Election Time

Election Time

It’s the day of the 2025 Canadian election and we’ve been bombarded with political information and propaganda for weeks. Unfortunately, much of what we are hearing has been misinformation and outright lies. Individual candidates and parties are maligned with accusations and suggestions that are often far from the truth.

A serious problem with much talk around elections is the lack of understanding of the words that describe politics.

Words are important to writers. When we write it is critical to use words accurately and appropriately.

Words and phrases like left and right wing, socialism and conservatism are thrown around with little concern for what they really mean. Perhaps it’s worth a brief look at a portion of the lexicon of politics.

The terms left and right come to us from the time of the French revolution when the politicians who supported the monarchy sat on the right side of the assembly and the commoners who were against the king sat on the left.

Today when we refer to left wing, we mean those that put emphasis on ideas like freedom, equality, rights, progress, reform and internationalism. The right wing places more importance on notions such as authority, hierarchy, order, duty, tradition, reaction and nationalism.

Generally, it can be said that the left is more concerned about equality for everyone and the right worries about individual rights. In right wing thinking people get what they earn while those on the left believe people should get what they need.

The terms liberal and conservative are usually thought of as relating to left and right wing ideas respectively. These generalities are often misleading as conservative is often used to describe someone who wants things to stay the way they are. In a deeply left wing culture, those wanting to stay to the far left could be described as conservative.

Another way to divide political ideas is between authoritarian and democratic tendencies. Authoritarians believe society is best served by powerful rulers while democrats feel everyone in society should have some decision-making power.

This all can get quite confusing when we understand that individuals from the left or right vary in their tendencies towards authoritarianism.

Communists are considered extreme left and fascists extreme right, but both systems tend to be authoritarian. These two opposing ideologies can end up looking quite similar in practice.

Another term that gets used and often in a negative way is socialism. Socialism is a system where social ownership or ownership by the collective society is emphasized over private ownership. As much as American conservatives consider socialism a dirty word, there are many socialist tendencies in American culture. Most Americans would consider their roads and armed forces to be among the country’s most valuable assets. Both are socially owned.

When we look at Canadian political parties, understanding their place in the political spectrum is relatively simple. The Conservatives are right wing conservatives, the liberals are left to center-left liberals and the New Democratic Party are unapologetic socialists.

Unfortunately, many citizens have no understanding of what their party of choice stands for. People often stick with one party the same way they prefer one brand of car. They’ve never really thought about why they like what they like. It’s just always been that way and perhaps their parents always drove the same brand of car and voted for the same party.

In the USA, what parties stand for is much more complicated. Presently the Republican party is right wing and the Democratic party is at best center left. In terms of international politics, they are more likely center right. Americans tend to be staunch supporters of one party and will vote that way no matter what fools are in control or what ridiculous ideas they have. There can be no other explanation for the present leader in America.

Governing a country is a complicated endeavour. When we vote, it is important for us to have some idea of what the parties we vote for intend to do with our country and culture. In a democracy voters must take their responsibility to choose leaders seriously.