It was a common event the other day as I sat in the barber’s chair, the barber wielding scissors and comb. The barber knew of my interest in politics and quickly turned the usually desultory conversation to the October election. Those awaiting their turn chimed in. You could quickly determine the various political leanings.
But what I have been hearing lately is more of denial. People are questioning their own patterns. So what, if the last three generations of their family voted conservative? Why should they have to conform? Same with liberals. Same with socialists. People are questioning their roots. They are looking for something else.
They might not admit it but I think they are looking for leadership. Their only problem is when they buy into an offer of leadership, they are being let down. Look at all the Americans who bought into the message that Donald Trump could restore their pride in America, and make the country great again. How is he doing so far?
And it is not just in the Americas. Vladimir Putin in Russia, Boris Johnson in the United Kingdom are as bad as the petty dictators in Central and South America. And then there is Kim Jon-Un in North Korea and the list of countries taking willful directions goes on.
We Canadians will all fight like hell to protect our democracy and then we will elect an incompetent, vindictive blusterer such as Doug Ford as premier in Ontario. We have no excuse. We let it happen.
And are all Canadians as selfish and mean-spirited as premier Jason Kenney who misleads Alberta? He denies concern for our world as it seeks to destroy us with fires and winds and global warming. You have a hard time believing that the brimstone of the tar sands is the cause of so much dissention between us.
In the barber shop, we seemed to all agree that leadership was lacking. We want the best as our representative, our MP. In a democracy, the real leadership should come from the citizens.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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