Yearning for the Conservative Bling: or - Will the real "Right Wing" Political Party/Parties in Canada Stand up?!?!

In late September, 2005 - Canada's National Post [www.canada.com/national/nationalpost] began a series of articles revolving around the question, "Is Conservativism Dead?"  While the series on the future of this political species is stimulating, its fundamental values premise begs for refurbishing.  Canada's major parties and citizens are intellectually neutered.  Liberals and Conservatives do not hold to an ideological line at all, and their political policies do not subscribe to a rational analytical system about the role of governments, either.  Either party would make the state bigger or smaller, and individual freedoms more circumscribed or larger, depending entirely on election results and polls.  If Canadians want more democracy, either party will deliver.

Most Canuckistanis believe in essential democratic freedoms (sort of), until it cuts off their subsidies, or offends their preciousness. Moreover, they are awkwardly sceptical about private property, excluded as it is from the constitution in order to allow provinces to expropriate however they please.  Freedom of speech gets even less respect, as "hate laws" and other forms of political correctness in Canada's jurisprudential melange indicate. As with Canadians, so with the compliant and whipped members of the two major parties.

Canucks are malleable and obedient, citizens or politicos.  No ideology here. Sheep don't debate political science in the squishy middle.  They simply do what the Orwellian hogs in power tell them to.

In that sense there is no right wing at all.  There's no belief set associated with a spectrum that either party might manifest itself as one wing of.

By odd, asymmetrical contrast, there is a left wing, albeit small and shrinking among members of the general populace not working for directly for a government. That left follows a clearly defined and immutable set of beliefs and policies that haven't altered much since 1917.  When pinned down, those who qualify as left wingers turn out to be a few crypto-communist crazies that occasionally control the NDP [New Democratic Party of Canada], and an inchoate segment of the 700,000 who work for various governments.  However, anyone who doesn't rail reflectively rail against Americans and private property is not by default right wing.  He or she merely gives indications of an IQ in the double digits.  The left therefore influences Canada's political flight with one wing, with plenty of flap.

If the National Post's interest in promoting conservatism persists in expecting major party platforms or members to produce coherent ideology, it will continue to miss the point.  The political issues really centre on individual political entrepreneurs, regional redistribution that is in fact patronage, the malignant role of the bureaucratic classes in controlling the agenda and power in this country, and lack of political enlightenment or education.  If Canadians want to get the state's foot off their necks, they will grow up, smarten up and remove it.  Until then, they will continue to lick the boot that feeds them, however bad that metaphor might parse.The Post or any commentator should not call for more ideology; but bleat instead for a collective epiphany.

Hard Times might ignite such self-knowledge.  Until then, mushy statism will endure, and conservativism will remain a New Jerusalem unfound.

Last update 2005.10.17 Fracas.com

She Shoots, Gets Her Own Rebound, and Scores (Maybe)

[On Carol Taylor's entry into BC Liberal Party Politics and the Provincial Election 2005]

As in basketball, so in politics, rebounding wins the tough games. Carol Taylor's return to Vancouver's political arena is illustrative. Ms. Taylor left civic politics a dozen years ago with a reputation for intelligence, and widely respected for her stance as an opponent of a train system down Cambie Street. Now she's back as a provincial candidate in Langara, the constituency most affected by the RAV strip-mining effort. What will she say now? Will she rebound from her old stance, to embrace RAV for the good of the Campbell Liberal cause? Or can she spell consistency and integrity? Let's see how she dribbles and passes now, and let's watch how residents of the Langara constituency react to her new position in the election in May.

Meanwhile, back in the second string of political ambition, former councillor and failed mayoralty candidate Jennifer Clarke finds herself pushed out from her inside track on a candidacy by a more glam fringe player, even though Clarke paid her dues and obediently loved the idea of a train on Cambie from the very beginning. Here's the irony: Ms. Clarke elbowed Philip Owen from under the civic political basket, as both fought for the mayor's flag for the NPA. Clark in turn met the same fate in the bigger leagues as Carol Taylor glommed the ball to run for MLA in RAV-Land. Can Clark recover to score again another day in the minors? Will any of these machinations lessen the impact of the giant holes on Cambie? I wouldn't bother to stay tuned.

Brian Buchanan, Vancouver, BC

Kyoto Pops: The Pact That Refreshes - 2005

On February 16 the Kyoto Accord kicked in, and the air is probably getting cleaner even as I pound my keys (with prudent conservation of energy, of course). Seriously though, folks, Kyoto may be a sham and a hypocrisy engineered by Europeans to slow North American economic growth, but it's still an instrument of good. It throws out onto the public street the junk science meant to prop up a theory of global warming caused by capitalist prosperity (and American hegemony, as the Lefties would articulate things).

