I have had more than a few conversations with people who do not believe this is the case. Their argument goes something like this. I vote in elections but no matter who is in power nothing really seems to change.
The problem with that argument is that 99% of politics takes place in between elections and behind closed doors.
If you do not believe me I would point to the fact that in every western democracy there is a broad and deep network of associations, thinktanks and organizations whose function is to push the points of view and the interests of businesses and corporations. These organizations along with the paid lobbyists that that businesses retain to represent them on specific issues cost Canadian businesses 10s of millions of dollars PER YEAR. Business, which is single mindedly concerned with profit, would not spend that kind of money on lobbying governments if they believed it would be ineffective, useless and not conducive to increasing their profits. Or to put it another way they would not invest that money into politics if they believed that politics did not matter.
All of this lobbying takes place outside of elections and for the most part it takes place where no camera or journalist is present to record it.
Lobbying is not evil. It is a necessary activity that helps governments to be effective and responsive to those they govern but it is also necessary that governments hear from a diversity of voices to maximise the efficacy of lobbying on policy making. In theory, when a government proposes a new policy all of those different voices weigh in and they rarely budge from their initial positions. It is up to government to find the compromise and remarkably that compromise almost always winds up being for the greater good. That diversity of voices has increasingly disappeared over the last couple decades with the result being that the voice of the business community has become the dominent one. It used to be that they were balanced out by Unions and other non-business interests but one of the objectives of the lobbying of businesses has been to reduce the ability of non-business interests in maintaining an effective voice with which to influence governments. That is one big reason why businesses and their allies on the right have been so relentless in attacking unions. While they are concerned about labour costs eating into their profits their greater motivation is to monopolize the ear of governments so that they will develop laws and policies that benefit them and only them. Unions are not perfect by any means and they are just as prone to stupidity as any other organization but they can provide alternate points of view which is crucial when making policy.
By the way if you believe that your interests align with the business community in any meaningful way you are naive. Any alignment is coincidental and transitory and government policies made exclusively for their benefit will not benefit you in the long run.
What has been the result? Well, do you feel safe in your job? Do you find it becoming more and more difficult to keep your financial head above water? The Canadian economy is booming , in a relative sense, do you feel that you are personally benefiting from that boom? Or is there always a little bit of fear in the back of your mind that your economic wellbeing is beyond your control and that through no fault of your own it could go off the rails at any time?
A more concrete example of how politics matters. In the current Ontario election I am certain electricity prices will be mentioned a few times. It should be noted that the foundation for the current high prices for electricity was laid in the 1990s when the government of Ontario decided to deregulate the electricity industry in the province. The problem was the electricity industry was a monopoly and it still is. So the government essentially gave a monopoly a free hand to set prices without any interference or accountability. If you have ever played the game of Monopoly it should not be too hard for you to figure out that such actions would lead to higher prices and they have been rising ever since. Incidentally, politicians will be talking about how to deal with high electricity prices in Ontario in the coming weeks. If any solution to high electricity prices spouted by a politician does not include the phrase “re-regulation of the Ontario electricity industry” they are talking out of their ass. The government gave up the power to stop the rise in electricity prices and to hold the electricity industry accountable for the high prices over 20 years ago. That is how it will stay unless they are willing to take back that power, which no Ontario political party has indicated they are prepared to do.
The funny thing is governments (of all political stripes) and business know that the imbalance is causing problems for ordinary people. They know it is creating a general malaise with citizens but they are unwilling to change course for a host of reasons. So instead they seek to distract and misdirect. Really, does anybody find it odd that one of the defining issues of the 2015 federal election was a piece of cloth worn by few thousand Muslim women? The economy was in the shitter but the niqab dominated the election campaign for weeks.
Will things change? No. For that to happen ordinary citizens need to be willing to become more involved in politics in between elections. They will need to be willing to make the effort of maintain sustained pressure on those who govern us to look out for out interests. Hell, ordinary citizens will need to figure out what their interests are for themselves instead of listening to what politicians and the media say are their interests. However, that will not happen. A few of us will try to influence politics for the benefit of the greater good but the majority will carry on in quiet desperation and do nothing.
