Nostalgia and Politics

Why can’t it be July already?

I feel like an inadequate Canadian for feeling this way, and I do truly love the winter, but at this particular moment I wish that the temperature outside was in the twenties. My sister and I were watching Garden State the other night (pictured in yesterday’s blog), and it really made me long for the days of summer. Jess and I obsess over watching movie trailers, and we were equally enthralled by the previews for Garden State and Napoleon Dynamite two springs ago when they were released. When we finally went to see Garden State when it came out in the summer, it was such an awesome evening. Not only was the film romantic, touching, and thoughtful, but when Jess and I left South Edmonton Common in the middle of the night, we had tons of fun skipping outside and laughing hysterically (although Jess became quite worried when we realized that we were going to have to transfer buses three times). There just seem to be moments like that every night in the warmer months. While we love boot skating at the rinks at McKernan, seeing who can make the bigger puff of breath-fog, and making IGA runs for chocolate and cheese buns, there’s something magical about the summer life that the city takes on late at night and the freedom to dance outside at 1:00 AM wearing just a skirt and sweater.

















Now that the Christmas is officially over, and the football season is long gone, winter has really set in. Although I love holding our fun Grammy and Oscar parties, consuming myself with the Olympics, and cross-country skiing, nothing can really compete with the plethora of fun that accompanies summertime. I’m especially wistful for Eskies games, outdoor concerts, thunderstorms, biking in the river valley, the ability to wear dresses, ice cream cones, chasing the police copter with Jess, festivals, reading on my front lawn, traveling, tennis, and longer walks at night. But, I do become my old Pollyanna-self when I consider the pleasures of reading with hot chocolate, hot baths, staring up at flurries until my eyelashes are covered in snow, and watching movies. It is totally true that the grass always looks greener on the other side; I have this idealistic image in my head throughout summer that I’ll be roasting marshmallows by the fireplace in my living room in the middle of January, when really I’m doing homework while eating an apple. As we learned in one of my psych courses, however, anticipation is often more that half the fun of anything (I suppose I’m just an excellent anticipator). Humans are particularly skilled at this hopeful expectation; indeed, no other animal (including primates) think abstractly about the future or past. I suspect that we await the coming days with such optimism not only because we have the intelligence to do so, but also because God created us with an underlying understanding that there is hope, in the form of salvation, in the future.

Left-wing politics are seemingly more and more hopeless for a lot of my Christian compadres. Issues like gay marriage and abortion seem to be their only concerns, but even the Conservatives have promised to do nothing about them! Abortion has not at all been an issue this election, and the Conservatives would not hold a vote on it (mainly because most MPs would vote in favour of abortion). As for gay marriage, Harper did promise to hold a free vote on the issue, but also promised that he wouldn’t use the notwithstanding clause, so gay marriage would remain in Canada. I fail to understand why one would vote based solely on these issues when all of the parties will enact the same result. See below (and yesterday’s blog) on more views about these issues. Childcare has also proven to be a big concern for Christians, many of whom feel that parents will readily send their children off to daycare without any thoughtful consideration, in the sole interest of saving money. The truth is that virtually all parents desperately love their children, and act to benefit their kids in everything that they do. Infants form attachments to their primary caregiver and the rest of their family within the first year and a half of their life, and sending a two-year-old to a high quality preschool absolutely does not cause any spiritual, emotional, relational, or cognitive deficits.

If we are willing to fund maternity “leaves” for parents of multiple years, regardless of whether or not they were employed prior to becoming pregnant, I think that would be fabulous. It would have negative consequences for our economy and government budget, but would be fair to both the children and their parents. The Conservatives’ proposed $1200 a year for young children is an absurdly small amount in comparison to what annual salaries might be for low-income parents including single mothers. I highly doubt that a little more than one thousand bucks will make a significant difference; if parents do choose to make use of childcare, at the very least, it would cost them about $30 every day (and that would be a subsidized daycare). Five dollars a day is barely a drop in the bucket compared to a minimum of thirty. We really have to accept the fact that there are some parents who must make use of daycare, and if we want to ensure that the experience of that child is the best it can possibly be, our government needs to fund that daycare appropriately.

I make it a point to talk about religion and my faith with my non-Christian friends, coworkers, and peers, and the chief difficulty that most of them have in accepting Christianity is our perceived hatred, whether of non-Christians, science, other societies, or secular culture. While it is certainly important for Christians to not be absorbed into Satan’s presence in some of these aforementioned areas, the idiom “love the sinner, hate the sin” (although I don’t like the word hate) has real merit. Jesus made a point of spending time with prostitutes, corrupt tax collectors (like the Liberals?), and the unemployed poor, and he showed anything but hatred for them. Jesus spent far more time rebuking a rich population that ignored the needs of the impoverished, and a group that was so concerned about their own money that they would use the church to make profits. He confronted the men who gave far less in comparison to the widow who tithed her last two copper coins, and instructed a wealthy follower to give all he had to the poor. Jesus never spoke about the need to neglect those experiencing poverty because of their laziness or ineptitude. In the parable of the prodigal son, He demonstrates God gives even when He knows that we will use these gifts foolishly, as many right-wing Christians perceive the poor to. Luke 12:15 reads, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions,” and Acts 2:45 illustrates the compassion of the early church: “Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”

Rather than simply reproaching the woman at the well who had lived a sexually immoral life, Jesus ministered to her with wisdom and love. I really feel that the often-Christian sentiment that voting Christian means voting morally is an excellent idea, but the idea of morality is so often misguided. Morality entails much more than just sexual or reproductive choices, such as homosexuality and abortion. Morality is acting on what is right, and there are right and wrong choices to be made in regards to how one spends their money, acts towards others, and thinks about God, themselves, and others. It is certainly fair to say that some (albeit a select few) Liberals were unethical in how they spent some of taxpayer’s money (albeit a miniscule fraction of that money). However, I truly believe that it is more unethical for the more wealthy two-thirds of Canadians to hoard our money selfishly, without amassing any happiness, benefit to our character, or spiritual revelation.

