Mess in the West
By Tim Pheotist
What a dog of an election! The result seemed almost a forgone conclusion, but ‘Hope springs eternal in the human beast’ to misquote Alexander Pope. So it was with the frustration of dashed faint hope that I compared the pathetic Provincial election result to my best friend of so many years. I apologized immediately, of course, and, as penance, mopped the damp spot on the carpet with saved copies of Paul Krugman’s newspaper columns. Maybe this is the best use for today’s economists – to be the blotters for the mess left from countless idiotic choices by voters.

Back to Alexander Pope, however, since more animal metaphors are likely to come back to bite me. Pope, with simple logic, noted that people always hope for the best. It’s hope that keeps us going.

Our successful politicos know this only too well. Clearly Mr. Campbell knows his supporters better than they know themselves. His trick is to speak what his voters are hoping for. Now we can be told what Liberals voted for. Liberals hoped and voted that each and every one of them become independently wealthy, pay no taxes, are unaffected by annoying neighbours, sick people and communities, are left alone by governments and bureaucrats to do whatever they choose – living in the moment, and in perfect health. Is it really too much to ask!!

 

Whether or not Liberal voters want to face the truth of the intent of their votes, this is exactly why they again allowed Mr. Campbell to high-jack their ballots. Again, the personal greed and fears of Liberal voters carried the Liberal party to power.
‘Too strong’, you say. ‘I know people who have voted for Campbell’s kids and they are civic minded, civilized people who would be a pleasure to live next door to’.

Maybe, but Mr. Campbell, in the past years, has conned his supporters and robbed the rest of us. Should they not know better by now?

They were fooled once. Shame on Mr. Campbell.  Now they’re fooled again – shame on them.
Control of government has been handed to private corporations, along with your tax dollars, in an envelope marked P3. You won’t get to vote for the CEOs running those private companies or for the bureaucrats that they employ. They are not accountable to an electorate and their contracts are long and expensive. You haven’t wasted your vote just in this election. It’s worse - you’ve given it away for the foreseeable future.

Mr. Campbell has been given further license to trade valuable public BC land and resources to and for private profit.
Mr. Campbell not only risks your health but seeks to deny you healthcare as a right.

Mr. Campbell doesn’t want you to bond too closely with your workmates in case you - form a union!!
I won’t go on. If voters didn’t get the point before the election it’s too late for now.

Nobody enjoys a post mortem but if ever there was a need for a PM (pun intended), it’s now. Here’s how we died.
The first wound created fear. No difficulty there. Just stop printing money, raise some taxes, create some debt, imagine some bogeymen, and cry crocodile tears about job losses etc.

Next, smile and say that you know exactly what to prescribe to cure the pain and stop the bleeding – bandage with newly printed money – your tax money!!

Next – inject the hope that the voter might get some of the new currency, fresh off the presses. Hope and greed combined!! An election winning potion – and a poison to the body democratic!!

Gentle voter, what follows next is not pretty. Dr. Campbell will not deliver you the cure of riches and security. He doesn’t have it to give. He has nothing to give. He only has the power to take from you.

He’ll take your taxes, your homes, your jobs, your health, your environment.

We should end the post mortem metaphor before rigor mortis sets in. After rigor and a PM (such as Dr. Campbell) Pope’s hope is lost. But, we’re not there yet. Some life still goes on.

So, although dazed and traumatized, we’ve got to look at what we can do better, assuming that we care more about our fellow man and our environment than the Campbells of this world, do.

Let’s look at why many that voted Liberal or didn’t vote at all keep taking the wrong path.
Maybe it’s because the alternatives don’t offer ‘Hope’!! Of course, we know that the NDP, Greens etc. are loaded with sincere, serious, caring people. They have logic and honest intent.

However they do not inspire hope. If they have anything in common with Campbell it’s the ability to inspire fear. The difference is, Campbell and Harper’s parties use fear, cynically, as a tool to manipulate government.
We, enlightened ones, genuinely believe people should be scared. Maybe we should be but sometimes the truth must be accompanied by a constructive and appealing message.

This time your disillusioned economist is discarding his dismal cap for something more stylish and colorful. Even a jester’s hat.
In days of yore, often the most trusted and wisest advisor was the court jester – a stealthy and unsuspected instrument of logic, serving the monarch.

So, Greens and NDPers, put on a smiley face and start entertaining us. The serious stuff hasn’t worked. The messages of gloom and doom have been returned to sender. The serious single issue students have run out of annoying new things to lecture about.
Try a new approach.  The prescriptions are the same, unfortunately, but we need to sugar coat the pills. This voter wants to see some professional, bright, amusing standard bearers, demonstrating by their own words and performance that it is possible to vote progressively and constructively and yet still be happy!!
At least Mr. Campbell smiles!!

Back to man’s best friend. My scowling expression of frustration quickly stopped the wagging tail. The tears flowed – not from the eyes, of course – necessitating Mr. Krugman’s assistance. Realizing the error of my harshness, I returned to a friendly smile of reassurance and a bisuity treat. The tail wagged immediately. Again I had the canine vote. So what if it cost a smile and a biscuit?
Dare we ask as much from our more enlightened candidates the next time round?