What I want from my government
Dec. 29th, 2004 01:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageThis post is inspired by a conversation with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
georgiaskydiver, a very nice lady who has views that differ dramatically from my own. :) This is definitely a PoAC, too.
I got to thinking: what exactly is it that I, a citizen, taxpayer, parent, and conservative socialist, want from my government? The following list is in no particular order. Some items are things my government(s) already do fairly well. Others are areas where I would like to see improvement. They have one thing in common, though: they look towards the future. I am concerned, not just with my own well-being or even that of my family, but with the well-being of the society I will leave to my children and my grandchildren.
1) I want a government that respects my concerns and values. I want to feel like, even if my representatives don't agree with me, they're going to listen to me and respect that my opinion has been carefully considered before being offered. I will pay them the same courtesy, of course.
2) I want a government whose representatives try to do what they believe the majority of their constituents want. This is a tough one. Our local representatives were all elected with less than 40% of the votes cast. To some extent, representatives have to go with the side which is most vocal, because it can be argued that the most vocal side is the one that cares the most about the outcome. More on this one later.
3) When it is impossible to figure out what the majority wants, or when the majority is so slim that it does not give a clear mandate, I want a government that will make decisions based on the conscience of its members. I do not like the practice of forcing MP's to vote for party initiatives against their own values. This one can be very prickly, too. It raises the spectre of religion and state comingling. I believe that if one professes to a religion, it is important that one's decisions, political and otherwise, be informed by the tenets of that religion. If that means that the time has not yet come for a law permitting gay marriage, for example, then so be it. The time will come for that, because my generations thinks differently about that issue than my parents' generation does. I would rather know that my representatives were voting with their consciences and voted it down, than have the equally difficult spectre of a government's hand forced by a minority opinion. Democracy is not perfect, but it's the best we've got in an imperfect world.
4) I want a government that will be responsible with my money - at least as responsible as I would be myself. There will necessarily be some waste. That's normal in any large organization. But I want the services rendered to be good value for the money. What services are those? We're coming to that. (This, btw, is the "conservative" part of my nature coming through. It is reasonable to hold governments accountable for money.)
5) I want a government which will provide for the basic needs of all its citizens, when it so happens that the citizens in question are not able to take care of themselves. Included in this are welfare, employment insurance, medicare, and child advocacy services. I believe in helping people. This is a part of the social contract that governments have with their citizens: we pay you our hard-earned tax dollars in order to make our community a better place for everyone in it. (I did say I was a socialist, right?) I think the Canadian government usually places value on this one. They don't always live up to it, but they value it. It's a start.
6) I want a government that values the welfare of children. I specifically left this out of #5, though it could easily have been lumped in there, because children are vitally important to any society. I want a government that prioritizes education at all levels, to supporting families with young children, providing for maternity leaves, all the way up to making higher education accessible to as many people as possible. The future of our society rests in how we raise our children. We have learned so much in recent years about how children grow, develop, and learn. We need to support the process, especially for people who don't have the education or the income to do a good job of it on their own. Certainly, I know that the lower the socioeconomic level of the parents, the lower the likely socioeconomic prospects of the children. But I believe that good education starting in preschool has the power to save at least some poor kids from repeating the lives of their parents. Most of you have read my rants about the education system in the past, so I won't repeat them here. Suffice it to say that the party with the most concern for child welfare will be the one that gets my vote.
7) I want a government that will represent our values well to the rest of the world. This includes military expenditures, in my mind, because the main role of the Canadian military is peacekeeping and, sometimes, peacemaking. Overall, my government does fairly well at this; witness their aid in the recent votes in Ukraine. Members of every party, former parliamentarians who have shouted at and insulted each other in Ottawa for decades, got on a plane together and went to help that country in their peacefully-stated desire to get a fairly elected government. I'm proud of that. Mind you, I would like to see our military using at least some equipment that's younger than I am. For the most part, though, this is an area of strength for Canada.
8) Last, certainly not least: I want a government that actually represents the will of the people. We do not have this at the moment, as mentioned in #2. I want electoral reform that will see most votes actually going to elect someone. When more than half the votes are for people and ideas that don't get any power, the system is flawed. I think the best system would be a variation on what we have now, where ridings are grouped by region and the seats doled out based on percentage of the votes across the region, with one or two floater seats across the province to account for parties whose support is less than 10% but more than 5%, like the Green Party. This kind of system would still see people from Hamilton representing Hamilton, but it would allow for 40% of the seats in this region to go to the Liberals while 35% went to the NDP, instead of having the NDP trumped in almost every riding by the slightly larger vote for the liberals.