Growing up in Alberta, there is no way that I could calculate the number of times that I’ve heard Christians argue their political views with phrases like, “the government doesn’t know how to spend my money better than I do,” and “I work hard for my money,” but these statements are so flawed. Every week in the Sunday service, we thank God for the abilities and health He has blessed us with before we tithe, but do most Christians really mean this? I hear a sense of entitlement when a fellow Christian tells me that their money should stay in their pocket because they deserve it; the truth of our lives is, however, that we don’t deserve the lives we lead, the blessings we’ve received, and the salvation we’re offered. God loves each one of His children, whether a homeless person (lazy or not), or the money-focused rich, and wants them to lead good, joyful lives that are guided by His will.

Although the Conservative platform has received the stamp of many economists (most of whom care about maintaining the wealth of themselves and their colleagues), it is ridiculous to suggest that simply because a budget is within the capabilities of the government it is inherently sound. A truly good budget would be creative, compassionate, and constructive (yay for the letter C!). Additionally, the commonly held belief that a voter knows how to spend their money better than the government does strikes me as being quite odd. How can a group of experts with excellent education, experience, and reputation in their respective fields know less about the most cost-effective and shrewd ways to use resources in those fields? Part of the argument (or perhaps the entire argument) for introducing private health care into Canada is that it would be more efficient, that the pressures of capitalism force administrators and employees to be economical.

However, as I’ve discussed in a previous blog, the government would be wise to find inventive approaches to social programs including health care, and certainly do implement innovations into the system through publicly-funded research and studies (such as the recent wait-time study in Alberta). Indeed, privately conducted procedures in the States like surgery cost more than twice the base amount of those in Canada. This is before more money is leaked out of the health care dollars for profits (I know I’ve blogged all of this before in more detail, but it’s quite important to me). Once we open up health care to private companies, there is no turning back because of our agreements in NAFTA; there’s no testing the water. The only benefit that would come to anyone at all in the establishment of for-profit health care into this country would be to the rich. Those with sufficient funds would have slightly shorter wait times (and I mean slightly; examine wait times in the U.S.), and would be able to make money off of the ailing (there’s something perverse about that).

In terms of military spending, the only role that I see for Canadian troops is peace-keeping, and going to war only when absolutely necessary, and only with the backing of others, such as the UN and our allies. I really see no threat to Canada in terms of war or terrorism in at least the next two decades. Canada is a highly peaceful nation, and with the exception of Hitler in the late 1930s, there have been very few instances in recent history in which a country attacked another without provocation. I truly feel that armies, guns, and war were so outside God’s plan for His children, and are often a tool of Satan. When we concentrate on conflict and our abhorrence for other groups, our vision of God and his love for every person (whether Hitler or Mother Teresa) is clouded. In the summer of grade 11, when I attended SUNIA (basically a glorified name for UN camp), I learned a great deal about the role of the First World and organizations like the United Nations in international affairs from the diplomats and delegates who were at the conference.

These men and women were entirely frank about the flaws and struggles of the UN, but were passionate supporters of global justice, peace, and equality. They have a vision that may not ever be achieved, but the hope that they had for this world was definitely encouraging, and exceptional for people entrenched in politics. A common perception of voting among Canadians right now is that their mark on the ballot represents their choice of the “lesser of many evils,” but that’s such a pessimistic, “glass half-full” view of politics. It’s really wonderful that we live in a society where we are able to voice our different visions for our nation, and I find it beautiful that so many of us care passionately about Canada. I’d like to think that my vote on January 23 will be for the “best of many goods” (as awkward as that sounds). Each political party wants to benefit others, although I certainly see some doing that more so than others.

Finally, the possibility that Stephen Harper would build strong ties with the American administration disturbs me immensely. It was brought up recently in a discussion on politics that simply because the U.S. benefits more from free trade than Canada does, there is no reason to renege on our agreements with them. However, to use the metaphor of a school playground, I would far rather befriend the abused victims of a bully and build a relationship with them than cooperate with the bully that uses the troubles of others to benefit himself. As previously explained in other blogs, America has repeatedly broken promises, used cheap labour to its great benefit, and created war where no war was necessary to remedy problems. It is nations like the U.S. that outwardly support initiatives like Live 8 and Make Poverty History, and act as if they are the saviours of the world when they invade other nations despite the calls of experts from most other nations and experts like Hans Blix. In reality, America has used struggling economies as investment opportunities rather than opportunities to make a difference. Instead of working multilaterally in the Third World, the U.S. has used tied aid and SAPs to further its own economy.

Alas, my clock is indicating that it’s time for me to hit the sack. Perhaps I’ll read a few more chapters of my book prior to falling asleep, but I doubt I’ll last very long. It’s been a long day, and I walked back and forth between home and campus several times today (far too much walking for a lazy Tuesday). To compound the exhaustion caused by walking, I’m listening to Daniel Lanois’ steel guitar right now, and it’s making my eyelids feel quite heavy. His mastery of the steel guitar inspires me to buy one (I’ve found a few online for decent prices), but I’m not really sure where I would store a steel guitar. For now, it will suffice to listen to “The Deadly Nightshade” and “Shine,” and just pretend that my guitar looks like a table top and sounds really twangy.

Sweet Dreams!