Progressively Growing Beyond the Short Pants

But it's a mistake to blame this on the boys in short pants.  They are the symptom, not the cause.  The deeper problem is that too much power is now concentrated at the centre, rather than shared with parliament.

 

This post on elected officials, accountability and social responsibility by Don Lenihan makes a great companion piece to Andrew Coyne's article on free speech and sociology-committing from yesterday.

 

Come again?

 

What's the connection between Parliamentarians speaking truth to power and everyone putting in the effort to understand each other?

 

Exactly.  We have a system that is increasingly slanted towards competition, which is not the same thing as debate.  When you're rushing to get ahead, you aren't interested in solving structural problems; you're only interested in getting what you can for yourself.

 

Parliament, for instance, has become steadily more competitive, with partisan tribalism usurping the democratic process.  Has it resulted in better solutions, greater civic engagement or even constructive dialogue?

 

Nope.  The reverse has happened; our democracy is actually atrophying as it is more and more neglected.  We're getting narrower solutions that serve smaller percentages of the population, leading to worsening outcomes and beyond that, more and more people tuning out of politics entirely.

 

Or worse - charting their own path outside our system without the checks and balances democracy provides.

 

We know what happens when too much power concentrates in one place, because we've seen it happen countless time before.  The inevitable result is the societal equivalent to an aneurysm that negatively impacts the whole system.

 

Which is the key word here - system.  Like gravity, it doesn't matter how much we choose to deny the reality that society is a system and we are all part of that system - it remains true nonetheless.  An objectivist view that denies there's any such thing as society theoretically fosters a competitive world where the strongest survive, but society isn't a food chain, it's an organism.  When parts of the system are neglected, the whole suffers.

 

You don't cure an illness by treating the symptoms any more than you solve lead poisoning without looking up the pipe to see where the lead is coming from.

 

It's not the boys in short pants that are the problem, nor is it the politicians or even the public.  People are people and, surprisingly enough, have a tendency to act like people.  We aren't rational super beings with an meta-conscious ability not to be impacted by biology and environmental factors - prick us and we bleed, wrong us and we'll seek justice.

 

But when a problem repeats itself, one-off justice won't be enough; we'll start looking for causes and solutions.  That's when competition starts to bleed into query and, eventually, comprehension.

 

Then, everything changes.

 

We're not quite at that point yet - but we're getting there.

Baby steps, don't you know.

Breakfast In Ontario

There's no reason that Ontario can't expand its role as a hub and become a centralized access point for innovation, industry, investment and human potential for the global village.

The Ontario Liberal Party's Common Ground online policy platform is drawing positive commentary as an innovative, purposeful and engaging use of social media.

 

It's early days yet, and it will take ongoing commitment from OLP staffers to keep their policy hub ticking and to dole out periodic value-add upgrades, but things like this can make a huge difference both in terms of fuelling policy the people will like and associating the Liberal brand with all kinds of positive things.

 

Of course politics isn't about being positive, it's about poking a stick in the eye of your opponents.  Therefore it should really come as no surprise that someone (or ones) out there in Oppositionland immediately started looking for ways to rain on the Common Ground parade.

 

Appropriately enough, it appears someone did a Google search of "common ground" to see if they could find any meme-worthy material (or likes music and is old enough to recall the mid-nineties).  In this effort, they landed on the line "we've got nothing in common/No common ground to start from" of the song Breakfast at Tiffany's by, funny enough, the band Deep Blue Something. 

 

It's a great song - upbeat tune, good to dance to.  When I was in university, I lived with a DJ who used to play it all the time.   We'd play it and drink Moody Blue before heading out to the bar.  Good memories.  Which is why I can recall how the rest of the verse (and chorus) went:

 

You'll say that we've got nothing in common

No common ground to start from

And we're falling apart

You'll say the world has come between us

Our lives have come between us

Still I know you just don't care

 

So it's not that the two Parties don't share common ground - only that one simply isn't interesting in trying.  But then:  

 

 CHORUS:
And I said, "What about 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'?"
She said, "I think I remember the film, yes
and as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."

And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got."

 

So it's kind of a silver lining sort of thing.  There's always common ground to stand on.  In fact, we always stand on the same ground - and breathe the same air, cherish our children's future, etc.

 

Not such a good meme theme to pick, when you think about it.  Regardless of who's seeing through who, though, there is so much left undone - massive, structural challenges that will require shared solutions with broad support to fix.  None of us are getting any younger; if we don't care enough to move beyond entrenched positions and end our differences, we can at least help make world safe for diversity (of ideas, of personalities, even of partisanship) tomorrow. 

 

I feel bad for those who choose not to get on the train - it's leaving the station regardless.