The problem with that argument is that 99% of politics takes place in between elections and behind closed doors.
If you do not believe me I would point to the fact that in every western democracy there is a broad and deep network of associations, thinktanks and organizations whose function is to push the points of view and the interests of businesses and corporations. These organizations along with the paid lobbyists that that businesses retain to represent them on specific issues cost Canadian businesses 10s of millions of dollars PER YEAR. Business, which is single mindedly concerned with profit, would not spend that kind of money on lobbying governments if they believed it would be ineffective, useless and not conducive to increasing their profits. Or to put it another way they would not invest that money into politics if they believed that politics did not matter.
All of this lobbying takes place outside of elections and for the most part it takes place where no camera or journalist is present to record it.
Lobbying is not evil. It is a necessary activity that helps governments to be effective and responsive to those they govern but it is also necessary that governments hear from a diversity of voices to maximise the efficacy of lobbying on policy making. In theory, when a government proposes a new policy all of those different voices weigh in and they rarely budge from their initial positions. It is up to government to find the compromise and remarkably that compromise almost always winds up being for the greater good. That diversity of voices has increasingly disappeared over the last couple decades with the result being that the voice of the business community has become the dominent one. It used to be that they were balanced out by Unions and other non-business interests but one of the objectives of the lobbying of businesses has been to reduce the ability of non-business interests in maintaining an effective voice with which to influence governments. That is one big reason why businesses and their allies on the right have been so relentless in attacking unions. While they are concerned about labour costs eating into their profits their greater motivation is to monopolize the ear of governments so that they will develop laws and policies that benefit them and only them. Unions are not perfect by any means and they are just as prone to stupidity as any other organization but they can provide alternate points of view which is crucial when making policy.
By the way if you believe that your interests align with the business community in any meaningful way you are naive. Any alignment is coincidental and transitory and government policies made exclusively for their benefit will not benefit you in the long run.
What has been the result? Well, do you feel safe in your job? Do you find it becoming more and more difficult to keep your financial head above water? The Canadian economy is booming , in a relative sense, do you feel that you are personally benefiting from that boom? Or is there always a little bit of fear in the back of your mind that your economic wellbeing is beyond your control and that through no fault of your own it could go off the rails at any time?
A more concrete example of how politics matters. In the current Ontario election I am certain electricity prices will be mentioned a few times. It should be noted that the foundation for the current high prices for electricity was laid in the 1990s when the government of Ontario decided to deregulate the electricity industry in the province. The problem was the electricity industry was a monopoly and it still is. So the government essentially gave a monopoly a free hand to set prices without any interference or accountability. If you have ever played the game of Monopoly it should not be too hard for you to figure out that such actions would lead to higher prices and they have been rising ever since. Incidentally, politicians will be talking about how to deal with high electricity prices in Ontario in the coming weeks. If any solution to high electricity prices spouted by a politician does not include the phrase “re-regulation of the Ontario electricity industry” they are talking out of their ass. The government gave up the power to stop the rise in electricity prices and to hold the electricity industry accountable for the high prices over 20 years ago. That is how it will stay unless they are willing to take back that power, which no Ontario political party has indicated they are prepared to do.
The funny thing is governments (of all political stripes) and business know that the imbalance is causing problems for ordinary people. They know it is creating a general malaise with citizens but they are unwilling to change course for a host of reasons. So instead they seek to distract and misdirect. Really, does anybody find it odd that one of the defining issues of the 2015 federal election was a piece of cloth worn by few thousand Muslim women? The economy was in the shitter but the niqab dominated the election campaign for weeks.
Will things change? No. For that to happen ordinary citizens need to be willing to become more involved in politics in between elections. They will need to be willing to make the effort of maintain sustained pressure on those who govern us to look out for out interests. Hell, ordinary citizens will need to figure out what their interests are for themselves instead of listening to what politicians and the media say are their interests. However, that will not happen. A few of us will try to influence politics for the benefit of the greater good but the majority will carry on in quiet desperation and do nothing.
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