I've never seen the cost-benefit of such actions to be worthwhile, so I freely admit that I have not.
Emerson took action, and there was a strident outpouring of disapproval for his actions. His response was pretty much to ignore it all. "Yes, you're cranky, but I made my choice and I'm sticking to it."
I am not in his riding. He won't listen to massive public and media pressure to begin with, why would he listen to one person he doesn't even "represent" and who has no political clout whatsoever?
Politicians typically only pay mind to money (corporate interests, significant donors, lobby groups and the like) or exceptionally noisy and pestiferous activists.
Sadly, like politics, activism is a hobby that's pretty much reserved for the well-to-do. It's hard enough to support myself working fulltime. How am I supposed to take time off work to engage in activism, pay for the assorted flights I'll need to travel to the necessary places, and still make ends meet?
I am no activist, I am no possessor of wealth. While I may have a way with words, my rhetoric is not that strong and my political grounding is nil. I have no political power beyond my one vote, and in the case of Emerson, my vote is irrelevant to him as I'm not in his riding.
What is my one voice going to do? What can it do that all the others have failed to? Absolutely nothing.
So why would I waste my time, money, effort and energy doing so? It's rather illogical to do so.
Politics has shown that it doesn't give a damn about me, and I'm returning the favour.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-21 04:16 am (UTC)Emerson took action, and there was a strident outpouring of disapproval for his actions. His response was pretty much to ignore it all. "Yes, you're cranky, but I made my choice and I'm sticking to it."
I am not in his riding. He won't listen to massive public and media pressure to begin with, why would he listen to one person he doesn't even "represent" and who has no political clout whatsoever?
Politicians typically only pay mind to money (corporate interests, significant donors, lobby groups and the like) or exceptionally noisy and pestiferous activists.
Sadly, like politics, activism is a hobby that's pretty much reserved for the well-to-do. It's hard enough to support myself working fulltime. How am I supposed to take time off work to engage in activism, pay for the assorted flights I'll need to travel to the necessary places, and still make ends meet?
I am no activist, I am no possessor of wealth. While I may have a way with words, my rhetoric is not that strong and my political grounding is nil. I have no political power beyond my one vote, and in the case of Emerson, my vote is irrelevant to him as I'm not in his riding.
What is my one voice going to do? What can it do that all the others have failed to? Absolutely nothing.
So why would I waste my time, money, effort and energy doing so? It's rather illogical to do so.
Politics has shown that it doesn't give a damn about me, and I'm returning the favour.