Tommy Douglas The votes in CBC’s “Greatest Canadian” contest have been counted, and Tommy Douglas, the first leader of the NDP, former Saskatchwan premier and the founding father of the country’s (now failing) medicare system, has been crowned champion. This “socialist politician” was chosen as the Canadian who has had the most profound impact on the country’s history.
What irks me, however, is that while Canadians continue to praise Canada’s former social democrats and the legacies–such as medicare–that they left behind, they continue to leave their modern kin by the wayside come election day, continually putting in power those who have shown nothing but sheer and violent contempt for the idea of equality and the public good. The votes in CBC’s “Greatest Canadian” contest have been counted, and Tommy Douglas, the first leader of the NDP, former Saskatchewan premier and the founding father of the country’s (now failing) Medicare system, has been crowned champion. This “socialist politician” was chosen as the Canadian who has had the most profound impact on the country’s history.
What irks me, however, is that while Canadians continue to praise Canada’s former social democrats and the legacies–such as Medicare–that they have left behind, they continue to leave their modern kin by the wayside come election day, insisting on putting into power those who have shown nothing but sheer and violent contempt for the idea of equality and the public good.
How can this be explained? It is a contradiction between the ideal values of a people and those they actually hold? Or is it simply an expression of the power behind neoliberal capitalism, market fundamentalism, and the oligarchic politicians these systems support (read: the Liberal and Conservative parties)?
[Soon I promise to add the ability to comment to this blog, so these questions become more than simple rhetoric!]