A bunch of mostly teen-aged trolls screwed the Donald over in Tulsa – all by way of a social media platform. They tRik-toked the guy. Trump and his team thought they’d have 100’s of thousands of people attend his political rally and, in the end, only 6200 showed up. That seems kinda fair to me. I mean, Trump trolls got him elected and Trump trolls are still grinding the BS out on just about every political forum. They cheat and lie all day, every day. It seems just that some of that ‘lying’ and ‘fake news’ got turned back on Trump. It was good to see.
But…..it also showed up Democracy for what it really is: A pretty simple con-game in which to the early participants go the spoils. Almost like a pyramid scheme. If you do not get involved at the very early stages, you are simply grist for the mill, cannon fodder, one of the sheople. You will be taken to the cleaners.
Democracy is NOT the voice of the people – especially if the people remain mute, disengaged and apathetic. Democracy is for sale. Democracy goes to the best ‘marketer’. Democracy favours advertising. Democracy favours the BIG spenders. Democracy is anything BUT the voice of the people. Democracy, it seems, is a prostitute. Capitalism and democracy go hand in hand.
It is interesting to take note of the real practitioners of the Democracy game-as-we-know-it. They are the inner-sanctum movers and shakers in the parties. Party pimps. The parties’ back rooms have the electorate 90% sewn up long before the election writ is even dropped.
First, you get a few backroom boys appointing a good-lookin’, toothy, puppet-cum-spokesmodel to the local party’s nomination (think: Justin). That alone narrows choice to near zero. The local party reps CHOSE the candidate – NOT the voting public. And, of course, the other BIG or BIG TWO parties do the same. We now have 3, maybe 4 ‘candidates’ vying for their place at the publicly funded trough we refer to as parliament or the legislature. The candidates ‘owe’ the party for getting that far.
We the people did not choose them. The candidates owe the people nothing at that stage and their party reminds them of that all the time. That means that we did NOT have a choice for MLA/MP from the thousands of people in the constituency. We only had a choice of a select few chosen for us by various small committees when we were not looking. That is not the democracy most people think is at play. Because, by that stage in the process, when everyone is aware there will be an election, all REAL choice is gone.
But you know all that. And you chose to accept it. We all chose to accept it and we do so without much protest. We are complicit in our own dysfunction. We are enabling a corrupt, unrepresentative con to perpetuate a false democracy and there appears little will in the electorate or the existing system to fix it.
This fiasco-of-politics comes up for me now and then. OK, a lot of the time…..and it was prompted again by a recent call from our local Green party back-room-woman. The Fed-Greens, this time. They asked that I participate in a ZOOM meeting. I demurred. She persisted. I said, “Well, I cannot see myself voting for anyone else but Green and only because they are telling truth to power in the political sense by pushing the GREEN agenda. But I sure as hell don’t vote GREEN because you guys are any good at it!”
“You do not think we are doing good”?
“No! I do not. Not in the least. Do you?”
“Well, No. I do not. What are we doing wrong?”
“Well the thing that bugs me first and the most is that you do not listen. And yet, you are always asking for money. Basically, you are saying to me, ‘We are just another party doing what the other parties do. So, give us money. We’re gonna act and do like the other parties. We do not have an original thought in our heads’. That is what I hear and that is so incredibly disappointing”.
“I agree. And many in the party are saying the same thing. You should attend the Zoom meeting and say that stuff!”
“I have been saying that stuff. I have been saying that stuff for more than 20 years…from Adrian Carr to Andrew Weaver. You guys just do not listen. I am no longer going to yell into the ether even if it is green. Furthermore, 20 years ago I had the juice to help out and I offered to do so. Today, I am an old guy. Even if I said the words that moved the Green party in-crowd, I no longer have the long-term juice to back it up. I am a limp Bernie Sanders without the energy.”
“Oh, God! I feel the same way. I no longer have the energy.”
“Well, nice of you to call. See ya.”
Our Off the Grid Home 
The cynicism about political parties is a common meme. Could you please clarify what you mean by “…you do not listen…”? The Greeks had a claim and a concern about who ought to be given the voting enfranchisement. The Greeks thought voters ought to be Philosopher Kings. Thus many Ancient Greeks were disenfranchised. Over the centuries political power was slowly wrested away monarchs, Popes, landed gentry, war lords etc. until women got the vote and the franchise was extended to most men and in some case even to the people in prison. This long fight for Democracy continues today. The main problem of voting rights for all as identified by the Greeks was the possible tyranny of the masses. Or what is euphemistically called the “base.” a party listens to its base. The MAGA base supports Trump unconditionally. The CPC base is a solid 30% and is unwavering and obdurate in its views. The Green Party with three MPs is impotent and on the sidelines so has little influence.
