I just got word that my article on polarization (see post below) will be published in the Globe and Mail – Canada’s major national paper! Look for it in “Facts and Arguments” sometime next week (I’ll let you know when it’s there).
Okay, I’ll admit it – I’m a little giddy. I’ve been published several times, but this is the first time in a national publication of this magnitude. My simple little words will reach over 360,000 households!
I had to do a little blurb for church last Sunday, and after I did it, I kept thinking about the topic I’d chosen – polarization. I ended up writing this article…
Polarization, Politics, and People
“Taxes would be lower if you voted for us.” “We won’t destroy the surplus like the other party would.” “We’re not corrupt like the other party.” “They’re making empty promises – we’re not.”
We’ve heard all the rhetoric. It’s the same every time there’s an election. We’re good – they’re bad. They’ll destroy the country – we’ll build it up. We’ll look after you – they’ll let you fumble through life alone and abandoned. Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Here’s what I hate about election time – all these campaigns, the debates, the speeches, the brochures, the websites, the townhalls – they all promote one thing. Polarization. Almost every word out of the campaigners’ mouths is an attempt to distance their own political party from the other political parties. The golden rule of every campaigner is “at all costs, find a way to stand out above the crowd.” Take no prisoners, leave no stone unturned, don’t worry about who you offend along the way – just get it done and come out on top. In this campaign, it seems especially nasty, because parties are not only distancing themselves from each other, they’re also making a point of distancing themselves from the former leadership of their own parties.
It’s not just campaign time either (although that’s when it’s most accentuated). Watch the House of Commons in session some time and you’ll see it there too – the name-calling, the blame games, the nasty passive-aggressive (or downright aggressive) attempts to besmirch their opponents. And, to some degree, we as the Canadian public get on board and polarize ourselves against our neighbours and friends too, simply because we vote for a different party.
What I’d like to know is… isn’t there a better way to run this country? Do we have to build our country on polarization? Shouldn’t Canada’s international reputation as polite peacemakers reflect our government as well? Do governments HAVE to resort to oppositional tactics to accomplish anything good in this country?
Recently, I read an article in Time Magazine that gave me some glimmer of hope that, at least for some things, polarization doesn’t need to be the order of the day. In the article, it tells of how Former President George Bush (senior) and Former President Clinton are working together to mobilize the American public toward a charitable response to last year’s tsunami and hurricane Katrina. An interesting thing happened along the way – the two presidents, on opposite sides of the political arena, actually discovered they LIKED each other and a friendship developed. They dine together occasionally (even when the media cameras aren’t following them), and they take boat rides on Former President Bush’s speed boat. The photos connected to the article show a congenial pair, each of them reaching out at some point in the conversation to pat the other one’s knee.
Another interesting thing started happening – the American public started to respond to their requests, not because of the power of persuasion of the two former politicians, but because there was something about the collaborative effort and the resulting friendship that appealed to people. If it’s possible for two political opponents, who campaigned against each other, to work together and become friends, than there’s still something good about the world. Yes, it’s entirely possible that the whole thing is a well-crafted public relations scheme, but there’s a part of me that really wants to believe that relationships can bridge the gap between political opinions.
As a manager, I’ve done a fair bit of hiring to fill positions in various organizations. Every time I go through the hiring process, one of my top priorities is teamwork – the successful candidate must show an ability to work effectively in a team. Will you support your other team members? Do you contribute to group effort and collaboration? Do you build people up rather than tearing them down? Do you “play well in the sandbox”? Potential employees don’t have to share exactly the same opinion as the other members of the team (in fact, it’s often better if they don’t), but they DO need to figure out ways of working together.
On January 23, wouldn’t it be revolutionary if we could elect the party that shows the best efforts in collaboration, bridge-building, and teamwork? Wouldn’t it say something good about our country if our government was known for its ability to contribute to the strength of the country and to other countries by the principles of teamwork?
Oh, I like healthy debate and productive discourse as much as the next person. I like the sharing of ideas and the contribution of varying views. It’s an important part of the process of separating the “wheat from the chaff” – even in an effective team. But at the end of the day, when the debate has been completed, I want the players to be able to say “I may not agree fully with the conclusion, but I will support it for the good of my country”.
I suppose it wouldn’t make for very interesting campaign promises – “If you elect me, I promise to find ways to work with the opposition and the other members of my party to build the best country we can build” or “Vote for me and you vote for collaboration”. I suppose it’s a little watered down, but maybe it would promote a new brand of government – one that we could all believe in.
Maybe if we all approached this campaign as managers of our country, trying to hire the best employees for the job, we’d ask interview questions at the townhalls and debates that would help us determine which of our candidates “plays well with others”. I don’t know about you, but I’d welcome a government that didn’t resort to name calling and blame games. Let’s hear it for teamwork!
I thought if I gave my blog a new look, it might inspire me to write something. So far… nothing.
Oh dear. It’s only January 4, the weather is still quite lovely (though I’d sure like to see the sun for a change), and yet I’m getting hit with a serious case of the January blahs. It’s been hard getting back to work after a nice holiday. My energy is sapped, I can hardly drag my body out of bed in the morning, I feel unmotivated and uninspired, and I’ve succumbed to the temptation of the “wishes”.
I wish I had a winter holiday to look forward to. Somewhere warm and sunny.
I wish Christmas vacation weren’t over and I could be at home with my kids.
I wish I could quit my job and be a stay-at-home mom.
I wish I could make a decent living as a freelance writer. Or consultant.
