Meaning, and the Means to achieve it

(ok - this is a long one - if I were a political candidate, this would be my opening speech.)

I think it is a fair to say that we have always wanted the opportunity to express ourselves. The environments we work in, standardized and normalized over the years in search of efficiency (Taylorism, Total Quality, Maturity Models, Six Sigma, etc) have given us a high standard of living and afforded us with the means to create our own environments in which we feel we have the ability to express ourselves. This undoubtedly accounts for the recent trends in home renovations and blogging, where some of us feel we have a certain degree of control in our lives and can express our individuality without fear or retribution.

This trend actually started much earlier. Perhaps around 150 years ago, people began fleeing to the suburbs in pursuit of privacy and expression, to escape their duties as promoted by their Church, state, tribal elders or local wardlords, and enforced through poverty, hardship, restricted education and fear (of violence and/or of god). Religion, on the one hand, lost credibility by denying science and education in desperate attempts to stay in power, yet most people stopped following. State governments, more recently, have lost the confidence of the people through mismanagement and abuse of public resources, and people voted in representatives thta would cut services and amalgamate municipal governments (rather than dress the wounds, we thought it better to amputate). Problem is, these amalgamated city councils appear even more distant furtherer alienating its constituents and effectively reducing democratic involvement.

I fear this democratic deficit is actually a step backwards from the standard of living our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents have achieved for us, which we all take for granted today. By cutting democratic participation and government spending, we are slowly reducing our ability to counter corporate influence and exposing ourselves to greater abuses (environmentally and with conflicts of interest). I also believe that a democratic deficit increases the political risk (control by the government's ability to influence/coerce its people) and discourages technological and other risky investments.

Some would argue that market forces would be sufficient to keep this all in check, but if significant investments start dwindling, we consumers start losing our jobs, any influence we might have had as consumers to encourage industry to "do the right thing" is the first to be sacrificed as we focus on our own survival. (Try telling someone in a 3rd world country to stop cooking over an open fire because it causes global warming.) Canadians would expect our social safety net to catch us - but who pays for it? We are already hugely in debt because of it, and times have been very good. We would have to rely on our credit rating, but with reduced government, reduced investment, fewer jobs, fewer dollars coming in, and vanishing ability (and will) to enforce good legislation (i.e., taxes), how could anyone believe we could turn ourselves around? We would quickly join the ranks of the many banana-republics, where officials (sometimes elected) prostitute themselves to a significantly richer neighbour (currently the US) in desperate hope for favours. Meanwhile, local warlords, tribal elders, and the church will enroll us so they can fight amongst themselves over who will fill the democratic power vacuum.

That is not the kind of society I want to raise my son (or any other children-in-waiting) in. We have institutions, we have laws, and mostly we have great people. I firmly believe we have to restore democracy in our institutions so they can uphold our laws, so that we can continue to afford the quality of life as we know it, and continue to bring out the best in this world. To this end, I am extremely proud to pay my taxes, since the more taxes I have to pay, the more I have made for my family and the more I can share with others so they can enjoy a similar standard of living, express themselves without fear nor retribution, and appreciate the expressions of others.