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Were you taught the history of Confederation?
Our glorious country, from sea to shining see?
Sorry, that’s that Other Place – that place of mottoes,
Of Live Free or Die, of Resist Much, Obey Little…
Our place is ancient, pomp, powder wigged –
Right Honorable, but God Forbid Sir’d or Lorded.
Change, Change! the politicians say on schedule,
Yet every time, we get a Premier; a cabinet in gang-colors.
Why? Why do we do this every time?
Why do we believe that we have to do it?
Would you trust a politician to represent you, in any circumstance?
Do you trust any-one to hold your rights completely?
I digress – on Confederation, do you know the Charlettown Conference?
I am sure you do, it’s famous – But,
Were you taught that it was meant
Only to be a union of the Maritimes?
Then crashing the party, lo and behold:
The Right Honorable John A. himself.
I think you can guess the rest,
Here we are, after all, all proud Canadians.
But even then you’d be missing a great moment:
Joseph Howe – that Newspaper Guy with the statue.
He was Premier once, I’m sure you know that –
His party won 18 of the 19 seats in the province.
But, do you know his party’s platform?
Independence from Canada.
Can you imagine? A majority government,
Elected on a platform of pride and independence,
During the time of Confederation,
Not wanting to live under the thumb of others.
And so, the Proposition was politely presented to the Feds,
Who politely declined, of course.
And we, Proto-Canadians, politely accepted their decision.
And in that moment, politely, Nova Scotia lost its rights.
By being denied our ultimate right – of Independence,
With not so much of a peep in protest,
We, by implication, consented to our remaining rights
being stripped of us, if given the convenience to.
That is the precedent we live within.
Right out of the gate our most sacred right denied to us.
The good fight given up by a politician,
Who didn’t want to insult proud institutions.
We cast our votes – some do, anyhow – less every year,
Told that not to vote is a cardinal sin;
That people gave up their lives for our privileged rights.
But, rights to what rights?
The right to sign our rights over to Them?
Them, who smile and wave and kiss the baby’s cheek?
Who represent us, and our rights, in power that we give Them –
By our ticking a box in a polling station.
Next time you vote, if you vote,
Consider what you are assenting to.
Consider what it means to be represented.
And consider what rights you’re giving up.
And when the smiling politician,
Turns out to be a Right Honorable Ass,
I don’t want you to look for a new politician,
I want you to look for a different kind of change.
—Born the Tired Child of Tired Voters
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2015.
TLDR
I’m voting for whichever politician promises to scrap the Canada Council so crapshite poets can die of consumption in obscurity where they belong.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHANGE
“I want you to vote for a different kind of change.”
What would a different kind of change look like? How many different kinds of change are there? Is the request even coherent?
To be a change requires that it replace that which is. In other words, a change replaces that which is by that which is not. There is, therefore, only one kind of change, a change that replaces that which is into that which is not. But if there is only one kind of change, how is the request to look for a different kind of change even possible? Viewed semantically, it is not. It is a contradiction in terms. It is an oxymoron. It is incoherent.
Parmenides, of course, famously said, “Nothing changes.” He was speaking ontologically, referring to surface phenomena and their fleeting relationship with the substratum of an unchanging reality. I am merely speaking semantically, that the phrase “a different kind of change” is to utter a conceptual contradiction. It is incoherent on the basis of the mutually exclusionary nature terms employed in the phrase.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
A pleasure as always,
Cheerio!
I was expecting a bunch of haters because this was written in poetry-style. I actually quite enjoyed the read OB – “Right honourable, but god forbid Sir’d or Lorded” … “Politicians in gang colours”. You’d get my up vote if this was 9gag.
Nice funbags but a little on the Mrs. Robinson side. Bruce and Kris must be very proud of her, but why haven’t we seen her before. The family ain’t exactly publicity shy, if you take my meaning.
I don’t understand why a 65 year old transgendered female would 1. want a name of a 17 year old airhead and 2. raid Kris Jenner’s wardrobe.
Jenner must need the money with the transition being the subject of a “reality” tv show.
Publicity…publicity…publicity.
Hahaha!
I know, right? I don’t think my posts have ever been deleted before.
Well Xeno, you must stop making cracks like “There’s a difference between having a big dick and being a big dick.” Dicks are off the table and can result in your comment being deleted.
I’ve voted for 20 years.
I stopped voting.
I stopped complaining. We get the same garbage everytime.
If all politicians live in the same neighbourhood, growing up with the same mentality and same ethics, or lack thereof, what do you think is going to happen next time you vote?
I’ll let you in on the secret. NOTHING!
Must be a new bird? I’ve been in time out for a few months…
BTW, Moman,
Strike a little close to home, did it?