Once upon a time, Communist-related insurgent groups around the world engaged in kidnapping for political purposes. These organizations, largely funded by the USSR, had distinct political agendas. When the USSR died and their funding dried up, these groups realized that kidnapping was also a great way to make money - hence, the K&R business was born.
It's a dirty, cruel, manipulative business that can justify itself any way it wants to, but at the end of the day, it's about making money. Kidnappers employ brutal tactics to subdue their captives and frighten their targets into paying ransoms. It's psychological sales, with the well-being of actual humans ending up as collateral damage.
I thought about this as I read my email this morning and received this little message:
If you've been thinking about being part of the 5,303 who contributed $270,561 to this campaign, follow these instructions...
You may be surprised how good it feels to give - and be part of something this big.
If, by "something this big" you mean the industrial political complex, than yeah. How much of this money trickles down into the Canadian economy, resulting in more jobs for youth, under and unemployed Canadians? How much of it goes into the pockets of well-heeled advertising or polling consultants, who then spend it on renovations to their summer home in the Bahamas?
Political Parties are streamlining staff, consolidating their operations and trying to be as "businesslike" as possible. That means earning more and spending less - except on all things marketing-related, including data-mining and behavioural insights-informed manipulations like these.
While raising money has always been a big deal for political parties, increasing restrictions on corporate donations has changed the game in fundamental ways - just as the death of the USSR did for the K&R industry.
We still see high-priced, closed-door fundraisers where privileged access to policy makers is exchanged for ridiculous sums of cash, but now there's an increasing effort to target those Canadians who don't have as much money to donate.
The stakes are high, we're told - they have raised more money than us this quarter; if left unchecked, they will use their funds to manipulate even more Canadians than just those on their email lists and unleash the Zombie Apocalypse.
Forget donating to your kids' summer camp, the Red Cross or some food bank or whatever - all those donations are wasted if they are left unchecked. Feel the pressure?
Ah, but our souls aren't entirely forfeit - not if you put a few sheckles in our coffers, and do so regularly in small sums that add up to big sums in annual aggregate.
Only our leader can save Canada from them, restore peace and prosperity to the land; not your local charities, or even your local church, unless by church you mean political party, i.e. us.
Every party is guilty of these sorts of manipulative tricks that are designed to hit social-emotional triggers, compelling donations in the way a moth is driven to a flame.
Let's put it another way; those pols who smirk and tell Canadians not to care about what happens in Parliament and suggests they fend for themselves when it comes to saving and sustainable living?
Those are the exact same ones that are condoning the use of sophisticated techniques of psychological manipulation designed to make Canadians feel the only way they can "fend for themselves" and invest in the promised land (where you, your friends and your family have a real and fair chance to succeed) is by giving their money to political institutions that won't visit a single dollar back to the benefit of those Canadians or their communities.
Remember that division between Church and State? Well, now we have political parties setting themselves up as the Church, offering political indulgences and communion with the Leader at BBQs and what not in a way to fill their coffers.
Here's the real deal, folks, that we periodically need to be reminded of:
We are already part of "something big" - something bigger than any institution, something that doesn't require a payment to contribute to.
It's called society. By extension, it's what democracy is all about.
They hold no power except what we let them assume through laws, manipulative ads and by outsourcing responsibility to them.
We remain as we always have been - the problem, when we disengage and the solution when we choose to work together, to listen, to bridge gaps and build collaboratively.
It's not a message you're going to hear from the people at the top - they're too reliant on compliance and psychological tricks to see how trapped by the game they themselves have become.
Leadership, folks, never comes from the top of a tower; it always comes from the ground up.
That nugget of wisdom is yours, free for the taking.
You have to want to get engaged but when you do, you can make a difference.
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