In the tradition of my idol Hunter S Thompson, I thought I'd throw together a little "Fear & Loathing: On the Campaign Trail 04" style article. There is, after all, an election going on in this country right now, isn't there? The reason I ask is that the only news I seem to be hearing is about the NHL playoffs! (GO FLAMES GO!)

According to the polls, alot of people are considering not voting in the up-coming election, and I totally understand where they're coming from...but in my opinion they are making a big mistake. Let me elaberate. Up to 40% of Canadians are considering not voting because they percieve NO difference between the 3 parties: The Tories, The Liberals and The NDP. There are many models out there that can be used to analyze this situation, some useful and some not at all. For obvious reasons the usless models tend to dominate. Useless models are purposely confusing to make people feel disinfranchised. My other hero, Maynard J Keenan, of A Perfect Circle fame, feels that this model is status quo for one reason. The need for us to feel "weak & powerless." I agree.

Let me "dumb it down a little" for you, with a more useful model. There are fundamentaly only TWO kinds of politicians in this world: capitalist politicians and working class politicians. Harper and Martin are obviously on "the other side" of The Great Class Divide. TRUE, Harper IS a known racist, a proud anti-gay bigot, a christian fundamentalist, a cultish free trade and globalization fanatic, as well as an unappologetic proponent of privitized healthcare,...but in many ways Martin is just as bad. Martin cut over $20 billion out of Canadian social servises over the 1990's...and gave that money to the banks in the form of debt payment. All in the context of record Canadian child poverty and record Canadian bank profits. You see, its not that (my boy) Jack Layton and the NDP are perfect, far from it, its just that they are the only party in Canada explicitly mandated to defend and promote the social and economic interests of ordinary working people. The mandate of the Tories and the Liberals is easly recognized as the exact opposite: the defense and promotion of The Corporate Agenda, a fact that both the Tories and Liberals, of course, proudly admit! If YOU are a corporation, you SHOULD vote for one of those parties. If not, I suggest you consider otherwise! Only models that recognize the class nature of society prove useful. A vote for the NDP is a vote against capitalism.

But wait a minute! Paul Martin said NO to the War in Iraq, so doesn't that make him better than the pro-war Harper? I get this question alot so I thought I'd deal with it. I find the answers illuminating in many ways. Martin and the Liberals sent troops to Afghanistan and are therefore completely complicit in Bush's US Foreign Policy Agenda. What Chomsky calls "The Grand Imperial Strategy." The American Empire (not un-like empires of the past) is currently experiencing growing pains. Ie. too many countries to contour and not enough troops to do it. The fact that Bush and Kerry are both talking about another US draft in the face of unprecedented opposition, is clear evidence of this. When Martin sends troops to Afghanistan, he "frees up" many American soldiers to move onto Iraq, therefore doing his bit to stay loyal to The Empire, all the while saving face back in Canada. Like Spain (and the rest of the world) the vast majority of Canadians (of course) oppose The War, and in this way, Martin can actually pose as an "anti-war candidate" (hoping we forget about Afghanistan). The terrorist atrocities committed by the US and Israel in the Arab world over the last 40 plus years are staggering and uncontroversial. It is THIS legacy that Martin associated Canada with when he (and the Liberals) sent Canadian troops to kill and be killed in Afghanistan. He has shamed us...and all in the name of American Hegemony.

Therefore, Martin is completely complicit in The Grand Imperial Strategy of the US government (otherwise referred to as The Corporate Agenda, by Bush himself, among others in the know). So given these facts, I'd thought I'd share a quick little antidote from Chomsky's new "Hegemony or Survival:"

George Bush had the cynical audacity to ask in a recent Address to the Nation, "Why do they hate us?" (Bush was referring to the fact that the Arab world, not unlike the rest of the world including most of Europe, strongly opposes the War in Iraq.) Outrageous considering the uncontroversial history of atrocities committed by the US in the Arab world...many of which continued or initiated by Bush! This was Chomsky's response, I feel worth repeating in full: "The question is not new, and the answers are not hard to find. Forty-five years ago President Eisenhower and his staff discussed what he called the 'campaign of hatred against us' in the Arab world, 'not by the governments but by the people.' The basic reason, the National Security Council advised, is the recognition that the US supports corrupt and brutal governments that block democracy and development, and does so because of its concern 'to protect its interest in Near East oil'."

Just to clarify the (hilarious) significance of that passage: 40 years ago The President of the USA asked the NSC why the Arab world hates the US, and in an official memo back to the White House, they replied frankly, "Because we systematically exploit and oppress them!" Obviously in the days before the "freedom of information" act, given the total lack of BS and double-speak in an important government document!!!

GET OUT THE VOTE! Lets show the world that Canada opposes The Bush/Martin Corporate Agenda of attacking workers rights at home, and imperialist war abroad! Vote NDP!

Yours in Fear & Loathing: On the Campaign Trail 04,
MDP