Scared of the Spotlight

Has everyone had enough yet?

Our Fearless Leader and his battalion of anti-corruption crusaders are in it again, this time over allegations that they overspent on their election campaign by one million dollars. Earlier this year, allegations surfaced claiming the current ruling party, in 2005, offered a bribe to the late Chuck Cadman to secure what would be the deciding vote on the fate of the then Liberal government. Last year (I forget exactly when), we learned almost half of all Defense contracts were awarded without bid, which should not have surprised any of us, given our then Minister of National Defense, the "Right Honourable" Gordon O'Connor, earned his living lobbying the government on behalf of the industry.

Lately, I've distanced myself from the "news", as the same old story keeps on playing, over and over and over; this time, I felt the need to make mention of this story because this particular leader, on his campaign platform, vowed to smash corruption. I suppose corruption is bad only when committed by members of political parties other than his own. I can see why he is so loath to the spotlight: I wouldn't want my underhandedness exposed, either.

Fortunately, for our glorious White Knight, his best friends is the short attention span of the collective conscious. He used his millions to hammer the message home - leaving no time for us to think - to secure his rule, yet when his is the hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar, we end up forgetting all about it, for a variety of reasons (one being a seemingly non-existent opposition in Parilament, but what can we expect from a party guilty of the same deeds? It's as if one needs the other to exist, but this is a topic for another discussion.)

We know the government is, has been, and will forever be corrupt; sadly, we keep electing them. Every few years, we are seduced by the same rhetoric, and bound by the perceived lack of options come election day; should we decide against casting a ballot for lack of a better choice, it is as if we do not exist. Those of us who do make that pilgrimage to the local polling station naïvely believe the elected representatives to be in charge of this operation, thereby neglecting the corporate capital flowing into their coffers in exchange for a favourable agenda.

We are led to believe there is nothing we can do about corruption. So long as we harbour such a belief, we are right. This is what is called a self-fulfilling prophecy: so long as we, the people, allow this sort of shit to happen, it will happen, and it will happen.

We elected a government on the premise of accountability, and now it, too, has proven itself unfit to carry such a banner. We are forever let down by the Red and Blue parties (or, if you feel so inclined, the Red-and-Blue party), and cannot hope for a third to set things right, as the powers-that-be will not permit them to govern. So what is left for us to do?

The wealth may lie in the hands of the few, but the machinery causing its flux lies in ours. These hands of ours can be used to feed each other, rather than the machinery. These hands of ours can bring the machinery to a halt. It is time these hands of ours started doing as they were meant to do, rather than as they are told. This is already beginning, albeit on a small scale; I have faith it will grow, much like a properly nurtured plant or animal, but it will only grow if it is nurtured, meaning it is time we nurture each other: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It is time we open our eyes to the truth, for we cannot hide from it, nor can we conceal it. It is time to recognize the open sores we have allowed to fester, so that they may heal. It is time for we, the people, to stand together, as people, as living creatures of this beautiful planet of ours.

Most of all, it is time for the elite to liberate themselves from the power that enslaves them: your institution may appear mighty, but its infrastructure is cracking, and soon, it will collapse.