We were a strong Liberal (capital L) family. My uncle was a socialist and was blacklisted during the McCarthy years as a communist sympathizer. Without children of their own, their assistance to my parents and their attention to all four siblings made our home special and sometimes lively with political discussion. My father, as a full-time musician lost thousands during a lengthy Conservative party majority in Parliament.
My fascination with politics lives on with my daughter but came from my mother. Ruth (my mother) was the only person i knew who had all the transcripts from the Watergate trial! The mountain of pages sat on our coffee table for quite some time, i remember. She raised a banner on *wages for housework* and followed health policy in her own personal pursuit for wellness. Paper clippings were left around the house. Two newspapers came to the house each day. I wish i had kept her correspondence.
Now, my daughter is a card-carrying Liberal with her own modern agenda and although i almost completely disillusioned with the whole process, her thinking and political interest always inspire and remind me to consider the political.
In my thirties, i have voted RHINOCEROS, the non-party party, perfectly irreverent with black humour mockery of what the other political options and were all about.
CONSERVATIVE PARTY POLITICS
Musical, visual, literary arts should be financed by the community (ie. people with higher or highest incomes).
Cultural studies (and collection of social statistics to evaluate changing needs) are irrelevant and an unnecessary cost for government according to a new (or just proposed, i forget) ruling from the Conservative Federal Government, led by Stephen Harper, sometimes referred to as the KING of Canada.
The barriers for good, hardworking Canadians to succeed (like high taxes) should be lowered as much as possible, giving REALLY successful businesses the biggest tax breaks, of course. Reward for work well done is still monetary, despite the little, wee perks (like massage) and droplets of benefits (like on-site child-care) thrown at the working poor and dwindling middle class.
Services for the truly poor fall in line with the Arts, another area which should be organized and finances by the COMMUNITY. The position of FUNDRAISER is now more important (in function) than the DIRECTOR. No money, no funny and it is the role of the fundraiser to pull as much money out of the *COMMUNITY* to donate enough to support these needs. Personally, I find it difficult to support causes where i know a bulk of my money is going to support the high administrative costs of the agency involved.
Knowledge is power. Access to post-secondary institutions becomes a privilege, due to shrinking access to government loans and grants. Nonetheless, we can still be dedicated to our true role in society - *CONSUMER*
So, there is a policy of less involvement in funding community events and needs and more reliance on the market to dictate the nature of our existence by linking our interests and social needs with corporate advantages. Supporting charity is a big tax break, after all.
Political landscapes come and go but the subtle shifts in philosophy between Liberal, Conservative, New Democratic Party and the Green Party are not slight but insidious with all of them trying to embrace the middle road. Well, we are at a cross road with that and eight years of Conservative politics in Canada has taken so much of the confidence i used to feel.
This is all such crap and i do not even care anymore. It is impossible to change
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