Word Of The Day
Politics, or rather the discussion of politics, can be a vicious thing.
Canada is predominantly a left wing type country. Our media tends to reflect this. Both CBC and CTV news channels are more liberal in their views, and only in the past few years has a right wing news channel come into being.
That would be the Sun News Network. First aired April 18, 2011, last aired February 13, 2015. Part of the problem, I think, of why it didn't last is its hosts' predilection for name calling anything remotely left of centre. It switched focus from news to more opinion pieces, which was fine, but it still maintained a very mean spirited, insulting view.
In my home province of Alberta, we've had a Conservative government for over 40 years. And that doesn't show any signs of ending soon, what with an election expected to be called in the next few months.
Recently, a candidate for the New Democratic Party, a left of centre party stopped at my house to see if she could have my vote. I told her my experience in dealing with the NDP party of British Columbia, the insistence that everything be government run with government monopolies on everything, and how they claimed that was cheaper than the private sector. My $120 per month car insurance in BC sure felt cheaper than the $100 car insurance from a private company in Alberta. Mind you, I don't think I was snide, I appreciated her viewpoint, but I don't know if I'm inclined to vote left. The point is though, that it was a civil conversation. No name calling. No insults flying.
Both the left and the right wingers have engaged at some point in name calling. To me, insults are not a valid viewpoint to growth and understanding. They'll shout out 'Commie' or 'Hippie' or 'Fascist', without explaining their point of view, thinking those blanket, generalized terms explain themselves.
They do, just not at the person targeted.