C'mon now ...what's in a word?

Answer: Way too much at times!

Step into a court room and a 'word' can mean the difference between success or failure. Read the history of the BNA Act and a single word made the difference between economic freedom and carrying a tax burden far exceeding that of a medieval serf! In everyday Canadian life, certain words have created a mindset that is contrary to the essence of a democracy ... at the centre of those words is 'govern' ...and following are all the extensions, variations and metaphors of that word, and most importantly the subliminal effect of it! Another word to pay attention to is "democracy" ...we talk about it, and we even go through some motions ...but we don't live it!

Lets begin by defining what we are supposed to be -- a "democracy".

Definition: Democracy is literally "rule by the people" and "the democratic method" is the institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions that realizes the common good by making the people itself decide issues through the election of individuals who are to assemble in order to carry out its will." Period, full stop.

So clearly, by long-standing, accepted definition, a 'democracy' is a society where the people (collectively) are the rulers of their own land and therefore the will of the people is what 'governs' that land. As such, that arrangement is not complicated or vague, and it makes complete, logical sense. Generally, it's what the average person honestly believes to be the case!

How do we exercise and voice our collective will -- our collective governance of our own country? We do it by electing people to represent our collective will every so often through the elective process. The elective process amounts (simply) to a 'job interview' that lasts several weeks. Those seeking the job come before us and tell us why they are the best choice for the vacant job and why we should employ them on a short term contract (the period between elections). At the ballot box we convene to make a collective decision as to who that contract employee will be. Democracy at work!

So far this makes a lot of sense, is logical and is a rational way to manage the affairs of a large geographic area inhabited by a large number of people ...except for one problem. What problem? The problem we have is that those who begged for jobs at the podium are under absolutely no obligation to pay any attention at all to what their 'employers' want! The proof of this lays in Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Justice, E.A. Marshall's decision concerning docket number 9012000725 on the 10th of December 1990. Citizens brought suit against their MP for his failure to represent their wishes. In Justice Marshall’s decision he said:

“ I know of no legal duty on an elected representative at any level of government to consult with his constituents or determine their views. While such an obligation may generally be considered desirable, there is no legal requirement.”

This applies to all of us, no matter what province we reside in! Did we, the people, give permission to have our wishes ignored by the politicians we hire? NO. Did the politicians give themselves that prerogative? YES. Does this sound like democracy? NO. And this brings us to the use of the word "govern" and all the other words that go along with it!

To think of ourselves as "governed" implies acceptance of subservience on our part, and suggests 'superiority' on the part of those elected to "govern". The mindset is the complete opposite of what the real 'power structure' is in an actual 'democracy'. In a democracy we hire (elect) individuals to 'manage' certain of our affairs on our behalf ...period. In effect such elected people are merely the custodians of our will ...not our masters, betters or superiors ...that would be too feudal. The biggest problem (with this ingrained perception) lays with those elected individuals who have abused the moral trust their offices properly and rightfully include.

We in Canada, although touting ourselves as an enlightened democracy, have bought into paying homage to a foreign monarch, giving free (and free-spending) reign to that monarch’s representative in Canada (The Governor General – note the authority implied with both “governor” and “general”) and this has trickled down to a pompous elected ‘elite’ who deem themselves our masters!

In a democracy the elected do the bidding of the electors to manage necessary infrastructure essential to the country. This is not the reality in Canada as politicians over generations take a host of liberties, experiment with their own flavour of ‘social engineering’ and lately treat ill-gotten tax dollars as if that money is their personal pocket change! These examples are tips of icebergs but represent the backward and destructive power structure in Canada that disguises itself as a democracy and smooth talks the population into believing so. The reality is that every few years we do nothing less than ‘elect’ feudal dictators and give up our natural right to a voice in our own affairs!

Some questions to ask yourself and each other …and think about next time you are inclined to just accept things as they are:

• Who owns Canada ..the people or the politicians?
  
  
• Who asked politicians to re-subject Canadians to British rule?
  
  
• Who gave politicians permission to vote themselves gold-plated pensions and perks?
  
  
• What right do politicians have to tell you that you’re not free to purchase medical attention with your own money?
  
  
• Who told politicians to write a Charter of Rights on our behalf?
  
  
• Who told politicians it was OK to tax people to ridiculous levels?
  
  
• Who told politicians it was OK to turn issuance of money in Canada over to private banking concerns?
  
  
• Who told politicians it was OK to indebt generations of Canadians in order to fund political promises and social engineering experiments?
  
  
• Who told politicians to go easy on criminals and pay more attention to criminal rights than victim rights?
  
  
• Who told politicians to make a sex offender registry with no retroactive teeth? (Oh yes, that was Chretien …probably because his step son would have been on the list?)
  
  
• Who told politicians to do most of what they have assumed they can do because they assume themselves our masters?

The Answer: It wasn’t us!

Do we get any say in how this country is run?

Til my next "words"
The Serf