When I started reading Kathy Code's letter in the Nov. 13 Citizen, without noticing the title ("We are more than just an economy, stupid") at first I was in agreement. I, too, am reeling from the disastrous election results south of the border. However, I cannot agree with her oversimplification even of the reasons why the Americans chose as they did, much less with her analysis of the political situation here in B.C.
While I appreciate that the two Green MLAs will provide some balance and perhaps some needed guidance to our new Legislative Assembly, I cannot agree that the NDP government has intended to "inflict hardships on citizens." It has, imperfectly but conscientiously, attempted to address the many difficult, complex problems facing our society, and to create solutions to alleviate them. I believe, with their new, slim majority, they will continue to do this. Do I agree with all NDP policies? No, certainly not. But could I have voted for the Green party — even if I thought they represented perfection? No, because my vote would have translated into a vote for the Conservatives, whom I agree have ideas that could be alarmingly harmful.
I desperately wish the Americans had chosen differently; the order of magnitude of the comparison is so enormous as to defy description (although Ms. Code does a pretty good job.) But even had Harris won, her government would not have been on a perfect track. For example, could the Democrats have solved the desperate plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, given that Harris had pledged to continue backing the Israelis militarily? Leaders, even those with basic decency, cannot simply snap their fingers and make everything right.
Sadly, many of the poor, struggling Americans, to whom money really was an issue, and who discounted the threats and believed Trump's lies, those who thought their grocery prices will go down, and who will instead find themselves far worse off than ever before, may only be guilty of gullibility and susceptibility to oversimplification. The internet is not intrinsically a terrible thing, but it has many terrible effects, such as interfering with many people's ability to think critically. One of the reasons Trump won was that he — with the help of foreign election interference — successfully manipulated the internet, causing confusion, doubt and polarization.
Back to B.C. In my opinion, the Green party can hold itself up as "the best" only because it has never had to juggle the tremendous weight that governments in power have to shoulder, all the while walking a tightrope with voters to become and remain electable. At present it seems unlikely the Greens will ever be in that difficult position. However, if they would like to, I would offer a piece of advice to Ms. Code: if you want your party to succeed, you might want to avoid (even tongue-in-cheek) calling 90 per cent of the electorate "stupid."
Ann Mendenhall
Duncan
