A blog to give a voice to our concern about the continued erosion of our democratic processes not only within the House of Commons and within our electoral system but also throughout our society. Here you will find articles about the current problems within our parliamentary democracy, about actions both good and bad by our elected representatives, about possible solutions, opinions and debate about the state of democracy in Canada, and about our roles/responsibilities as democratic citizens. We invite your thoughtful and polite comments upon our posts and ask those who wish to post longer articles or share ideas on this subject to submit them for inclusion as a guest post.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

A Study in Tyranny (Part 2 )

"We Hear you Knocking but You can't come in"

A guest post by Pamela Mac Neil
We have a government, who, for the most part operates in secrecy along with a Prime Minister who rules from the sidelines. It is also obvious that his refusal to debate the other leaders on TV networks is because of their 10 million plus viewers. In short the Canadian majority. He and his regime operate more like a cult. Cult leaders and cult members also don't deal with the rest of society. Harpers hiding and secrecy is intentional, a strategy, used to get reelected no matter how removed he is from the electorate. The offensivness of this exclusion is that more then any other way in which he shows contempt for Canadians, this exclusion reflects not just his disdain, but the sheer arrogance of trying to hold on to power without the consent of the the Canadian majority. Everything that Harper and his CONs do in secrecy is about solidifying and expanding their power. Operating in secrecy is the result of a sustained, strategic, organized policy with the goal being to take control of the country, but Harper in his campaigning has taken his secrecy and information control to new, extreme levels and this is being done for all Canadians to see, only because it can't be hidden. Anyone attending Harpers campaign stops in 2015 will be vetted before hand and can only come to hear Harper speak by having an invitation.

We all know he is an unmitigated failure in all of his domestic and foreign policies. This is no secret, regardless of the fact that he created most of these policies in secrecy, he now wants to eliminate any discussion of them altogether as if they never existed. Secrecy is the magic wand that he waves to make all of his failed policies disappear. If at a campaign stop his policy track record is not discussed and no one is asking any questions then maybe his policy failures didn't exist, besides now he can bold face lie about them, turning his failures into successes with no one calling him on it. The icing on his flat, unrising cake is that he can now CAMPAIGN in secrecy. No worries about Canadians listening carefully to what he is saying and asking uncomfortable questions. It's full speed ahead in running a country wide campaign that is pure fantasy.What kind of a man, who as the PM of Canada, excludes the majority of Canadians, from his campaigning in a supposedly open election by preventing them from attending his campaign events and only those Canadians with an invitation, given to them by some conservative minion are allowed to hear him speak. The kind of man who is either very desperate and afraid or the kind of man who is so sure that his campaigning by invitation only will get him re-elected, that he is prepared to risk the rath of the Canadian majority, but it never did matter to Harper that most Canadians despise him. This is pure hatred that he is showing to the Canadian public and implicit in this hatred is the presumption that Canadians are stupid , obedient serfs who could care less who forms the government in October. Inherent in almost every action Harper has taken since becoming PM in 2006 is his step by step crawl toward full rule. Achieving ultimate power is so close, he is prepared to risk openly excluding most Canadians from the electoral process, which campaigning and engaging with ALL Canadians is part of. This campaign by invitation only is indicative of how deep his lust for power runs. It's not just his Neoliberal policies that he has forced on Canadians, mainly done behind closed doors particularly in the last 4 year, but rather it is that Neoliberalism itself is Harpers blue print to power. Neoliberalism, the economic system whose success has never been validated by evidence. Government involvement is needed to create Neoliberal policies. Because Neoliberalism lacks any real political or philosophical ideas or context of which can be studied to understand its nature and because it operates only as an economic theory although masked also as political theory it is empty of any substantial ideas and is actually based on dogma. Dogma of course can only be accepted by faith, because nothing in dogma can be proven , it is not open to reason's analysis, it is a blank intellectual wall waiting to be climbed by the faithful, the true believers, the corporate elite and those like Harper seeking power.

It is not a big leap to believe in evangelical fundamentalist christian dogma to a belief in Neoliberal dogma. Both are used by Harper to gain power. Government by stealth, now campaigning by stealth. Doing invitation only campaigning and allowing only the chosen ito attend, Harper is pulling out all the stops, even ripping off his own mask of civility, because the prize is so close. He is even prepared to reveal who he really is, a fascist tyrant and what he is really after, power. A profoundly insecure, malevolent little man who is in awe of being Prime Minister and who mistakes all the elaborate perks of that office, many that he has created himself, as symbols of power. It is always the most insecure and those who feel the most inferior who seek power to rule over others. Many Canadians I think confuse Harpers arrogance for self-confidence. His inability to communicate directly with Canadians is based on both fear and contempt. His arrogance is based on getting away with it. Power is not sought by self-confident men/women, nor by men/women of self-esteem. Harpers seething Hatred of Pierre trudeau is because Trudeaus self confidence was grounded in genuine self-esteem. Trudeau could talk to any crowd, entertain any group of dignataries, travel the world and assimilate himself into any countries culture. Trudeau felt at home in the world. Harpers world has to be choreographed before he enters it. Nothing spontaneous. A tightly controlled room where Harper can speak, do a photo-op then leave. I don't think Harper ever thought he could be PM, but through lying , cheating and deception he was elected PM with minority governments twice. So he discovered that cheating and lying does work. The dye was cast. Bad guys can finish first, so in the 2011 election with the liberals tanking and the Cons ramping up, no matter at what cost, their deceptive and corrupt practice of this is how we get elected, then voila, winning the election with a majority government. Harper has gone from not thinking he could be , but wishing he was PM, to a 2015 election that if he wins and wins a majority he will seize full control over the country, his dream of ruling Canada openly realized. He will feel very comfortable speaking at all of his invitation only campaign stops, his audience feeling priviledged for having been invited. He may even play the piano and sing for the the chosen ones, while those holding tightly to their invitations beam.
Pamela Mac Neil's main interest is studying how  ideas from philosophy and history shape politics.




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5 comments:

Owen Gray said...

A superb post, Pam.

Unknown said...

Thanks Owen.

Lorne said...

Well-said, Pamela! You clearly have Harper's number; ousting him in October will in large part depend upon how many others realize these ugly truths about the man.

Unknown said...

Thanks Lorne. I think though if Harper continues in his campaign the way he has started he may do himself in. Even without knowing about his failed policies, Canadians will see a sneering, angry face and hear him malevolently attacking not only mulcair and Trudeau, but whoever does not meet with his approval.I amazed that he and his cons think that spewing venom is what is going to get him elected. I say, spew on.

Frank A. Pelaschuk said...

Excellent post, Pamela. Deadly accurate picture of Neoliberalism and of Harper. It's also a terrifying depiction. Unfortunately, if Harper can maintain the support of his core base, and it's likely he will, particularly with the additional 30 new gerrymandered ridings which will likely garner the Cons another 22 seats, the prospect for either of the opposition parties ending his reign of error looks very bleak. You are spot on regarding the evangelical fundamentalist element playing a big role: true believers don't need to know what they support, they just do. They'll call that faith but it's just minds switched off. Lovely writing.