Liberal Scum: A Rant

The liberal leadership convention took place at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto yesterday, January 26th, 2013 where the new leader of the liberal party was selected, as well as Ontario’s new premier, Kathleen Wynne. This is following the resignation of ex-premier Dalton McGuinty as well as former leader Michael Ignatieff, who announced his resignation in May 2011 after the federal election, where the liberal party wasn’t exactly successful. Around 10,000 people gathered in Allen Gardens after an anti-poverty march this afternoon, mainly union folk and activists from all over Ontario who were more than ready to confront the liberals. Overall the rally was quite peaceful, although it is becoming more and more clear that the people of Ontario are fed up with the liberal agenda of austerity, anti-labour, and practices that increase rather than alleviate the extreme poverty in this province. The rally was organized by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), and several other anti-poverty organizations, unions, and activist groups.

Although it really is much more complex, I guess you could say that these are the three main demands of the anti-austerity movement:

1) Raise the rates of Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)

2) Bring back community start-up funding for both of these.

3) Affordable housing

Where do I even start with this? If I wanted to, I could ramble on about what political parties should be doing to solve these problems. I could talk about where their priorities should be, where they should be directing funding and what types of programs they should be supporting. I wouldn’t be wrong in saying those things. However, I don’t want to do that anymore.

I am fucking sick of political parties. Want to know how I feel about them? In this case, the liberal party?

Something hit me today. It’s not that it didn’t before, but it hit me in a new way. It felt more real than ever for some reason and I don’t really understand why. I was standing at the front of the crowd outside of Maple Leaf Gardens. The police had blocked the entrance of course, but they created a pathway for people going in and out of the building, so basically they would be walking past the crowd every time…the walk of shame, no doubt.

These people…some of them may have been politicians, perhaps their assistants; they were somehow connected to the liberal party (funny–I actually saw someone I went to high school with). They would walk past the crowd and look at the angry people in front of them, people who are angry because they’ve been mistreated. The stability of their jobs, and well-being of their families and lives are continuously tossed around in order to make sure that the rich don’t lose anything from this economic meltdown. Anyway, they would walk past the crowd…smirking…and taking pictures…and holding hands and laughing to each other at what was in front of them.

I don’t know what else to say except…there is something wrong here…really fucking wrong. I’m looking at these privileged assholes who probably never have to worry about where their next meal is coming from or possibly losing their home, or their job or their basic human rights. And they are LAUGHING at other humans and the hardships they have to face.

FYI: Basic human rights are not guaranteed in Canada. What if you can’t afford food? What if you can’t afford shelter or clothing or anything? These are all supposed to be HUMAN RIGHTS. And they are not guaranteed unless you have the money to pay for them. You have to buy your rights in this country because the people who control everything–those scumbag politicians who don’t really give a shit about you or me or anyone–will not give them to you, even if your life is on the line. This is the society we live in, folks.

I don’t understand how anyone can stand for this. Why do people even bother with this system anymore? Why do people sit around and talk about who’s winning the election, which political party they support, who should be the overlord of the country, etc…why do people put their faith in any of them, or take them seriously in any way, when they are laughing–FUCKING LAUGHING–at your oppression?

People seem to be worshipping Kathleen Wynn already, because she’s the first woman premier and she’s openly gay. That’s all well and good, but when are we going to start treating the disease rather than just attempting to eliminate the symptoms? Sure, she might make a few positive changes here and there…but in the end, there will still be starving people, homeless people, affordable housing shortages, sexual violence, hate crimes, prejudice, and basically every problem you can think of that we’re currently facing. A few positive changes aren’t good enough. I want more. I want REAL change. And I’m sure you do too.

So in that case, stop pandering to them. Stop supporting them. Stop “keeping the peace”. Stop cooperating with them. Stop giving them power. The more power and authority you give them, the more you tighten the leash on yourself and the more you are part of the problem, as in you are contributing to your own oppression and the oppression of your loved ones.

 

 

Anyway, this took a different direction then I had originally planned. I wanted to make it sound super academicy and factual, but I’m feeling like death and my head is all fuzzy so I rambled instead haha. Perhaps there will be a better post about this in the future.

In Solidarity,

~Bailey