What would actually unite Canadians?
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We often hear the phrase “We need people to unite us,” but what does that actually mean?
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Perhaps this is a blanket generalization, but I believe when someone says this they are demanding a leader who unites Canadians by upholding the values and traditions with which they agree. Leaders who fight for specific population groups.
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In that sense, there will never be anyone who can “unite” Canadians. In fact, we shouldn’t be relying on leaders to unite us anyway because it doesn’t serve their interests.
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Depending on your bias, you will agree with whoever leads the party you belong to. Or whatever online “intellectual” you’ve gotten to take your money.
In the online world where outrage sells, it’s hard to look past all the noise to realize there could be a lot that connects us. But we choose to focus on the negative. It’s only natural, our brains have been conditioned to it for our own survival.
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We can’t even agree on a number of facts. We’re so jacked up in our own little online ecosystems that sometimes even the truth seems alien and offensive.
I have already written that we are not as divided as some will claim. I stand by that view because social media turmoil aside, there’s a lot we can agree on.
Pierre Poilievre or Justin Trudeau will never remind us because they are in the business of winning elections, not “uniting” us. As liberals’ popularity wanes, it’s less that people support conservatives than they are fed up with liberals. We saw this leading up to the 2015 election when people were fed up with Stephen Harper.
The point is that people aren’t very good at uniting us. We are flawed creatures and there will always be those who disagree.
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At the same time, a person is not divisive by pointing out flaws in the systems and institutions that weren’t built to be inclusive. Calling everyone who supports these institutions bigoted racists? This is divisive.
We cannot hold people to the same standards as we do ourselves. Instead of blaming the ignorant for their alleged wrongdoing, we would be better placed to educate them calmly. This is something I struggle with on a daily basis.
However, it seems that rational conversations about complicated subjects have gone out the window these days. Do not believe me? Check the comments under almost any article online. We prefer to just spit at ourselves horrible things that are useless and distract us.
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One of the things that has frustrated me lately is this incessant blaming of the Trudeau administration for all the troubles in ailing Canada. There is no doubt that the federal government shoulders much of the blame. But that rhetoric is useless and distracts us from the fact that Canada is essentially a bunch of oligopolies tied together in a nifty little bow. It also distracts us from the terrible provincial governments currently in power across the country. Also, let’s not pretend that the Conservatives or the New Democrats are God’s gift to Parliament Hill.
Perhaps what can unite us is the realization that most people are not after you. What can bring us together is that those in power have no interest in seeing the public united.
Most people want their children to have a better future than their own. Most people want a safe home with enough food and warm clothing. We all want to have a sense of community and the opportunity to succeed.
In this sense, we should not seek other people to unite us. Why should we hope for unity in those in power when we constantly denounce them for dividing us?
It’s up to us to cut through the noise and settle our differences.
Twitter: @steltsy94
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