A question of social cohesion

[dewline]

I read an essay of note by Michael Valpy in the Toronto Star Op-Ed pages on the subject of social cohesion and how it might be affected by a national head of government determined to go against the social tide of the nation at whatever costs they deem fit.

Opinions, in support and in dissent, would be of interest.

Comments

[radargrrl.livejournal.com]

"What has happened, first, is that the overwhelming majority of Canadians under age 45 have stopped voting — not out of apathy as far as anyone can tell, but because they simply don’t see their political agendas mirrored in the agendas of Parliament and the provincial and territorial legislatures. How democratic is a country where most citizens below the median age don’t vote? Canada has become a country governed by a gerontocratic minority."

This explains it in a nutshell. Harper knows it, and it is exactly these divisions that he is doing his utmost to cultivate to keep things that way.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

There are already people building means to thwart that strategy, of course. One would think that they're having more success at this point.

[radargrrl.livejournal.com]

We won't know if any of our attempts to change things will have worked until the next election. Until then, he is essentially a dictator.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Two more years...holding fast and throwing monkey wrenches at whatever's worst of it. And praying we don't accidentally take out something we wanted to save while we're doing it.

[radargrrl.livejournal.com]

Let us hope that, in two years, there's something left to save.

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

This kind of squabbling is sooooo not good.

As a philosophical conservative (but not a neo-Conservative), Harper's undemocratic acts have been both infuriating and dishonorable.

I've been worried about this country for a while ... and this OpEd article just makes it worse. :-(

Very much agreed that the failure to vote is part of why Harper is succeeding; however, I doubt that it is the complete story here. IMNSHO, other factors, such as ressentiment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ressentiment) and regional anger over the domination of the center [Ontario and/or Quebec], also are coming to the fore.