Politics, in my opinion, is an illusion if not a game. And at times, it is like a dance, a dance of power and control.Political parties strategize in terms of winning people's minds to their party: the likelihood of the public voting in their favour and/or the possibility of swaying people to the contrary of what they may have believed in and/or voted for in past.
Consider the MLAs in BC for example - some in the past year - who have resigned from one of the main political parties to join, usually, the opposing party! (I find that rather interesting and somewhat amusing, don’t you?)
At the end of January or beginning of February, I had witnessed this play of power in the forms of a survey that came via email and an automated telephone message. One could speculate the reason and possible outcome of these surveys as revealed in the questions.
According to the survey outcome, I assumed the parties would reconsider their stance on important electoral issues leading up to the May election in BC. This in turn could challenge me, i.e., sway me as a potential elector to cast my ballot in favour of a particular political party. Isn't that what electoral and political campaigns are about anyway? To influence voting members in their decision to vote for them?!
The distorted survey questions were not only absurd to me and poorly worded, but shaping seemingly into some form of a bribe. I was appalled, yet not 100% shocked given the state of political leaders in past and our political history. Political leaders are known to make false promises, breaking their word after being elected.
The survey alluded to undercover, criminal-like activity on a mental/emotional level, though at the same time outrightly blatant, at least to me. Did the wordsmith(s) deem it innocuous?
The questions posed implied that if you were to lean towards the right – and the political leader was left-wing, then he or she might reconsider their positions on previous decisions they made on grave matters, in order, and only, to gain your vote.
I say this because the survey went more or less like this: If the Liberal party voted in favour of Enbridge, how likely would you be to vote for the Liberals? And vice versa, If the Liberal party were to vote against Enbridge – an important environmental issue for us in BC in this upcoming election by the way – how likely would you vote for the Liberals?
Excuse me?! Hello? Are you kidding me? was the immediate thought I had. I couldn’t believe it. How appallingly preposterous! The juxtaposition of the languaging was not only unusual, it was downright ludicrous. At least, that’s what I thought of the questions they were asking of others and me.
To top things off, the message continued on astoundingly with the audacity to repeat similar questions concerning the NDP party. I was blown away. I just couldn’t believe my ears!
Needless to say, I outrightly refused to answer directly, instead often replying, “neutral” or “not sure” and stating that the questions were blackmail-like in nature; I couldn't think of the right term at the time, I was so stunned. Hmmm, wonder what they did with my survey result?!
Oh, and by the way, did I wish to forward this survey to others as the recording suggested? 'ell no! Though it might have been interesting to see what people’s responses might have been, I wasn’t interested in wasting their time, nor mine. (I hung on till the end only to give them my impression of the survey, even if it was by voice mail.)
I have discovered many years ago, that there are politics in life no matter where you go, especially in business whether public, private, or nonprofit. And politics is definitely a business, a business in itself, in its own right.
It reminds me of a popular 1980's tune with an apropos message in its lyrics, "The politics of dancing, the politics of ooo feeling good...” except the reverse in this case, "the dancing of politics." (See http://www.lyricstime.com/re-flex-the-politics-of-dancing-lyrics.html)
What do you think of the political climate right now in BC? And the politics of life - life in general and yes, your life also! Is there a reflection? Perhaps a micro- of a macrocosm?
p.s. To mind comes the image of a young boy who I worked with years ago who loved creating games. I was wondering what game board he would have invented to reflect politics and how to win the “political game.” ;)
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