From CGI member Sonar:

***********************************

and yours too?

An interesting article about the effects of modern technologies combined with pushing and controlling the party line, and its counter-productiveness.

I have to make a personal comment on the statement Meslin made in the above article about the young protesting.

"But more importantly, all the kids who are walking out of school to protest against climate change or class cuts, we constantly see reminders in the news that people care about issues and are willing to invest time and energy when they feel that that investment will make a difference."

I was 15 and in my last year of high school in the fall of 1973, when two teachers who had begun teaching at our school, maybe the year before, called me aside to speak with me in their office. I of course agreed, and was told that the teachers didn't make enough money to support their families and needed a union. I was asked to help by leading a student walk-out. Of course, I wanted to help my teachers, so I went around to all the classes, somehow speaking to someone in each classroom about walking out that day, right after lunch (if I remember correctly).

It went off beautifully - everyone went outside, and "miraculously," minutes later, the news cameras arrived. I stood near the cameras as they panned the line of students from right to left (they were all smiling and waving, so I rushed along reminding them that it was a protest, not a party) and then the camera panned back left to right (and all the students looked seriously concerned).

I went home and watched it on TV that night, and knew that there was something very wrong with it, but it would take some time for me to identify all the issues completely. Clearly none of the students cared about the issue at all, but were very happy that they got out of school early on a sunny autumn day, and would even be on the news that night. I had no idea if all the teachers wanted to unionize, or even what it would mean in the future. The two new teachers had used me, and quickly moved up in the education hierarchy - one in the school board and the other in the union.

I vowed I'd never let them use me again in that way. I would refuse two opportunities to read for the news, and a number of tentative opportunities to join various "private clubs." It's been a challenge on many fronts, but I don't regret it, and have come to appreciate my freedom from that kind of control more and more.

Sonar

How teleprompters and canned campaign speeches may be hurting our democratic system

'I think it's really pushing people away from politics,' says activist and author Dave Meslin

CBC Radio · Posted: Sep 14, 2019 7:49 AM ET

This story is part of Day 6's Democracy Divided series. Each instalment takes a close look at the health of the democratic system in Canada leading up to the Oct. 21 federal election.

A five-week long federal election campaign will offer plenty of chances for Canadians to engage in the democratic process, but political activist Dave Meslin, who swore off party politics after becoming disillusioned as a campaign volunteer, believes modern campaigns are actually part of the problem.

"There's lots of reasons why people are tuning out, and one of the biggest problems is the way that political parties campaign, the way they speak to us, and the way they engage their volunteers," Meslin, the author of Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up, told Day 6 host Brent Bambury.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau triggered the campaign on Wednesday and the Oct. 21 election will offer Canadians a chance to weigh in on the issues that matter most to them.

But according to a recent CBC News poll, nearly 50 per cent of Canadians feel that none of the parties on offer accurately represents what they care about most.

More than a third of Canadians don't think their vote will make a difference.

Teardown is billed as a 'handbook of democratic solutions in troubled times.' (Penguin Random House)
Meslin told Day 6 host Brent Bambury why he believes modern political campaigns are hurting Canadian democracy.

Here's part of that conversation:

You've been immersed in Canada's political landscape for decades. How broken is the modern political campaign?

I think it's a mockery of what it could be. And I think we've reached a point where we probably even have trouble imagining what an exciting and inspiring election would even look like.

But I'm encouraging you and your listeners to try and do that. Imagine knowing an election is coming up and you feel motivated about that because it's an opportunity to discuss ideas, to shift leadership, to see new, bold ideas implemented, and you're like, 'Oh cool! Election!'

I don't think many people are feeling that way right now.

Twenty years ago, you actually were a campaign volunteer for the NDP and you hated that experience so much that you swore off party politics forever. What made it so disillusioning for you?

I really wanted to get involved and I ended up in a campaign office during an election, and I kind of imagined that the volunteers would be trained on the issues, on the platform, and that we would go out as messengers and try and persuade voters.

In the end, I learned that all these partisan campaigns really just use their volunteers as data collection assistants. And they're collecting data on how every person in each house is planning on voting for the sole purpose of harassing them on election day to remind them to vote.

There's very little data to show that it makes a difference.

Much more at link, with option to listen.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/the-trouble-with-campaigns-the-testaments-impeach-o-meter-indigenous-theatre-iran-s-blue-girl-and-more-1.5281102/how-teleprompters-and-canned-campaign-speeches-may-be-hurting-our-democratic-system-1.5281119