ed_rex: (Default)
ed_rex ([personal profile] ed_rex) wrote2006-01-23 05:39 pm

Bourgeois Radical?

No doubt to the disappointment of some of you, I will be casting a ballot this evening, neither declining it, nor even simply refusing to show up at the poll.

Though I am not excited by what I expect to be the outcome - a Tory government whose degree of neoconservative, self-loathing, Republican America worship remains to be seen - I still hope for a minority government, one which may be kept somewhat in check by a stronger NDP prescence.

That said, I would not expect revolutionary change even if it were an NDP government - what was once a (relatively) radical democratic socialist movement has become a left-liberal party, spending too much of its time defending such self-evident Good Things as universal medical care and fundamental human rights, without a corresponding vision of what might this an even better country in which to live. Any thoughts of challenging the economic status quo - as opposed to reigning in its worst excesses - are put aside for another era. I'll vote for the NDP because I believe they are an effective opposition party - and will be especially so if they hold the balance of power in a minority situation - not because I believe they have a vision for the future.

As befits the end of a campaign of much vented heat but little directed light, I too have placed my bet on the outcome of tonight's race.

For the record:

Conservatives:---> 132
Liberals:--------> 85
Bloc:------------> 47
NDP:-------------> 42
Green:-----------> 1
Independent:-----> 1

You can all have a good laugh at my expense in a few hours.

Corruption? Oi

[identity profile] ed-rex.livejournal.com 2006-01-24 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
I think this corruption complaint is overblown. Yes, there has been corruption among the ruling parties, but it's been pretty small potatoes. What concerns me more is the apparent lack of any ideas in that party.

Martin's brief reign has been one of the most inept I've ever seen. For a man who spent so much time plotting to take power, he seems to have spent very little time figuring out what he would do once he had it.