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Yeah, it seems centrism in North America is at risk. It seems to coincide with the risks faced by the middle class.
Stephen Harper is rolling out his own brand of incivility on his campaign trail, and while it should suggest that it would blow up in his face, he just might win himself a majority. This despite the fact that his party just a few weeks ago was voted out of office for being found in contempt of parliament.
It's really weird. Harper has a track record of leading the longest minority government in the history of Canada, and despite his antidemocratic politicking, he still polls strongly. This leads me to suspect that there is a wave of conservatism in North America influenced by the rhetoric of the likes of Tea Partiers, which seems quite in vogue during a recession---especially one of this magnitude.
Canada has been relatively spared from it, but that hasn't stopped the conservative sentiment on all levels of government (read: Toronto). Yet, there is still hope: much of the Canadian political system consists of liberal and social democratic politics. They just seem to be down, yet not out. It won't be the first time Canada has had a majority conservative government.
South of the border, however, it seems more dire. When the most shouty (i.e. uncivil) of commentary labels centrism as socialism, there's a problem. When you have a strong conservative base in a two-party system that views economic policies common to a mixed system (yet extreme in measure as a response to extreme circumstances) as "the road to ruin," you kind of have to wonder whether the herd mentality can remain civil enough to stick to the polls and abide by the democratic process.
Crazy times. I hope the economy keeps on track to recovery; that way, the Tea Partiers and their sympathizers will fade into irrelevance if not oblivion.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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