My political proclivities are not as easily expressed in a label or epithet, but it would be fair to say I don’t like thieves, scallywags, and scoundrels purporting to represent me and my ilk in the political theatre. As an erstwhile member of the BCTF, I have spent my fair share of time on picket lines, been cursed at by semi-anonymous drive-by louts, and even had ammunition cross my path. While we were engaged in job action for better learning conditions for our students (and anyone who thinks that wasn’t the prime motivation is either an unattractive gobsnot of ill proportions or a member of the provincial Liberal [read ‘Social Credit’] Party of BC), we were led to believe by most and sundry, that we were leeches trying to suck off the public teat. As attractive as that analogy might be for the misinformed and ideologically mal-formed, it is also patently untrue.
I was relieved when recently the Supreme Court justified our attempts to inject sanity into the issue of class sizes in our public schools, and when our ‘leader’ recently made political hay out of it by announcing grandiose hirings, I was outraged. Ms Clark was the Commissar of Education when the class size debate raged and she’s the Premiere now that the pigeons have come home to roost. She and her booster club have no moral mandate to be in a position of power.
I exhort you to vote in the May election. I will not try to sway your vote other than to say that anyone who, for three electoral cycles has put up with the sort of entitled arrogance that Nicholas Simons has as our MLA, deserves a shot at the grownup’s table. If you believe the pap that a vote anywhere left of ‘Liberals’ is a vote for godless communist hordes, then you are a fool and you probably have fools for friends. More importantly than voting is the need for more of us to become engaged in the political process; and it’s just that, a process. It won’t solve everything overnight, but it will keep politicians’ feet to the fire and ensure that change is happening in a fair and kindly manner. I hear a lot of folks telling me that they either won’t vote, or they want more drastic changes in the way we govern ourselves as a society…Fine. Not voting is not an option for me; it would be an act of personal dishonesty and cowardice. And for those of you who talk a good revolution, get the F*** off Facebook and do something that will actually affect positive change; go to a rally, attend meetings and committees, stay apprised of developments and ask questions. You might not agree with me and that’s just dandy as Mr. Carlin would have said, but not participating in OUR political process is abdicating your personal responsibility; much like walking into traffic because you think those cars will stop for you . . . They won’t.
Peace, Love, and Kittens
