I submit that anyone who really believes the best way to deal with a moribund economy and high employment is to throw even more people out of work while reducing their own contribution to the economy is not mentally competent and therefore ineligible to hold public office.
I submit that anyone who really believes that service cuts for the poor and middle income earners should be preferred over raising taxes on the fabulously wealthy is morally bankrupt and has no right to hold public office.
Whether we are talking about Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, Premier Dalton McGuinty (and his accomplice Tim Hudak) or Prime Minister Stephen Harper, their endorsement for the ludicrous economics of neoliberalism deserves scorn and ridicule.
Worse, their privatization of basic public services, such as transportation, health care and food and drug safety, to increase the wealth of those who have too much already is evidence of systemic corruption. The fact that they have to wait until leaving public office before getting their payback from their wealthy masters simply makes them the corporate equivalent of jihadists who expect their reward in the next life.
At one time government understood that they were supposed to be working for the people. They understood that corporate power needed to controlled lest we become a plutocracy. That time ended in the 1980s and three decades later our claims to democracy ring hollow.
Yet we still have the ballot box. Perhaps if everyone who thinks that voting cannot achieve anything comes out to vote next election, we can actually throw these scoundrels out and replace them with a government that understands its duty to the people.
Unfortunately those who don’t vote are usually those who don’t understand just how large a role government really plays. They don’t understand that without government, there is no body large enough to take on the corporations.
They’re right, of course, that too often government abandons that role and instead becomes a cheerleader for the moneyed interests. However, that is not predestined. In real democracies, corporate rule is held in check.
As I have previously written, democracy isn’t really about voting. However right now voting is the only tool we have to stop the economic jihadists who pose as political leaders and their economic terrorism that passes for governance. It’s one we need to use.
Gary Dale's Blog 