Liberalism - The National Conversation

According to a number of national columnists, Michael Ignatieff has been energized after his 40,000-kilometer bus tour and some 150-200 events across the country.  There's more than just politics in it.  As Franklin Roosevelt himself discovered after a similar journey while in opposition, it speaks to the very essence of democracy itself.  He was not only energized, but gained a whole new “ground level” understanding of the country by the time he became president.It’s time we talked to one another about the country we want, just as Ignatieff is doing.  For that to occur, however, there must be humility, concern and respect.  Respect is necessary in order to provide room for other views and opinions.  Concern over our national slide downwards must be a precursor to that discussion.  And humility is essential because for too long now we have concentrated on our own personal pursuits and gains as the expense of national progress.There is a reason the elites speak only to themselves and that citizens barely talk to one another: the absence of institutions that promote general and civic conversation across various opinions and disciplines.  While liberalism has been noted and applauded for the various national frameworks in acquiring necessities such a healthcare and pensions, it has been primarily at the local level, where people of patient liberal temperament made the greatest strides.  But with the decay of civic institutions ranging from political parties to public gatherings and informal meeting places, there is no national conversation to speak of, and what is there is largely specialized and driven by the media’s own agenda.  Social classes, unions, ethnic groups – these and many others are increasingly speaking a language of their own and only co-mingle at special ceremonial occasions and holidays.  The national conversation is rarely occurring because the community conversations are becoming splintered.  There are many exceptions, but the rule of isolationism is expanding.Working people, students, seniors, civic leaders – these and others have a common stake in working out their own collective future, primarily at the local level.  They must protect their communities from harm, but must also demonstrate accountability, honesty and trust.  But to do all this there must be a determined attempt to “come together” to discern the way ahead.  This is already occurring to a certain degree.  Change Camp is one such group that is attempting to get citizens to re-engage in the process of finding a deliberative and progressive future.I realize this sounds somewhat strange coming from a national politician, but I have gleaned from experience that the taverns, coffeehouses, pubs, and places like libraries represent those venues whereby citizens meet, debate, learn, and at time find consensus.  It is in such informal places that people can talk without constraint, except for that constraint imposed by the group itself.  Ralph Waldo Emerson used to say that conversation is the city’s lifeblood.  Without good talk, cities become places precisely where the main concern is simply to get through the day.  He was right.  We need to have “mid-way conversations” – meeting grounds between the workplace and the family circle.  We have permitted these places to recede into irrelevance in public life and any kind of liberalism that matters must begin to get citizens talking again about the big things that affect community and national life.  The media must also fulfill its original mandate and help propel and recount the citizen dialogue that is so essential to our wellbeing as a nation.  It is the very absence of these things that has resulted in malls replacing pubs and seniors residences and private clubs substituting for libraries and churches.For liberalism, getting a national conversation going again, driven primarily from the local level, will be the only way we can make serious decisions as to the future of Canada.  We have accepted poverty for too long.  Climate change isn’t going away and demands solutions.  Receding pensions and healthcare will cut into the quality of life of millions of Canadians.  Our image in the world has taken a beating.  It will require sacrifice from each and every one of us if we are to successfully deal with each of these seemingly intractable problems.  In truth, the speed of the climb to our current level of affluence succeeded in distracting us from the future we must leave to our children.  It’s time to stop living in the moment and start thinking about their future.  We must place work over wealth, sacrifice ahead of satisfaction, and self-empowerment over self-indulgence.It was never liberalism’s intention that we would stop on our journey to collective progress.  We were always meant to save, to live within our means, to care for our planet, to place our children’s financial security ahead of our own, and to make our local communities the epicenter of our citizen input and activity.  We’ve become distracted, that’s all, and we are capable of pulling this country back from the brink of narcissism.  But it will require us to have open and frank conversations with one another instead of just leaving it to politicians to decide from a distance.  Liberalism doesn’t begin in Ottawa but in the spirit of each citizen and it can never be successful again until it rouses the collective will of Canadians to action.  As Michael Ignatieff is discovering, we have to talk and listen.  And then we have to put our hard-won compromises into action.