Yet the Kyoto ideal is a good one: it is important to be as nature-friendly as possible, and as economically effective as healthful progress allows. So even though Kyoto round one, is shallow, misguided, unworkable and unfair to the U.S. (hence America didn't sign it), let's hope it flourishes enough to morph into something better. Kyoto is like democracy in the Middle East: it manifests a good idea, but the immediate details are ugly, and it's likely to be decades until the ideal molts into something practical. In the meantime, it's not quite business as usual both in capitalist economies and in that crucible of dry, harsh religions. Who says lefty hysteria and democratic evangelism are useless?

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The Canuckstan Chronicles:  September, 2004

Comments and news about "public games"

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The Myth of the Right Wing [Politics]

One of the more enduring myths in our western political culture depicts a political polarity of Left and Right. Here's the truth, folks: there is a Left political culture, immutable since Lenin and Stalin, but no equivalent ideology or beliefs set that opposes this Soviet-born religion. For example, recently in British Columbia's ageing, sagging, Pravdaesque counterculture weekly, The Straight, ace columnist, Charlie Smith provides interesting biographical information about various fringe party mergers in the province. As is so routine among his clearly self-defined prejudice group, Smith assumes the audience buys into his Michael Moore vocabulary, and swallows his assumptions about America and capitalism as the root of all evil. And of course, and to my point here, Smith's description of political dynamics in BC follows the pattern of most crypto-Marxist analysis: it makes the elemental but phoney Leftist assumption that there is a Right Wing. There isn't.

In no country or society on this globe are there equivalents to the hysterical, lazy, gormless, American-envying zombies of the Left. British Columbia's situation is typical: the useful idiot lefty drones represent about 30% of the voting public. The other 70%, which the Left yearns to label a hegemony, is in fact a collection of sensible and not-so-sensible people who distrust, tolerate or loathe socialism most of the time, and agree on little else, aside from a few things that are clearly anti-socialist:  private property is important; ambition should be rewarded; that socialism is merely organized theft, using the confiscated powers of the state.

Aside from their commie-aversion, those-who-are-not-socialists disagree and argue openly about lots of things. Some of these people believe in some aggressive and intolerant metaphysical creed from the Middle East; others view religion as a virulent social disease as repugnant as communism. Some like big government. Others prefer little or none. Taxes, military spending and foreign policy also divide these people.  The same with civil liberties and sexual behaviour.  Look at the Liberal umbrella in Victoria or the Liberal and Conservative equivalents in Ottawa.  Non-socialist party labels cover vast varieties.  One can't call such collections of people and attitudes and ideas a "wing" of anything.  There is no thing, of which such a disparate political melange could be a "wing."   Not surprisingly, except perhaps to a Lefty scribe, such a rich variety gives birth to myriad political organizations. In contrast, this variety of opinion is contrary to what Stalin would prefer, so the Left enjoys solidarity forever.  That's why its the Left.

Sensible people come together for a time to defeat evil, as happens when socialism and its obedient androids and venal leaders need occasional political extermination.  These people are right to do that.  But that doesn't make them a Right Wing.  For the Left, life is a simple matter of ignorance and envy.  But life is complicated.  That's why there's no Right. Maybe someday when enough of the Manchurian candidates grow up, there will be no Left either, so they will cease attempting to fly us all into the abyss with one pinion. In the meantime, good wishes and prosperity to the new BC Conservative Party.

Preparing for Winter Olympics 2010 - and other items

It's always grimly amusing, as well as faintly disgusting, to watch political revenge play itself out. Witness the latest public investment hijinks in Vancouver.  Richmond gets the 2010 Olympics ice arena, at Burnaby's and SFU's expense, since the original idea involved putting the facility at SFU, to complement its jock programs.  This irrational change of plan provides a retaliatory two-for:  Burnaby's fiery mayor, Corrigan, is punished for his outspoken and sensible opposition to a transit train down Cambie Street rather than on Arbutus, and at the same time Richmond's flaccid Mayor Brodie has another reason to claim his watery, chaotically developed town needs a transit train in the first instance, which it doesn't.

The Olympics scandals have only just begun, as have these venal acts of political vengeance. As a consquence, the 2005 election should be a real barn-burner, and by 2010 the political recrimination and infighting will be extremely torrid.  It will be "our time to shine."  as the BC Government propaganda ads on TV suggest. In embarrassment. But then, Canuckistani governments have no blush glands. And Canadians are too deaf and ignorant to notice.

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Brian Buchanan, Vancouver BC, Fracas.com publisher and contributing writer. © 2004-2005 Canada