If anyone can think of anything I've missed, comment and I'll add it. Also, if you disagree on any issue, comment. As always, reasoned, polite debate is welcome.
georgiaskydiver, a very nice lady who has views that differ dramatically from my own. :) This is definitely a PoAC, too.I got to thinking: what exactly is it that I, a citizen, taxpayer, parent, and conservative socialist, want from my government? The following list is in no particular order. Some items are things my government(s) already do fairly well. Others are areas where I would like to see improvement. They have one thing in common, though: they look towards the future. I am concerned, not just with my own well-being or even that of my family, but with the well-being of the society I will leave to my children and my grandchildren.
1) I want a government that respects my concerns and values. I want to feel like, even if my representatives don't agree with me, they're going to listen to me and respect that my opinion has been carefully considered before being offered. I will pay them the same courtesy, of course.
2) I want a government whose representatives try to do what they believe the majority of their constituents want. This is a tough one. Our local representatives were all elected with less than 40% of the votes cast. To some extent, representatives have to go with the side which is most vocal, because it can be argued that the most vocal side is the one that cares the most about the outcome. More on this one later.
3) When it is impossible to figure out what the majority wants, or when the majority is so slim that it does not give a clear mandate, I want a government that will make decisions based on the conscience of its members. I do not like the practice of forcing MP's to vote for party initiatives against their own values. This one can be very prickly, too. It raises the spectre of religion and state comingling. I believe that if one professes to a religion, it is important that one's decisions, political and otherwise, be informed by the tenets of that religion. If that means that the time has not yet come for a law permitting gay marriage, for example, then so be it. The time will come for that, because my generations thinks differently about that issue than my parents' generation does. I would rather know that my representatives were voting with their consciences and voted it down, than have the equally difficult spectre of a government's hand forced by a minority opinion. Democracy is not perfect, but it's the best we've got in an imperfect world.
4) I want a government that will be responsible with my money - at least as responsible as I would be myself. There will necessarily be some waste. That's normal in any large organization. But I want the services rendered to be good value for the money. What services are those? We're coming to that. (This, btw, is the "conservative" part of my nature coming through. It is reasonable to hold governments accountable for money.)
5) I want a government which will provide for the basic needs of all its citizens, when it so happens that the citizens in question are not able to take care of themselves. Included in this are welfare, employment insurance, medicare, and child advocacy services. I believe in helping people. This is a part of the social contract that governments have with their citizens: we pay you our hard-earned tax dollars in order to make our community a better place for everyone in it. (I did say I was a socialist, right?) I think the Canadian government usually places value on this one. They don't always live up to it, but they value it. It's a start.
6) I want a government that values the welfare of children. I specifically left this out of #5, though it could easily have been lumped in there, because children are vitally important to any society. I want a government that prioritizes education at all levels, to supporting families with young children, providing for maternity leaves, all the way up to making higher education accessible to as many people as possible. The future of our society rests in how we raise our children. We have learned so much in recent years about how children grow, develop, and learn. We need to support the process, especially for people who don't have the education or the income to do a good job of it on their own. Certainly, I know that the lower the socioeconomic level of the parents, the lower the likely socioeconomic prospects of the children. But I believe that good education starting in preschool has the power to save at least some poor kids from repeating the lives of their parents. Most of you have read my rants about the education system in the past, so I won't repeat them here. Suffice it to say that the party with the most concern for child welfare will be the one that gets my vote.
7) I want a government that will represent our values well to the rest of the world. This includes military expenditures, in my mind, because the main role of the Canadian military is peacekeeping and, sometimes, peacemaking. Overall, my government does fairly well at this; witness their aid in the recent votes in Ukraine. Members of every party, former parliamentarians who have shouted at and insulted each other in Ottawa for decades, got on a plane together and went to help that country in their peacefully-stated desire to get a fairly elected government. I'm proud of that. Mind you, I would like to see our military using at least some equipment that's younger than I am. For the most part, though, this is an area of strength for Canada.
8) Last, certainly not least: I want a government that actually represents the will of the people. We do not have this at the moment, as mentioned in #2. I want electoral reform that will see most votes actually going to elect someone. When more than half the votes are for people and ideas that don't get any power, the system is flawed. I think the best system would be a variation on what we have now, where ridings are grouped by region and the seats doled out based on percentage of the votes across the region, with one or two floater seats across the province to account for parties whose support is less than 10% but more than 5%, like the Green Party. This kind of system would still see people from Hamilton representing Hamilton, but it would allow for 40% of the seats in this region to go to the Liberals while 35% went to the NDP, instead of having the NDP trumped in almost every riding by the slightly larger vote for the liberals.
If anyone can think of anything I've missed, comment and I'll add it. Also, if you disagree on any issue, comment. As always, reasoned, polite debate is welcome.