When did we become so divided? Every politician seems to be falling over each other to engage in support for one group or another. Colour me skeptical but I find myself saying “follow the money” when trying to sort out the reason why our group identity has taken precedence over our individual identity.
Martin Luther King Jr. famously said that “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (MLK “I have a dream” speech text). Today, I think we are moving further away from the dream MLK once had for his nation and I believe by extension, the entire free world.
Canada often mimics its neighbour to the south when it comes to many social discussions and even laws. Yes, I know there are many differences, like gun and abortion laws but the fundamental beliefs of a democratic society – equality, freedom and liberty – are mirrored in both nations. It has become apparent that Canada has taken a troubling turn at not upholding these core tenets.
Often, the narrative being put forward by media and politicians in Canada is that it is the USA and its government which is a threat to democracy with some of their actions and policies. Quite the contrary to this narrative, I believe that there are countless examples of why Canadians should be alarmed at how quickly we have moved in the wrong direction and there has been a slow erosion of those three principles of a social democratic system.
The individual or the collective
I am a big believer that what makes every individual unique is their own story and experiences. The colour of our skin, our gender, our religious beliefs – even our physical characteristics – are not usually unique. For example, there are approximately two billion Muslims on the planet and a slightly higher number of Christians. Being either Muslim or Christian does not make us unique in any sense. Find me a religion which has one member and I will give in on the uniqueness factor. The same can be said of gender (just two genders people, don’t care what the criminal Dr. John Money said back in the 1960s) or race.
Despite the irrefutable fact that our uniqueness is not dictated by things like race, religion or gender we are using those very traits to divide all of us into pseudo-tribes. Fancy academic terms like “intersectionality” are used to determine the level of victim-hood which should be assigned to each person. Should you be a black/trans/handicapped person you have hit the jackpot in the oppression Olympics. Conversely, if you an able-bodied white/male/heterosexual you are a member of the highest order of oppressors.
Think about the illogical way in which academics like Ibram X Kendi and Robin DiAngelo have framed the debate on a person’s so-called “privilege”. Using the theory of intersectionality employed by “progressives” to determine a person’s societal privilege as an example, Lebron James and his children are less privileged than a dirt poor white family from the Appalachia region in the United States.
This way of thinking has polluted our political discourse so that absolutely everything must be looked at through a lens of gender, race, religion, etc. etc. The problem with this thinking is that more and more categories seem to be added to the mix every day. How many groups are we going to consider as part of the discussion before it distorts the discussion on most issues so much that we never really address the core problems?
Canada’s descent
So earlier I took the position that Canada has numerous relatively recent examples of why we are headed down a dark road as it relates to basic fundamental rights. Now, rather than looking at the individual we look at the collective. Does this sound like it has any similarities with an existing political system (hint, it’s the one responsible for close to 100 million deaths of citizens under that system in various countries during the 20th century)?
The collective has trumped the individual in almost every political discussion. Think I am exaggerating? All one needs to do is look at some of the measures taken by our federal government during the COVID “crisis”. Phrases like “we are in this together” hid the fact that mandates and rules impacted some individuals far more than others. For example, government workers and restaurant workers clearly were not in “this” together. Most (if not all) government workers kept getting a pay cheque (with full benefits) whether they were working or not. The hospitality workers were sent home given a paltry $2,000 a month from the government and told they should be grateful. Really?
Think of our education system. It essentially became a shell of what it was before COVID. We shut down schools and our children were forced into government mandated isolation. This was all done under the same banner of “we’re all in this together”. The problem is that we weren’t, and it is not even a debate. Children, who were shown to be the least vulnerable group to be impacted by COVID were cut off from their peer group and were impacted from a mental health standpoint in more ways than they ever would have been from COVID. (watch this exchange on The View between Dr. Phil and the hosts who seem to have bought into this nonsense Dr. Phil spitting facts on The View)
There are far more examples of the politics by identity politics approach. I could go on all day how what I say as a dangerous trend has permeated our political system. The question is why is this happening?
I believe this is all about money and also playing on the ignorance of the typical voter. Call me skeptical but I believe generally a politician values the desire to be re-elected rather than the importance of doing what is in the best interest of citizens. Politicians achieve the former by appealing to specific groups or identities. You hear all the time about how well a politician is polling among groups like women, ethnic voters, gays, etc. The same politicians will sacrifice what is truly right to curry favour with a voting block that can get them re-elected.
How is this about money you may ask? Well, simply put, federal politicians can collect a pension after two terms in office. The federal Liberals actually quietly moved the 2025 fall election date later so that MPs would be eligible to collect their pension. Had the original date remained, defeated MPs who had not reached the date to be eligible to collect a pension would have left office with nothing if they were defeated. The Liberals framed this as being respectful of the Indian community as the original date fell withing the celebration of Diwali. How gracious of the Trudeau government to do this for the Indian community, right? Well, not really. The government could have moved the date for the election prior to Diwali. However, that would mean that a Liberal government which is on the verge of being decimated would have more than a handful of members who would not reach eligibility for a federal pension.
The other part of the money equation is the industry which has developed around identity politics. How many universities now have departments that are either directly or indirectly tied to Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI)? How many companies have officers or sometimes whole departments devoted to DEI? Who hasn’t encountered mandatory corporate training for all employees in the area of DEI? By some estimates DEI is a $9 billion industry in the USA and will grow to about $15 billion by 2026. I won’t get into a lengthy debate but there is sufficient evidence to show this is not money well spent (of course, unless you are collecting a pay cheque as part of a DEI initiative or department).
I also mentioned the ignorance of the voter as part of this equation. I know in Australia there is a system in place to increase voter turnout. Eligible voters who do not cast a ballot in an election can be fined. Sounds great in principle, right? However, given the lack of awareness and an unwillingness to seek out information by what I would argue is the majority of voters I would say this only compounds the problem. Politicians pander to the lowest common denominator among voters, I know it will never become law but I almost would like to see a basic civics test as part of the voting process. This would weed out the low hanging fruit among voters who are continually preyed upon by politicians.
I guess this is my way of saying that people did actually die for our right to vote. Immigrants often come to Canada from countries where selecting your government through a democratic process is a pipe dream. The least we can do is treat the process with the respect it deserves. Stay informed, be a political free agent and please don’t throw your vote away.
One Dad With a Blog
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