I want to write up my next post in my Losing Confidence series--I really do--but I just don't have the time to until I'm done correcting my thesis. That said, politicians just won't stop doing relevant things, so I feel the need to post this. In her most recent book, Losing Confidence, Elizabeth May points to the increasing pettiness and nastiness of Canadian politics, and the negative effect it is having on both the quality of political discourse in Canada and participation in the electoral process. This is happening on all fronts, but May highlights the Conservative party, who seems to have acquired the habit of running attack ads outside of the election season.
Unfortunately, this habit seems to be sticking. Mere days after he was elected as the leader of the Liberal party, the Conservatives have produced a series of ads attacking Michael Ignatieff. If you watch the ad below, you'll immediately see how petty and mean-spirited these ads can be. The ad finds a minor point (the fact that Ignatieff lived out of country while working as a university professor) and blows it out of proportion. Ignatieff's residence in Canada has absolutely nothing to do with his abilities as a politician (indeed, he wrote more books about Canada while in the US than Harper has written period). Furthermore, the ad also responds to a series of ads that Ignatieff has been running against Harper, claiming that Ignatieff is running attack ads instead of offering suggestions on improving the economy. The hypocrisy of such a statement is so obvious that it makes the whole ad read like a skit from Air Farce.
Political games like this are enough to make me want to move to another country, one that has a government that at least pretends to respect its citizens' collective intelligence. Indeed, voters should be angry that their representatives think that they can be so easily manipulated. It's no wonder voter turnout is the lowest it's been in the history of our country.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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3 comments:
Oh man, that is funny stuff.
"Political games like this are enough to make me want to move to another country, one that has a government that at least pretends to respect its citizens' collective intelligence."
What country would this be, and what color are their unicorns?
It's called target marketing. You are not an average Canadian. Therefore you're not the one they're trying to appeal.
I've abstained from votes before (admitedly only at a municpal level) simply because I felt that all of the candidates were simply pointing out flaws in the status quo, without presenting any positive alternatives. I really tried to learn about their respective platforms, but couldn't find them in the morass of anger and slander. So I understand where you're coming from. But I also think that there's a reason for these kinds of ads.
A democracy will always have to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've been inspired by the Conservative ad, and am now going to go write a blog post about how stupid blogging is.
The problem I see with that, however, is that politicians are meant to run the country--they aren't a business. They should not be "target marketing," because they are supposed to be representing the country as a whole. Even though their techniques may be "optimal" in this current political climate, we should not simply accept them. There are many things in life that could be easier if we did them in a "quick 'n easy" manner, but that doesn't mean that we should.
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