying the Green Shift, which I fully support and defend, but which was proving problematic to explain and was easily distorted by Conservative attack ads.  In particular, Dion really came across as a man who loves his country, a fragmented, multicultural, complex and yet strong society. 

Here he is on Harper, “He may speak better English than I do, but I speak the truth better in both English and French than he ever will.”  That’s a sound bite that might resonate.

Harper and Dion, A Turning Point?

What Dion and the carbon tax couldn’t do for the liberal party, the banking crisis and stock market plunge apparently are.  Timing, as they say, is everything and Harper’s seems to be off, in quite spectacular fashion.  I believe pundits were observing that this election was hastily called in the fall session of parliament to take advantage of good times economically before things got too rotten.  Oops.  The Liberals are now painting Harper as being out of touch with what is happening and slow to respond.  And that was exactly the playbook the conservatives were running.  Things are good, steady as she goes.  Current events have relegated that playbook to the dustbin and Harper’s carefully managed election is getting more interesting and unpredictable.

Although his image is one of an academic and not very statesman like, Dion has always appealed to me because he seems genuine.  You’re not getting much filtering when you see Dion speak.  He’s dropped the teleprompter in his speeches, probably as a way to seem more natural in an unnatural tongue, but I think it also speaks to a growing confidence.  In comparison, I always get the feeling that Harper is tightly in control of himself and his faculties and that gives me the willies.  It seems odd, but I don’t want someone so sure of themselves in power.  Give me some complexity and a willingness to change and adjust.

With about a week to go, the Liberals are gaining ground, and the Conservative are out of majority territory.  Jack Layton appears to have the NDP on track for modest gains, but I think his populist message of tackling corporate Canada is misguided.  Making ‘big polluters’ pay, Jack?  Wake up buddy, we *are* the big polluters.  I didn’t catch the televised debates as I was in lectures, but apparently Elizabeth May came off very well in her first go at it.  Hopefully the Greens can capitalize and claim a few seats.  It’s going to be an interesting final push.

Buffett and The Banks

I believe that the rejection of the bailout bill in congress earlier this week is short sighted.  Congress might be picking up on the sentiments of Main St, in that the average joe is unwilling to bailout Wall St, but what Main St fails to recognize is their complicity in the current banking crisis.  Bankers need willing borrowers, and the borrowers have demonstrated they were just as greedy as the bankers.  Trying to put some distance between themselves and their greed, ie Wall St, is a natural reaction but one that should be ignored. 

Letting things work themselves out on Wall St is a huge unknown.  Fear is running rampant at the moment and it is a destabilizing force.  Warren Buffett, a humble and decent man not known for hyperbole, and also the most successful investor ever, just came out and said that America is looking at an economic ”pearl harbour”.  He also has been making investments in the markets this past week, in Goldman Sachs and General Electric.  However, if the bailout does not proceed, he believes his recent investments will have been a mistake.