The Editor,
Re: "Occupiers need focus," Letters, Oct. 19
I agree that a single focus needs to be articulated. However, even though election finance is a worthy issue to tackle, in practical terms, there are many ways to "sponsor" election candidates below the radar yet perfectly legal.
I like to think that our whole structure of democracy would need a major overhaul. The problem with elected politicians is that they have an interest in self-preservation. They want to be re-elected.
This is regardless how much election financing they received. This survival instinct cuts across all strips.
The result? Their talks are biased and filtered.
Our current political system is basically a dinosaur based on the outcome of the American and French revolutions in the late 1700s, a 300-plus years old of ideas and values. What worked back then is no longer capable of answering many of today's issues.
Take civility for example. It was a quality that was basically looked upon as a given not that many years ago.
Another one is the spirit of cooperation. But if we look at our multi-party system today in Canada (or most other western countries for that matter), it is one of oneupmanship to see who can outshout, outdistort, and outdumb-down the issues.
Ask yourself this question next time you watch a politician speak on TV: Can I tell which part is neutral, and which is biased and self-serving?
Pretty hard isn't it? It was crafted that way! How can politicians expect us to make intelligent decisions when there is no unbiased information to begin with?
Answer: We aren't supposed to!
We are supposed to make decisions that would favour the politician who was doing the talking, a self-serving exercise.
If we think of the old monarchy system with kings and queens as Government 1.0, along this line, we can think of our democratic system with elections and parties as Government 2.0.
Each version of the political system was invented to solve a particular situation in history. Each did its job well and helped move humanity forward, more or less.
Unfortunately, our outdated democratic system from centuries past would need a major upgrade. That is, we need an upgrade to Government 3.0!
A system where citizens can get unbiased, undoctored information from disinterested bodies to start.
This should be the focus.
Patrick Chun
Richmond
