Old Stock Canadian
Goddamit!! Call me a dense old fucker or just call me old but it never dawned on me until this very moment that I’m an unwilling participant in one of the most ridiculous, entitled and fear mongering groups of people to ever walk the face of the earth.
I’m white, over 50 and have generally supported and voted Conservative most of my life. I’m one of them!!
I’m an entrepreneur that has issues with authority yet wishes everyone else would follow the fucking rules. My sense of idealism is only shadowed by my desire to win at everything I do and divide and conquer has been a reliable tactic for a good part of 40 years.
There was a time where misogyny ruled my miserable existence and an ideal life was one where you had a woman who stayed at home, did the chores and gave you sex when you wanted it — Mad Men style. The disparity between salaries for men and women was justified because men were simply superior at everything. End of story. I even remember thinking to myself that the day a woman can stand on the front line with male soldiers, ready to take a bullet for her country — then I would reconsider my stand.
I’m an artist, that hates artists and everything they stand for. My dreams were shattered at a young age and I chose to park my artistic sentiments and get a real job. Now, I want to crush the spirit of every artist I meet, unless they’re famous and their art can be acquired — at a reasonable discount or auction(of course) and if they could kindly die after acquisition, that would be even better…
OK, it’s possible I’m being overly hard on me. There are smatterings of truth in the words above but for the most part, this is everything I loathe about those who, through no fault of my own,I have been likened to. I’m on the cusp of the me generation — that wholly ugly, self-absorbed by-product of the 60’s where our civilization learned how to protest, enjoy new kinds of music, art and lifestyles while bucking the establishment.
Who knew that the knowledge gained from that generation would be a catalyst for one of the most overbearing, stifling and pragmatic groups in this century or perhaps even millennium. A group that learned from the mistakes of the past and used that knowledge to create a new regime of entitlement that purposely targets groups like the poor, mentally ill and ethnic minorities.
If I’m being honest — I don’t think this was a deliberate attempt to undermine all these other groups. It’s just so great, the desire for creature comfort and security that it needs to happen at all cost, regardless of the casualties.
I personally know of one such individual. A man in his 60’s who grew up as a playboy of sorts — money in the family that allowed him to live a leisurely life of exception and who was afforded a lot of things that most people will never experience. He’s well versed in the arts, traveled, a former model, bi-sexual and in his mid-sixties. He uses a shirtless, tanned image of himself for his facebook profile to help portray a spiritual, easy going persona that he wants the average person to see.
Some would say he lives an idyllic lifestyle — had a beautiful wife (that’s who generally marries models) kids and now grand kids but always lived life how he saw fit and with purpose.
This is the rub however — when you attempt to come between a man and his money, his status, his very reason for getting up in the morning — you’ve essentially declared war.
We all draw lines in the sand. That hypothetical line that we won’t cross, no matter what the consequence. Call it a matter of principle — call it self-preservation.
The man I’m referring to is a staunch Conservative supporter who was unwavering - his belief in Harper and that party’s mantra to move the country forward, and in benefit of the “old stock Canadians.” His belief was that anyone other than Harper would attempt to take his “hard earned” money and throw us into some sort of strange, socialist regime. It didn’t seem to matter that Harper contradicted much of what he (let’s call him Peter) presents to the world on a daily basis. What matters most is that he felt that Trudeau (specifically) would attack his right to be rich and in turn, destroy the economy. That was his line. He drew it. And when he couldn’t bully me into siding with him, he quickly distanced himself via the unfriend button.
I didn’t fully understand it until today. What was happening. And then, I put all the pieces together and realized the only thing that keeps me from turning out like him and others like him is that — I’m not afraid. I embrace change and challenge. I love new music, culture, art, technology and look at it all as a magical, wonderful playground. It’s not a threat to my being or security.
This goes for the world of politics as well. Change is necessary to grow and to evolve. Too often, the old guard preaches ideas about what could happen if we don’t tow the line and follow their tried and tested practices. They will use all means necessary to convince you that your way of life will be threatened if you try to change the establishment. Their establishment.
And fear, that invisible entity that drives so many of us; is also their master. The fear breeds ignorance and causes the world to stop turning. Think of all the things the Harper government did to stop information from flowing, in order to protect their brand and, under the guise that it was in our best interest. Old white people afraid of their own shadows — telling us that this is normal behavior.
“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day…”
A Liberal government ushered in a new philosophy in Canada last week. Much like the Nenshi government did in Calgary, the 1% couldn’t see past their mantra of fear and rhetoric while a new generation went about the task of sharing information and ideas. New ideas and a new way of thinking about old problems.
Trudeau might not live up to all of the expectations that we have put on him but what he has done is shown that we can be involved in the process and make intelligent, informed decisions that aren’t based on fear of the unknown. It’s a great new day for democracy and, transparency.
Sure, the old stocks are still whining and bitching about the sky falling and will continue to do so. They’ll speculate that Trudeau was all smoke and mirrors while they missed the cultural shift brought about with social media. Governments are made up of people and people make mistakes. We’re intelligent enough to see this. We should expect a new level of transparency and communication from this leader, a leader that sees the value in using social media to discuss issues directly with Canadians. No longer will we have to rely on a biased and onerous media that has and continues to be owned and operated by the old white boys club.
The downside to all of this? Too much time will be devoted to hating on and pointing out the downside to all of this — change.
OK — you’ve read this far. Take my survey — see where you are in the grand scope of the conversation.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JtW4ZoHgXgWzxouKYXXWhOstOKe4xPiqutfRoCzp2jw/viewform