I wish I could motivate myself to exercise so I’d have more energy.
I wish I could stay in bed in the morning instead of responding to the alarm.
I wish I didn’t have to be a slave to the pay cheque.
I wish I didn’t eat so much when I’m feeling blue.
I wish I felt more inspired.
I wish something exciting would happen so I’d feel invigorated for awhile.
I wish the sun would come out.
I wish…
I wish…
Oh well. It’s no use wishing. This is my life, this is what I’ve got for now and not much is going to change in the near future. Just gotta suck it up and make the best of it. I suppose there ARE some things I could change – like eating less and exercising more – but I’m too busy wallowing in self pity to try.
Yeah, yeah, I know I should count my blessings, it could be worse, “always look on the bright side”, blah, blah, blah. Spare me the platitudes – I just wanna wallow for awhile. I’ll be better soon… like maybe March.
Our holiday project this Christmas is to paint the walls of Nikki’s bedroom. Blue, Green, Orange, and Yellow. Bright, bold, and fun. We’ve finished 2 out of the four, but need to go back to the store for more paint tomorrow.
Every time I begin a new painting project (and by now, I’ve painted almost every room in this house at least once), I let the girls take first crack at the walls. They paint words, pictures, you name it. If there’s a closet in the room, they get to go wild in the closet, and then I leave it that way. In both Julie and Maddie’s closets, there are still colourful reminders of the children the way they were back when those walls were painted.
I wonder what an archaeologist would figure out if, many years from now, he/she were able to remove the top layers of paint without disturbing the bottom layer – the layer with the most interest. (I’m sure Gil Grisam on CSI would be able to figure out how to do that, wouldn’t he? 😉 These old walls would tell him which children had lived here, probably their approximate ages at the time of painting, what they thought of each other (yes, if you look closely, that wall says “Nikki is wierd”), what bands they liked at the time (in Julie’s closet, it says something about the Beatles – they were just discovering rock and roll back then), and probably a myriad of other things.
I like painting. I like the look of fresh walls. I like the way a room looks early on when there are no scuff marks, no chips in the paint, and no stray fingerprints. I like change. I need a home reno project at least once a year so that there is something changing in my house on a regular basis. My mom used to re-arrange the living room furniture in the house I grew up in on a monthly basis, and now that I’ve grown, I recognize that same familiar longing for change and renewal in myself as well. Some people can live with “sameness” for years and years, but I get a little stir crazy that way.
I may live within the same walls for years on end, but now and then the writing on the wall has to change. I think it’s contagious – my daughters seem to have inherited the trait from me the same way I inherited it from my Mom.
And now it’s time to go paint sunny orange on the wall…
Note: By the way, if you have a three-year-old helping you paint, I wouldn’t recommend leaving a tray of paint lying on the floor. But if you do, it’s comforting to know that little green paint footprints CAN be removed (almost) with a bucket of warm water, Mr. Clean, a scrub brush, and LOTS of elbow grease!
Happiness is…
– Family arriving from Alberta. Knowing that we (our family) are worth driving across 2 provinces for.
– A day spent with my husband and daughters – lunch at the Forks, and then a movie (yeah, the movie was a little lame, but I was surrounded by my family, so what’s not to like?)
– Maddie, jumping up and down on the bed, “Mommy! Daddy! It’s Christmas!”
– Julie, throwing her arms around me, after opening Chronicles of Narnia (the book set), “You are the BEST Mommy EVER!”
– Nikki, poring over her new fashion design book.
– My niece Amy scoring over 200 in bowling.
– My nephew Nat, with his unique flare, tossing a bowling ball.
– My nephew Caleb keeping track of everyone’s bowling score, and then ranking them in order.
– My nephew Brodie, suffering through pajama pictures, even though he’d rather be almost anywhere else.
– My Mom, looking content with her new life, surrounded by her old one.
– Sitting in church on Christmas morning, surrounded by my family, Marcel’s family, and, of course, our church family.
– R, M , J & M coming over for lunch on Christmas day.
– A late night movie with my siblings. As AP says, we all have “experience junkie” tendencies (in varying degrees) and we all like each other. A LOT.
– Watching my newest niece Abigail, in her daddy’s arms, get “dedicated” to God on her Mommy’s birthday. (Christmas day).
– Listening to my brother Dwightsing a new song he’d written for Abigail and her parents. Watching Abby’s daddy get a little choked up.
– Not getting too stressed out about company coming, ’cause my house wasn’t very messy and didn’t need much work to get it in shape.
– Annual pajama pictures, with the grandchildren all dressed in their new pj’s. And this year, with the addition of Abigail, all four of the siblings have another generation represented in those pictures. It feels more complete now (though we hope there’s more to come :-).
– Camper breakfast on Christmas morning.
– A new book to read.
– Listening to the children sing 12 Days of Christmas at the top of their lungs.
– Mom’s home-made werenki (I have no idea how to spell it – it’s a Mennonite dish, a lot like perogies.)
– Christmas Eve with Marcel’s family.
– Pépère’s pleased look as his grandchildren open the slippers he’s had made for them.
– Toboganning with my s-i-l, my daughters, and my nephew.
– A delightful conversation with Maddie as her and I drove home alone from Grandma’s house.
– A cuddle with my husband on the couch.
– Knowing that I still have 6 more days before I have to return to work.
– Sleeping in past NINE O’CLOCK!
It’s been fun and full so far. I hope yours has been at least half as good. 🙂