The Low Hanging Fruit

The profound irony is that the more Canadian politics focuses on communication - as witnessed by the 25 per cent and upward increases in Ottawa communications jobs under Liberal and Conservative governments since the beginning of the 21st century - the less message is getting through.

In her new book Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them, Susan Delacourt discusses two key, interlocking issues of our times:

The bleed of consumerist culture into public services

     

The Tragedy of the House of Commons

People want what they want because they want it - and, as they're constantly told by the ads, they're worth it.  Online, in person, or via Smart Phone, sellers are more than willing to comply - shouldn't government services be the same?

Politicians realize people want the low-hanging fruit; they've also realized that, under first-past-the-post, they don't need every voter any more than every Canadian needs every product.  Our pols and their handlers pick and choose the coalitions that will provide wins, feeding them information that just pertains to them in packages that hit the right emotional triggers.  Everyone else is discarded, disenfranchised - or misdirected.

This is exactly how capitalism is supposed to work - we buy what's sold to us and if we don't like product A, we simply buy something else.  If a certain product or service proves consistently lack-lustre or outmoded (like, say, horses and bayonets or rabidly partisan politicians) people stop buying in to them entirely, seeking more emotionally satisfying alternatives.

Businesses are going for the policy low-hanging fruit, because they are too efficient to worry about the complex.  Government's are focusing on sector-specific low-hanging fruit, because it's more expedient; it allows them to spend their ballooning marketing budgets wisely and reduces the need to spend more on complex, strenuous consultation and negotiation processes.  Voters want clear, concise information that explains a system in a soundbite - if the politicians, the salesmen, can't do that, oh well - they need the voters more than the voters need them.

What everyone from our economics-trained Prime Minister down to the average Double-Double drinker seems to forget is that economies of scale offer better value than feudal competition; divide and conquer does just the opposite.  Canada is a complex demographic system, a machine for which Conservatives hope to dismantle the framework.

It's not an approach that can work, but that's a topic for another day.