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What I mean by ‘you (the party) do not listen’ is this: I have provided input at an in-depth level for well over a decade. I have traveled to meetings one-on-one with the leaders. I have met the backroom boys and girls (Greens are quite proactively feminist) and I have been in touch with them on all sorts of issues including brokering a conversation with BIG OIL last year (Weaver was an embarrassment). But the folks at the Greens are immovable, stubborn, self-perceived as persecuted and totally insular. At least they HAVE been. They do not listen to anyone but themselves.
I still think they have posited the ULTIMATE questions first and foremost (the environment, sustainable economics, etc.) but it does not mean that they are answering well. In fact, I am saying that they are answering it all poorly. Like amateurs. And, judging from what the GREEN lady said, others in the party are saying that, too.
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What advice did the Greens get from you? Was this policy advice? How does the a Green Party set policy for the party?
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Different topics. Different approaches. On the TransMountain issue (at it’s peak) it seemed that there might be some common ground. So, I made some calls. The ‘other side’ was willing to sit down and work something out. Weaver said he wanted that. So, we (a group of four or so lawyers) set it up. But – at the appointed time – he wouldn’t show. He wouldn’t come to the phone! He said that he was busy, tired and having dinner! This was a back-door approach to resolving an outstanding issue and requested by him. And…he wouldn’t pick up. Insane.
Back in the day, with Adrian Carr (she was sane and logical) and her entourage (the rest were whackos) they refused a sizeable donation from a pulp mill and their union. That was insane. What party in Canada has a resource-based company and the union siding with the Greens on the environment to the point of jointly issuing a donation? It may have been conflicting with their non-corporation donations policy but WITH the union onside? Insane NOT to take the money and show common ground. And, so it went….for a long time. Every time an issue arose, I contributed my opinion. Do I expect them to jump? Of course not. But, after you have offered dozens of times, and each time you get lip service and no commitment, you have to conclude, they either do not listen or else they can’t hear. Either way, it’s disappointing.
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I understand your frustration. I assume that there were Green Policies that prevented accepting donations from certain entities. As for Weaver I assume that his actions are guided by the constitution of the Green Party. Do the Greens have a no back room deals clause? The Green Party claims It has scruples and claims transparency in its actions guided by the Party’s constitution. Virtue signalling Parties like the Greens are reticent to risk their images out of an abundance of caution.
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Yeah. They can’t accept corporate donations. But this was different. This was community unity behind the environmental movement. Someone should have taken the cheque and touted that. No. Weaver’s actions were largely his own. He did what he wanted and let his ego do the leading. The two statements sound contradictory. Take the money against policy and what a bad man for not following policy. I understand that. But all that does is open up the debate on cast-in-stone ethics or situational ethics. Most ethicists have come down on the side of situational ethics. Personally, I see polices and ‘manuals’ are written for idiots. There should only be one policy – do the right thing.
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Realpolitik has its attractions and scruples are often seen By some as nothing more than virtue signalling. The bind is that when it suits the other parties the claim of unethical actions are made to impeach the claim of a party that it holds the moral ground. With great glee there are those who would love to pull the ethical rug out from under the Greens. It is important for the Green Party to walk the walk and talk the talk.
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I agree. Leadership does and they are NOT doing. You lead by example. Where are the examples? I know it is difficult – that is why I have been patient – but Liz has been at the trough long enough to have ACCOMPLISHED something. What?
I do not see it. What HAS been accomplished on the Green agenda has been people driven, not leader-driven. The best thing I saw from Liz is getting arrested at TransMountain. And it is NOT enough!
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I agree on your original statement that people have lost interest, and therefore nobody is standing up against the corruption and the system like it is. And no, they don’t listen anymore, they sometimes pretend to if it originally fits their agenda, but then other schemes kick in and all good advice is forgotten. A few years ago, we had an initiative by some smart, non-political people. They formed a group called G1000 ( so basically 1000 smart people from all layers and all backgrounds, scholars, engineers, scientists, nurses, doctors,….). They would meet at regular intervals and present ideas, not colored by any political or money thing….just plain, smart ideas that would help us all (economy, green deal, social security,….). Nice idea, it had some momentum for some time and then it died, because nobody was listening and their own momentum was not big enough to change things. Maybe we should all push this system, elect smart people, not people being pushed up the ladder because they will owe favors the the people funding them
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