"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Pollyanna...Not Really

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Dragon Is Smouldering":
Should we not also be looking at puerile permissive municipal councillors for a bit of bashing?
The political system is overripe for a good spring cleaning.
The only trouble is you can't tell the good from the bad.
How do we resolve this dilemma?
Your thoughts -

************
My thoughts on the matter are simple.

Each of us must do the best we can within our own sphere of influence.
.
Elected representatives need to hear from the electorate. It has never been so easy. The dialogue can be blunt but respectful.The
intention should be to make a difference.People need to know when you think they're doing a good job.

It's a long time since the Romans fed Christians and slaves to the lions for recreation.

Not so long since the feudal system in Europe when  people were  chattels owned  like cattle by  "The Nobility"

More recently, tribal chiefs in Africa sold their own people into slavery in other lands. In Scotland and Ireland they just shipped them off to the colonies in leaky boats.

It's less time since universal (male)suffrage was granted. in the  U.K.
My grandfather's generation.

Politicians were overwhelmed with guilt, when they saw the wretched misery and slaughter in the trenches in France of men  fighting to defend a country, where they didn't even have the  right to vote.

It's not really that long since women won the right to vote after a hard-fought battle in which some lost their lives.

In the broad view,  things have substantially improved.

Just before he died, in his last interview,Pierre Berton exploded with outrage that history was no longer a required subject in our high schools. 

Canadian history is  fresh and young, But things have moved fast. The country was and is still being populated by people who came from countries which still do not enjoy the rights and freedoms we have.

Women in politics is probably the newest change in Canada.

In the grand scheme of things, things have improved.

What we  are doing  here and now, exchanging ideas is, in my view. the single greatest step towards making democracy real.

Until now, it has been a theory.

The Honorable Dalton MacGuinty's office should be deluged with e-mails from the people of Aurora, respectfully requesting  the Code of Conduct legislation  be reviewed along with the consequences of its abuse.

Has it contributed to better conduct in public life?

Or has it  created opportunity for intimidation, degradation and public scandal that were not there before?

And wanton waste of public resources into the bargain.

I think so.. 

Yes...e-mails to the Premier's Office would be a start.Your M.P.and M.L.A , Mayor and Councillors should also be on your list.

You should know correspondence to elected officials  is entitled to  privacy unless you indicate otherwise.

Separating  the good from the bad in politics  is a contradiction in terms.

The objective  should be to encourage each of us to due diligence satisfactory to the greatest number.

Politics may the only arena, where people learn from each other, what is expected. .

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Yes...e-mails to the Premier's Office would be a start.Your M.P.and M.L.A , Mayor and Councillors should also be on your list."

Okay, so some e-mail campaigns are good, ... but some aren't?!

Anonymous said...

"You should know correspondence to elected officials is entitled to privacy unless you indicate otherwise."

I wish this was true. Years ago I wrote a letter to the Mayor and all councillors of the day about a particular subject that I had an issue with. Never got a response, I honestly did not think that I would.

Years later, during a job interview the question of my local political views came up - the company was not in Aurora; not even York Region. When I asked about the genesis of the question, I was given a printed version of my letter to council. Where did that come from I asked..... The Town of Aurora web site was the reply. Seems the letter (and others) were entered as exhibits at a council meeting.

Google you name, lot's of stuff comes up!

And you wonder why people post as anonymous.....