Post-dystopian Politics in a Pre-Dystopian World

Professor Henry Giroux holds the Global TV Network Chair at McMaster University in the English and Cultural Studies Department.  For quite a number of years he has written about the changing nature of the society we live in and how corporations along with financial and political elites are controlling the actions of government in order to enrich and empower the richest and most powerful members of society while the vast majority are left to struggle.

His most recent article (link below), which is incisive and thought provoking, focuses on "violent", authoritative and militaristic government policies and how they negatively impact peoples' ability to live a hopeful and  meaningful life.

The focus of Giroux's article is the US but his comments can equally apply to Canada, as it has been transformed by Conservatives policies under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

To paraphrase from one of the paragraphs in the essay:

Any viable movement [towards a reinvigorated] democracy needs not only to fight manufactured ignorance, economic inequality, racial [and social] injustice but also produce a community that manifests the values of equality, mutual respect [and hope for the future] . . . [things which are] missing in a world that [functions in a paradigm of robber baron capitalism where the pursuit of profit is justified by any means -- even if those means include a hollowed out democracy, environmental degradation, social injustice, human suffering and despair.

I encourage you to read it and pass it on to others.  Only by raising awareness can we hope to mobilize enough people to speak out and take action against politicians who are more than willing to impliment policies which are destroying the limited infrastructure of the compassionate and caring society that was built since the 1960s.  To not act is to condemn Canada to become the sort of society we see in many parts of the U.S. where social Darwinism is a reality. 

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/19025-beyond-savage-politics-and-dystopian-nightmares 

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