Closing The Divide, 7

I think that in order to come up with solutions to this growing crisis of income and social inequality that we really have to reconsider and be open to changing our perceptions of our so-called enemies. I will begin in this post with the politicians. Now, who doesn`t love to hate politicians? Can there be an easier target? Shooting fish in a barrel! They are popularly viewed as selfish, self-serving, lacking any ethical sense or moral compass, cynical, hypocritical, corrupt, and the beast goes on....Or, does it? Politicians are human beings. (yeah, really!) They are also, even more than the rest of us, held hostage to the democratic process (there is nothing wrong, Gentle Reader, with democracy, by the way, and an awful lot that is right about it!) But politicians end up having to please, whether they like it or not, an awfully broad base of people, opinions, perspectives and political orientations if they hope to get reelected, since, getting elected continues to empower them to do all the good they can in the world, even if that gets compromised, diluted and corrupted by the built in need and obligation to please others. Otherwise, they just play to their base support, end up alienating everyone who would never dream of voting for them, as well as those who did, and then four years later they have to be changed, like a baby's filthy diaper and for much the same reason. Here in our own dear little Canada, we had nine years of that problem when Stephen Harper and his loathsome Conservatives were at the helm. I would tend to agree that almost everyone who runs for elected political office does so with the noblest and purest intentions in mind, barring certain egregious exceptions like the Great Deplorable in the Oval Office. And now we have Prime Minister Junior in charge, and he got in on a tidal wave of popular support: for his youthfulness, his good looks, his charisma, his progressive views, his good looks, and of course his need to for everyone to like him, and his good looks. Talk about charm offensive. But now that the charm has become actually offensive and the honeymoon now is nothing but a stale-smelling memory of badly stained bedsheets and disgruntled neighbours banging on the thin hotel room wall, Junior has decided to play tough, side up with the climate dinosaurs of Alberta and run that bloody pipeline through our province to our West Coast, endangering our environment and filling the planet yet with more death fuels to further compromise our environment and render our planet uninhabitable. Now, despite my less than flattering portrayals, I would like to believe that such as Justin Trudeau, our prime minister, and Rachel Notley, the premier of Alberta, have also better angels to their natures. And this is what we need to appeal to. Yes, to take our stand, with our own premier, John Horgan, who has shown admirable and inspiring leadership in his stand against the Kinder Morgan pipeline. But while refusing to bend to the threats and bluster of a federal government that has lost what few moral and ethical bearings that it could lay claim to, I think it behooves us to think of what we can do to appeal to the good in these people, which, like it or not, exists. To appeal to their common sense and to do whatever we can to summon forth a dialogue that is respectful and founded on humility and goodwill. This is going to take an awfully long time. Time to dig in and persevere.