The majority of Canadian provinces have conservative governments. Why do people vote against their own class interests?
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” ― Edward Bernays, Propaganda
No idea. I’ve been slowly setting myself up to move abroad as the things that are important to me either don’t exist in Canada or are disappearing year after year.
This comment isn’t meant to be flippant. I personally believe walkable cities, decent public transit, and decent public services are an important part of preventing social decay. Canada generally doesn’t have much of this left. Seeing public healthcare slip away (not just increasing privatization but even just degradation in quality of public care) feels like the last straw for me.
I’m excited to explore new places later this year. Nowhere is perfect but certainly there are places with a better balance of positives, or so I suspect.
How can anyone look at American style healthcare and see that as an improvement? How many horror stories of people being bankrupted by a medical procedure to people need to read to be wary?
Conservative politicians and their buddies see it as an opportunity to profit off people’s misery. The mystery to me is why so many people who stand to suffer under them keep voting Conservative, when all the indications are that they’ll make everyone’s life materially worse, as they always have done, and when the NDP exists as an electable alternative.
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