Liberalism - Dumbed-down Nation

Speaking to his old Alma Mater, John Kennedy went straight to the heart of liberalism, or rather its mind:  “Liberalism respects man’s most important right: the right to think for himself.  It does not seek to control his mind but leaves him free to use his rational faculties to the best of his ability.”  Applied liberalism means free minds.  Kennedy was a pretty smart guy, but he understood that even a free mind could be curtailed by stupidity, and, sad to say, modern liberalism can be crucified by it.Seriously, there aren’t many Canadians who believe climate change is a joke, but despite all we know and see in changing weather patterns and environmental decay, we continue to act as though we aren’t sure.  To be aware of imminent danger and not act on it, even for the sake of our children, isn’t so smart.  When we have a government that appears in full denial of climate change and yet permits ongoing neglect, we’re not necessarily the wisest of citizens.Such an example finds lots of company the more we reflect.  Denying aboriginals equality rights isn’t intelligent or just.  Taking the essence of equality out of the Charter of Women?  Who dreamed that one up?  Running up something like $50 billion in deficits with no publicized plan for how to pay it off is hardly the stuff of an advanced and intelligent nation.  To play provinces and regions against one another is insane in a country that has one of the greatest federations in the world.  To fire or fail to renew the presence of top civil servants simply because they spoke out against the nearsightedness of government policy is like telling Canadians that children are smart enough to run universities – dumb again.  To break historic partnerships with other nations takes ignorance up a notch to an international level.Human beings – Canadians obviously among them – have a crying need for certainty, yet they very seldom take on the painstaking research to help them acquire truth through truth and experience.  Taken up with living busy lives, they most often leave such complexities to the more educated and knowledgeable.  They do have another option, however, and far too many citizens are grasping at it.  It’s far simpler to just accept false certainty.  False absolutes are no substitute for intelligent policy in any advanced state, but when a critical mass of citizens start opting for the easy and often biased solutions, there is little that is “progressive” in our future.  We are not yet at that point, but ideological conservatives are using their enhanced media clout, bogus data and sheer political brutality to push us to that point.  All that stands in the way of their ultimate success is the abiding liberal spirit in Canadians.Ideological conservatives would have us believe that we have way too much government and that governing itself isn’t rocket science.  Really?  Canada is such an amazingly de-centralized and complex country to run that this kind of thinking does us a great disservice.  How would we balance economic growth with environmental sustainability?  Exactly how would we bring our aboriginal communities into the national stream of consciousness?  How would you end child poverty when parents can’t find work?  The moment we thrust power out to local communities, how would their contending aspirations be managed?  How would we balance our desire for peacekeeping with our commitment to guaranteeing world security?This is why ideological conservatives have had trouble governing in every land in which they have acquired power.  It’s just not that simple.  The complexities “out there” are staggering.  Two hundreds years ago there were no weapons of mass destruction – no nuclear arms, biological or chemical weapons.  Global warming was unknown.  There was no Internet to provide greater clarity and mass confusion at the same time.  No significant urban/rural divide existed.  Scientific discoveries had not reached the point where they swamped the intellect, forcing people into choices between hearsay and fact.  Maybe back then rigid conservatism might have survived, but today it merely steers our raft towards the falls.Do Canadians really want to reject their scientists?  Are we prepared to ignore climate change and our contribution to it?  Do we really wish to be seen as less generous in the world?  Are we willing to accept that women aren’t truly equal?  Are we prepared to have more money in our pockets even if it means environmental devastation?  Do we wish to bury our collective head in the sand and ignore the imminent healthcare crisis?  Can we possibly desire to pass greater debt on to our children than we had to face?  Are we foolish enough to neglect our local communities in favor of personal gain and materialistic madness?I am willing to bet that the answer to all these things is a clear and firm “no.”  Why, then, are we permitting it?  At our community level, let’s fight back.  The opposite of faith is not doubt; it is fear – the kind that cripples.  Let’s get out of the stupor before it’s too late.  Ideologues are forcing us to dumb down, to be fearful of what?  Ourselves?Few would have thought two decades ago that liberalism would be facing similar challenges from authoritarian, ideological, and the politics of fear forces that it faced and overcame in its beginnings, but here we are.  It’s our country; let’s just take it back  - not for any political party but for ourselves, and our children’s, potential.