American Democracy?

As an outsider watching the lead-up to the American elections, with no concern about who I am going to vote for or if it will help me get a job or keep my house, I suspect I may have a bit clearer view than those in the thick of things. And two thoughts keep running through my mind: “I’m glad we don’t have their system” followed by “Is this the country that brags about their democracy?”

Because, of course, the United States is no longer a democracy, and hasn’t been for some time. It is, quite simply, a corporatocracy.

The fact that the political positions of the two main parties are so similar on most vital issues is not a coincidence. Both are owned by the major corporations that provide their funding, and both must therefore govern not for the people, but for the companies.

Well, then, you say, why don’t people vote for other candidates? They do exist, and represent a variety of different positions. However, in this country where corporations are legally people and can donate millions of dollars to the Republicans or Democrats, other parties have no chance to be heard. The last “third-party” candidate to get any notice at all was Ross Perot, a billionaire who used his own funds to make noise.

So if an American citizen is concerned about a good public education system, or universal health care, or ending the eternal “war on terror”, or protecting the environment from massive climate change, who can he or she vote for that has even a minimal chance of getting elected? No one.

This is not the greatest democracy in the world. This is not democracy at all. It is the autocracy of the corporation, forced on people who believe they are making a choice.

'Liberal' and 'Conservative' News

I was reading an article the other day that said that Americans only listened to news from “their” side – that is, right-wing people listen to right-wing newscasts and read right-wing papers. Left-wingers do the opposite.

I recognized myself in this immediately. Though not an American I am a (small-l) liberal, and I generally watch the CBC and read the Toronto Star. So today, when someone was handing out free copies of the radically right-wing National Post on the way to work, I accepted one.

At lunch, I read the Star first. I agreed with the way a lot of the stories were presented, as usual. The main story on the front page was entitled “’Moment of truth’ for unions”.

Then I picked up the Post. To be honest, I never made it past the front page.

The title of the lead story was “Would a caveman send a Facebook friend request?”

I have decided I will stick with my preferred news sources.

The Indian Act

It has come up again – the rights of the Canadian Indians, and the responsibilities the rest of us have toward them. And every time it does, I get irritated. So this time I am going to try to put my feelings in words.

A long time ago, a bunch of foreigners came to this land from Europe and signed treaties with the people who were born here – the “natives” – to allow them use of the land in return for certain payments.

Whether those treaties were fair or not doesn’t really concern me here. What happened in the past is done and can’t be changed.

So today, Indians do not pay taxes. When their houses fall down or their plumbing leaks they call on the government (my taxes) to pay for it. They get payments from oil and minerals found on the land, and can trade across the U.S. - Canada border without customs charges. They can run casinos, and do a number of things forbidden to other Canadians.

All of this, they say, because they are native to this land.

And that is where I feel the irritation start to boil up. Yes, no question, they are native to this land. But so am I. I have white skin, but I was born in Canada, and it is as much my country as it is that of any Indian. All people born in this country should have the same rights – and the same responsibilities – no matter their skin colour or the number of generations their ancestors lived here.

So get rid of the Indian Act, Prime Minister Harper. Throw it out. It is out-dated and racist. It is time to treat all Canadians as citizens of this country.