DEMOCRACY IS FAILING

It's a pessimistic outlook but it is shared amongst those who are seriously observing and thinking. Steve Kannon in today's Woolwich Observer gives us his thoughts on the matter of democracy with his Editor's Notes titled "U.S. politics have been dumbed down, but we have plenty of concerns here too".

There are diminihed expectations about the role of government according to Steve. Government is reduced to managerial functions. The economy seems to be about reducing services and costs while taxes continue to rise. Deregulation of industry and corporations expands while the financial industry sets the agenda. Citizenship is dumbed down to passive observation with occasional trips to the polling stations to vote for the name or face we like.

While Steve, appropriately in my opinion, criticizes corporate America and Canada too, the reality is that citizens are both unattached and apathetic. We are essentially giving away the country. There are both private environmental and human and civil rights organizations who are resisting but the rest of us are drifting. It is not a good scenario and future generations will curse us for our benign neglect. The powerful and wealthy in the country couldn't be much happier about all of this. Perhaps TAG (Technical Advisory Group) here in Elmira, Ontario are a microcosm of all this. Keep bringing in new people while doing your best to marginalize those with knowledge and experience regarding the environmental mess caused by Chemtura Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Environment.