Sunday, April 03, 2011

Orienting political views

So if you are undecided about how to vote – or are curious about how your views align with parties in this federal campaign – you might be interested in CBC’s ‘Vote Compass’.

Some examples of the 30 questions/statements are:
“All Canadian troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan immediately.”
“Canada should seek closer economic relations with the USA.”
“The government should fund daycare instead of giving money directly to parents.”
“Violent young offenders should be sentenced as adults.”

I took the quiz and it rated my position as NDP, fully in the grid of ‘Economic Left’ and ‘Social Liberalism’. Shocker. V is a Liberal - so slightly to the right of me... Interesting.

My problem with the questions is that for several of them I felt that I would need more information to answer it – for example, the question about pulling troops out of Afghanistan. I may not agree with the direction that Canada has taken with its military engagement in Afghanistan, but that doesn’t mean the solution is immediate withdrawal. I know enough to know that situations such as the on-going conflict in Afghanistan cannot easily be simplified into ‘yes/no’ categories. I also know that I don’t know enough to have a fully informed opinion on the subject.

For some of the questions – like the sentencing of violent young offenders, my answer was easily ‘strongly disagree’ – and yet I recognize that it is impossible and even dangerous to make blanket statements. While I very strongly disagree with the direction the Conservatives are heading with regards to criminal justice – especially how they are trying to undo reforms that were moving towards more rehabilitation of young offenders – I do recognize that there will always be unusual circumstances.

I also know that how people vote may not have everything, or even much, to do with how their views align with each party. We have to consider the candidates in each riding, how informed people are of party platforms, what views are espoused by family and friends...

Such a complex world we live in. Whenever someone tries to take my grey and turn it into black and white, I feel annoyed and betrayed by the harsh picture that results.

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