Volodymyr Kish.
Over the past two years that we have been combatting the COVID pandemic and its effect on our society and economy, there has been a notable polarization within not only the broader Canadian population, but the Ukrainian community as well. Some very obvious fault lines have developed between those that support the myriad of government measures that aim to contain the virus, and those that feel that governments at all levels have overstepped their bounds and are unnecessarily impinging on people’s rights and freedoms. At times, and particularly in the social media, the dialogue has become quite heated, and has served to divide family, friends and acquaintances.
To a large degree, this polarization reflects most people’s political orientation towards the left or the right of the political spectrum. There also appears to be a strong correlation between this orientation, and whether one was born in Canada or immigrated here, and also whether one lives in Eastern or Western Canada. Western Canadians tend to be more right wing, and Eastern Canadians more likely to hold liberal views. Recent Ukrainian immigrants tend to be more libertarian and anti-socialist than second and third generation born Ukrainian Canadians.
Now there is nothing intrinsically wrong in having a diversity of political opinions, so long as the basic principles of democracy, freedom and justice are upheld in the way we run our countries. This is where the problems arise.
To be frank, I have observed that too many people lack even a basic understanding of how societies, governments and politics work. Regrettably, our educational systems and increasingly our media, have been singularly ineffective in educating the public in critical thinking and the complexities of social and political organization. This has led to a lot of simplistic, black and white interpretations of current events. Inevitably this emerges as the classical split between leftist and rightist political ideologies. Unfortunately, too many people see this as a binary choice – right or left, and by implication, right is good and left is bad. There is a lack of appreciation of the fact that political ideology is a complex spectrum with a wide degree of possibilities.
I get frustrated when people spout simplistic arguments that because a particular government action or policy reflects a liberal or social welfare bent, that it is the first step on the slippery slope towards authoritarian communism. Too many people seem to think that liberalism, socialism, social democracy or social welfare are the same as communism, or at best a prequel to communism. I don’t know how many times I have read or heard some some passionate right-wing commentator mistakenly claim that no country had ever succeeded in making socialism work. This flies in the face of the reality that most European democracies are successful examples of some form of socialism or social democracy at work. I would also classify Canada as a fairly liberal social democracy.
For the past several centuries, civilization and its social, political and economic structures have been evolving towards an increasingly liberal and socially just direction. Power has been shifting from hereditary, aristocratic, corporate or oligarchic elites towards a more egalitarian balance that recognizes the importance and value of all classes of society. There is nothing inherently “right” or “left” in wanting to achieve that balance. In that sense, our continued use of “left” and “right” tropes is an anachronistic leftover from an imperialistic era that is becoming increasingly irrelevant. It also shows a lack of true understanding of history. People who believe that the Soviet Union was a leftist or communist country miss the point entirely. The Soviet Union was, and Russia still is today, nothing more than a right-wing, fascist dictatorship.
We should stop trying to label political thought as being left or right. What is more relevant is measuring how a particular policy, platform or point of view is contributing to increasing individual as well as social well-being, human rights, justice and economic opportunity. Further, how is it contributing towards establishing a good balance between individual rights and freedoms on the one hand, and social, environmental and economic responsibility on the other. Reducing everything to simplistic left and right characterizations is neither meaningful nor constructive.
As we try and deal with the challenges of the 21st century, we need to stop trying to fit our political discourse into an outdated Cold War, left-right framework. We have to find and accept new ways of fine tuning and preserving the best aspects of free enterprise, social democracy, human rights, freedoms and social justice into a working system that serves all of society. Obviously neither communism nor fascism is an answer. Let’s find something that is.
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