With the BC provincial elections on the horizon the incumbent Liberal Party is ramping up it's US-style attack ads on the opposition leader, Adrian Dix. The NDParty is caught in a quandary--do we attack back and show them we're as tough as they are, or do we rise above the fray and show the public a kinder, gentler approach to running for office?
With a two-party system it's too easy to set up a false dichotomy that paints the other as the Evil Force that will destroy the province if elected.
It's sad that we have to depict each other as different in order to distinguish ourselves from the other when in reality there's little real difference between people, especially once they take a seat in the legislature.
If the only way we can persuade people to vote for someone is to put down the other person we are no better than the schoolyard bully who attains superiority by beating others into submission.
That's not the kind of people I want running our province, or country, for that matter. I want people there who have the time and energy to look after the general population's needs and not there only to hang on to power at all costs. What a waste of time and energy!
To break this sick pattern of "may the best man win", we must be willing to break the mold and campaign on a positive note, outlining the vision of the Party and its members, and then once in power, being willing to be open and accountable to the public for its decisions and actions.
Until and unless that happens we're just a step away from a "dictatorship" mentality where the public be damned--the only difference being a brief time before the next elections where the politicians feign interest in the citizen's needs simply in order to retain or gain power.
Just exactly what does "democracy" mean again?
