The arc of history is long...
Apr. 26th, 2011 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lightcastleand I won't see where it finally bends to.
Nonetheless, it has been odd to have been involved in two recent elections that involve a surge of enthusiasm that things might change. The stakes aren't as high in Canada, but I also think there is more chance for something actually positive to come of it.
This blog and its projections don't mean much to my friends in the USA, but it is a sign of what may be a historic change. That orange slice? That's the New Democratic Party. That's a social democrat party, you might even say socialist in bent. Actual socialism, not "socialism" as defined by the Republican party. The NDP have been around for a long time. They often finish third or fourth nationally. Sometimes even lower.
They are surging. They are making huge gains. The youth vote seems to be rallying behind them. They are rising dramatically in Quebec, where they are cutting into the formerly solid lead of the separatist Bloc Quebecois. (Yes, we in Canada have a formal Federal party dedicated to breaking the country up and seceding from the Union. Yes, Canada is weird. They even formed the official opposition at one point, because Canada.)
Some bank presidents have already started talking about how "market unfriendly" it would be if the NDP finished second. Because Socialism. This is the party that when they polled in shooting distance of first place in the late 80's the New York Times printed a story on whether or not the US should invade if Canada is taken over by a socialist government.
In a way, the whole thing is giving me Obama flashbacks. There's less messianic fervor and Jack Layton (the NDP leader) is actually left wing/progressive (although not a radical or anything), but the whole surge of "maybe we can actually see something happen and have our voices listened to" feels the same. I don't think it will be cynically squandered, but then even the best projections have NDP finishing second, maybe being able to form a coalition government, and what is more likely is just major gains. They won't have the opportunity to disappoint.
But still, the rattling of the cages is a big thing. While no one who was paying attention thought Obama was anything other than a centrist/technocrat, the rhetoric of involvement and the historic nature of electing a black man president rattled the cages a little. (We had a luxury in 2008, since if Clinton had won, the fact of electing a woman to the office would have also rattled the cages. ) The NDP breaking into the upper echelon would be similarly perturbing of the powers that be.
It is heartening in an otherwise dark time. I don't have a lot of faith in the future of the US, and what happens south of the border echoes strongly in Canada. The strong march to abandon decent society and to undo the gains of the New Deal seems unstoppable. But the people who turned out for Obama in 2008, the people turning out for the NDP now, are reminding me that a huge bulk of the population wants real change, and wants to push toward something better. This cracking of the whip hand on the unruly peasants has an element of fear. Crushing the rubes before they find the real enemy is a priority. So maybe there is hope, and maybe things will turn and not fall.
It would be nice to think so.
Nonetheless, it has been odd to have been involved in two recent elections that involve a surge of enthusiasm that things might change. The stakes aren't as high in Canada, but I also think there is more chance for something actually positive to come of it.
This blog and its projections don't mean much to my friends in the USA, but it is a sign of what may be a historic change. That orange slice? That's the New Democratic Party. That's a social democrat party, you might even say socialist in bent. Actual socialism, not "socialism" as defined by the Republican party. The NDP have been around for a long time. They often finish third or fourth nationally. Sometimes even lower.
They are surging. They are making huge gains. The youth vote seems to be rallying behind them. They are rising dramatically in Quebec, where they are cutting into the formerly solid lead of the separatist Bloc Quebecois. (Yes, we in Canada have a formal Federal party dedicated to breaking the country up and seceding from the Union. Yes, Canada is weird. They even formed the official opposition at one point, because Canada.)
Some bank presidents have already started talking about how "market unfriendly" it would be if the NDP finished second. Because Socialism. This is the party that when they polled in shooting distance of first place in the late 80's the New York Times printed a story on whether or not the US should invade if Canada is taken over by a socialist government.
In a way, the whole thing is giving me Obama flashbacks. There's less messianic fervor and Jack Layton (the NDP leader) is actually left wing/progressive (although not a radical or anything), but the whole surge of "maybe we can actually see something happen and have our voices listened to" feels the same. I don't think it will be cynically squandered, but then even the best projections have NDP finishing second, maybe being able to form a coalition government, and what is more likely is just major gains. They won't have the opportunity to disappoint.
But still, the rattling of the cages is a big thing. While no one who was paying attention thought Obama was anything other than a centrist/technocrat, the rhetoric of involvement and the historic nature of electing a black man president rattled the cages a little. (We had a luxury in 2008, since if Clinton had won, the fact of electing a woman to the office would have also rattled the cages. ) The NDP breaking into the upper echelon would be similarly perturbing of the powers that be.
It is heartening in an otherwise dark time. I don't have a lot of faith in the future of the US, and what happens south of the border echoes strongly in Canada. The strong march to abandon decent society and to undo the gains of the New Deal seems unstoppable. But the people who turned out for Obama in 2008, the people turning out for the NDP now, are reminding me that a huge bulk of the population wants real change, and wants to push toward something better. This cracking of the whip hand on the unruly peasants has an element of fear. Crushing the rubes before they find the real enemy is a priority. So maybe there is hope, and maybe things will turn and not fall.
It would be nice to think so.
