Big and Small Heroes

America's Thomas Paine fussed over the possibilities of true democracy in his country. Faced with the challenge of threatening nations, he pondered how you focus a distracted citizenry on the task of building a nation of possibilities. Looking at the people around him, he mused: "Society is composed of distinct, unconnected individuals who are continually meeting, crossing, uniting, opposing and separating from each other, as accident, interest and circumstances direct."Paine's observation was astute, and presents us with some surprising modern commentary on the Canadian condition. Always difficult to govern, this country is looking more like an old baseball left out in the rain: slightly bloated but with seams coming apart. I'm not referring to regional divisions but to the fine lines of intersection between Canadian culture and its political structure. There had once been a consensus that this country's citizens were remarkably industrious, capable of energies that could build an economy, win a war, bring up families or reach compromises that would benefit most, though, sadly, not all. It was the purpose of the political order to enact the legislation and provide the resources necessary to build a nation out of a remarkably hostile and challenging geographical land that stretched all the way to the far north. The true conditions to make Canada work weren't so much knowledge or truth, for these were discerned differently in every region. Rather, it was about the judicious exchange of opinion between regions and their common interest. The great Canadian leaders innately knew this and forged political power through exercising it. Though many were elitist, they discerned that the best way to enhance democracy was actually to practice it.It is my sense that this general consensus has now receded into our past. We've been left out in the rain too long. Bloated with remarkable blessings, we are no longer dealing in dialogue and compromise with one another - the stitching is coming apart. In the past we looked to political leadership, in part, to provide the kind of direction a country like this requires. We had political leaders of all kinds in our past.  There were the transitional leaders, who guided us through depressions and wars and who also assisted citizens into acquiring more powers so as to lead themselves. Then there were occasionally the natural leaders, the kind that had inherent judgement and flair and who could shine on a world stage. Facilitating leaders assisted our great institutions to work together and fostered great Canadian triumphs like social and economic transformations. And, though too rarely, there were those times that called out moral leadership, reminding us of our responsibilities to the poorer regions of our nation, to our aboriginal peoples, to the Third World, to our environment, to God, our better natures, and ultimately to our fellow citizens. Something about their inherent transparent dignity elevated us beyond the 24/7 political world to the ultimate claims of citizenship on all of us.I actually don't know what we have right now.  Likely, it's "none of the above." Citizens are too self-absorbed and politicians are too party-infatuated. Somehow we have come to accept that politics is the art of bludgeoning, of craftiness or Machiavellian pursuits of power and how to keep it. And the moment we accepted it, we became inept - incapable of recapturing our national vision of pragmatism. In the process, we cast off the spirit of political compromise and respect, at both the political and citizen levels.Small heroes master their enemies. Big heroes master themselves. Where are those larger heroes today? Ottawa has become a battleground instead of an institution of compromise. We have all failed to a greater or lesser degree as politicians - it's true. But as long as citizens tolerate governments using everything from listeriosis and H1N1, to immigration and public advertising to expand their power base, we will become a land of small heroes. The larger variety will either recede into history or somehow call out to us in our collective memory to choose governments befitting of our possibilities. Which will we choose?  Because it is a choice.