In an earlier Blog I talked about some of the events which shaped the Boomers, one that I did not mention was the concept introduced or made popular by Pierre Elliot Trudeau, of the idea that Canada was a Just Society. As I and my generation were growing up we came to accept multiculturalism, we came to believe in Canada as a Just Society. It was in 1968, that Pierre Trudeau campaigned saying Canadians wanted a just society. He asked for support for one nation, with two official languages.
For Trudeau, “…freedom [was] the most important value of a just society, and the exercise of freedom its principal characteristic.”...the value with the “highest priority in the pursuit of a Just Society had become equality.”This emphasis on equality of opportunity enveloped Trudeau’s entire platform during the 1968 elections, a platform that spoke to Canadians as his Liberal government won a majority in Parliament. He won, not only the election but the heart and soul of many of the Boomers. We believed, some of us took longer to understand the dream but in the end the dream of a building a just society became what we saw ourselves doing (Both the right and the left believe in this concept, but have different ways of trying to achieve this ideal)
Many of the Boomers are now realizing that the dream under Mr. Harper is being destroyed. Mr. Trudeau helped us believe in the good in people and to build on the good and use that to create a just society. Mr. Harper uses fear to destroy our faith in people. Tapping into our fear first using the 911 attacks and then the recession, the neo conservative religious right are consolidating power to move their religious agenda forward.
We are losing, our society is losing. Mr. Harper you are destroying the Canada that I grew up in and creating a society that is unpleasant and hurtful to the poor, the homeless, women, minorities, and the weak.
Judging how well minority rights are protected is one way to assess how democratic a society is in practice, . In two brilliant post "The Creative Revolution" shows that Mr. Harper, by creating his Canada as Jesusland is destroying the dream that we as Boomers believed would be part of our legacy.
I AM A SONIC BOOMER, NOT A SENIOR... In this blog, I am writing to and for those who believe that the Boomers will change what the word Senior means. I also believe that Boomers will change what retirement means in our society. The blog is also for those who are interested in what life after retirement may look like for them. In this blog, I highlight and write about issues that I believe to be important both for Seniors and working Boomers.
Showing posts with label Trudeau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trudeau. Show all posts
Friday, May 21, 2010
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