Conservative Policy Discussion

I am going to steer away from prorogation for a moment here and bring up some old but interesting points. Perhaps the following can be seen as being applicable to that issue, I leave that to the reader.

Populism=Anti-intellectualism.

I do not intend to engage in a debate about proper criminal justice policy. I intend to prove that Stephen Harper and his Conservatives adopt a position of Anti-intellectualism.

Anti-intellectualism is an ignorant position. Either the Conservative leaders are ignorant or they intentionally champion ignorance. We’ll assume that the Conservative Party knows anti-intellectualism is ignorant. The only logical explanation for a political party’s intentional championing of ignorant policy is to garner votes. The Conservative party champions ignorant policy to garner votes. The Conservative Party banks on voters’ ignorance.
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Some erroneously regard Populism and Democracy as virtually indistinguishable. Why shouldn’t they? Populism is the political philosophy of catering to the interests of the people, (although not necessarily in the interest of the people). Populism is not good in itself – it is, however, an excellent way of keeping the people pacified and a government in power. Democracy, on the other hand, is at least in theory; rule by the people and for the people. It is good in itself because it provides the means for the people to exercise their free will in deciding how and by whom they are being governed, for better or worse. As such, Populism is central to the functioning of democracy through its influence in drawing the people. Conversely, democracy is not necessary to the functioning of populism. Were it so, the spectacular reigns of Imperial Rome and gang would never have been.

It is important to have a solid understanding of the two and how they function together, particularly for politicians, or they may be stuck learning them on the fly. In the media age, it is not a good idea to be caught floundering. This is a lesson the current government of Canada is learning. Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper was elected democratically, his popularity since then has been consistently floundering. Speculation regarding our reserved PM has ranged from frustration at his lack of warmth to claims that he may actually be a robot. In especial comparison with neighbouring, personable and wildly popular American president, Barrack Obama, Harper was looking mighty… stiff.
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