Where Have I Seen This Before?

Remember Ms. South Carolina? You know...."I personally believe ......like such as.......in the Iraq.....South Africa......build up our future...like....such as."

Now. Think of the Sarah Palin/Katie Couric interview last week. In case you missed it....enjoy:



Yeah...I know. The similarities are, like, such as, FREAKY!!!

Here's the real kicker. In preparing to share my newfound revelation with you this evening I decided to instantly lower my IQ (like watching the Palin clip wasn't enough) by reliving the agony of Ms. South Carolina's big moment. What was the first result on YT when I searched "Ms. South Carolina"?

A Sarah Palin spoof on Ms. South Carolina!:

Yep. The world has already made the connection. And I thought I was a ground breaker.

Find Your Square And Be Proud

I really don't want to bore you with this one. I think it is that important. So please, even if you aren't completely enthralled with what I am about to say, try to stick with it. Your country is at stake and you might just learn something about yourself that you wouldn't have otherwise known (I know....very dramatic....but hey, your time reading a blog should have some entertainment value).

The other day my wife and I were having a discussion about some of the benefits of a dictatorship with our close friends. Specifically, we were talking about how dangerous it is in a democracy for uninformed citizens to have the power to vote. Think about it. We have people in this country (and if I have any American readers this applies to you too) who vote based on things like eye colour, style, and "hotness". The point being made was that at least with a dictatorship you avoid the consequences of what I call, "the stupid vote." My wife made a great comment (and very representative of what I love about her): "If we could just find a nice dictator." As idealistic and unlikely as a "nice dictator" may be, it does make some sense.

What stemmed from this conversation was the concept of having all registered voters being required to complete some type of test to ensure that only informed citizens mark an "x" on October 14 (or November 4 for my American friends). In theory it is a fantastic idea I think. However, let's be honest, our dictator, the human rights commission, would have a field day with this concept. With this conclusion, the discussion ended with us chalking it up as another concept that Canada just isn't ready to handle.

So, this morning I open up my local paper to find an article on "political orienteering." It discusses the origins of the political "right" and "left" and the concept of a "political compass" which adds a "north/south" to the equation. Essentially, "east/west" represents your beliefs pertaining to government involvement in economics with "north/south" representing your social values. I sense (and vaguely remember) that this is the foundation of undergrad political science class. The article introduces a website where you take a test to determine where you stand on the "political compass." Here's the link:

http://www.politicalcompass.org

Now. If you only go as far as clicking this link and taking the test before voting next month, then I will feel that my job is done. Just be sure to understand where all the leaders stand on this compass. If you are wondering, make a comment to this blog and I can forward you a copy of the article which has plotted their current positions based on party platform and current election promises. Or take the time to figure it out for yourself. Note that Layton, Harper, and Dion's graph positions on the actual site do not match their updated positions based on research done by The Ottawa Citizen. The important thing here is that you figure out who best represents your values. If you think he or she is "hot" and has nice eyes then that's just icing on the cake.

Now, for those of you who either :

1. 
   
   Know me personally and have had to listen to me rant about the fact that I think you are confused about where you and I stand on the political spectrum.
   
   
   

   
   

   
   

   Or
   

   
   

   
   



2. Love my writing and just want to spend more of your hard-earned free time enlightening yourself about Canadian political ideology (please comment so I know there is at least one of you).
   

please read on.

So I completed the test to find myself slightly right of center on the fiscal axis. No big surprise although many of you will be surprised to see just how close I am to center. On the north/south axis I am slightly south, meaning that I have liberal social views and generally like a small government who only deals with the "important stuff." Here is my graph:

Now listen. Stephen Harper is only three boxes to the right and two boxes up. I tried to insert his dot but my geek quotient is not high enough so just plot it yourself please. He is actually closer to the "center" than Celine, I mean, Stephane Dion and Taliban Jack.

My conclusion in all of this is that the reason friends view me as a crazy-ass right winger is that Canada's horizontal axis ends but two squares away from my cozy perch next to the center. While the NDP and Liberal propaganda machines attempt to lure voters into the perception that to vote conservative is to place yourself on the far "north eastern" precipice of the graph above, an informed voter will realize this is not the case. So sure, on Canada's "micro-compass" I am a right winger I guess. This also lends some credence to my long standing position that the present day Liberal party (you know, the "natural governing party") has strayed shockingly far to the left (again I was unable to insert the dots but they lie far down in the green box next to "Jack's place"). This migration leaves true moderates like myself no choice come election day.

So what's my point? Simply that I respect any person who stands by their true values and principles regardless of their acceptance in a given society. I equally (and maybe more so) disrespect the person who latches onto a misconception of where they lie on the "compass" just to get the warm-and-fuzzies. The Liberal "default" vote is a perfect example of this. Let's put this in a Friday-night context: I'd much rather go for a beer with someone who is comfortable in their square (regardless of how far it is from mine) than someone who just pretends to be.

A Plea To My Generation

Consider this a plea to my generation. Please stop spoiling your (our) children. I beg you, not because I don't want to have to keep up with all the crap you are buying them when our kid (yes, we are expecting) hits neophyte consumer age, but rather because we are going to need these creatures to uphold our society one day. Stop giving the losing team trophies because it's "fair" - because I can assure you they won't get a job when they give a bad interview. Turn off the televisions, X-boxes, and computers and open your front door. Now tell them to "Go play - dinner's at 5:30 - Love you." Do so with the confidence that you are teaching them about what's right, what's wrong, and that decisions can result in success or failure. They will figure out that you enjoy the prior but learn from the latter. Let them take a chance. Reward them when it results in well-earned accomplishment. Support them as they attempt to learn from the mistakes. Do what you feel is best to make their life fun, rewarding, and exciting – but remember that making life easy rarely results in any of these things in the long run. When you hate the thought of saying "no", remember that saying "yes" would only be lying, for their future will surely contain more "no" than "yes."

I am beyond ecstatic about the arrival of my first child. I just worry about the world we are creating for it (him/her – we don't know). I know I will make mistakes as a dad. But that's okay because my parents let me make lots of them and everything turned out just fine.