Civility is gone,

we're hateful and intolerant

25-02-03

We used to be able to disagree but respect each other. Now reaction to diverse opinions and ideas draw venomous responses.

We even hate some cars. People in both Canada and the United States disrespect each other’s national anthem at sporting events.

The deep-seated hate extends to individuals we don’t agree with. Most recently some Canadians began a campaign to bar U.S. President Donald Trump from attending a G7 conference in Canada this summer. A Canadian member of Parliament supported a petition to cancel Elon Musk’s Canadian citizenship.

All because they didn’t agree with them. Some have gone to the extent of demonstrations outside Tesla dealerships because Musk owns the company. Musk is targeted for exposing government waste and fraud, which you would think would be popular.

It's censorship.

The way we treat our own politicians is despicable. We vilify them personally rather than their politics. For years the Liberals and NDP have smeared Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre tagging him with names like Nazi. Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been a target to such a degree that he stepped down. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has been maligned after he kept the unpopular Liberals to keep them in power while trashing them.

Social media is responsible to a large part but the political parties themselves are largely to blame. They run advertising campaigns targeting the leaders rather than the issues. And that rubs off on the public, as is intended, so it spreads far and wide, doing more harm than good.

We’re early in the life of the present B.C. government but to date there has been more attention to issues than the leaders, though there’s been some of that. It may be explained that there are so many issues that need attention that they don’t have the time to attack each other. This mandate is young, so things are most likely to change.

Even here in our city, groups of people who have not been able to get their own way have targeted city council members, specifically Mayor Leonard Krog.

You don’t have to hate Polievre, Singh, Eby, Rustad or Krog, Trump or Musk, your focus should be on actions.

Crossing the line, Trump is a rude, loud-mouth bully but the polls show he still has greater support than any presidents in the past half century. It remains to be seen what comes out of that approach or whether it’s just The Art of the Deal. Not agreeing with him should not ban him from visiting our country.

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