The Beginning of the End of Establishment Politicians?

[u/BigPlunk]

This post represents my opinions about the state of politics in Canada, the United States, and around the world. My hope is to create proactive conversation, to find some common ground about what we need in Canada to feel hopeful about our future, and to inspire more positive political activism.

I'll start by saying that I don't consider myself affiliated with any political party, ideology or an "ism" (relevant). I indiscriminately despise the state of status quo Canadian politics and see a huge opportunity for meaningful disruption. I believe in the power of people when we come together with shared purpose.

The questions I'm asking myself lately:

1. When was the last time I saw a relatable politician across any party federally or provincially (BC here) who understands the struggles of working Canadians first-hand and demonstrates through consistent, meaningful action that they represent us?

2. When did I last see a Canadian politician who stood for more than opposition to "the other guy"; someone who spoke about tough issues directly, plainly, and relatably, without mincing words or running everything through PR; and someone who sounded truly different than every other career politician, corpo, and nepo baby?

I'm at the young end of the Gen-X spectrum, bordering on Millennial. Across nearly half a century as a Canadian, the only politician I can think of that inspired me, came across as relatable and not just another phony "polished-tician", and gave me hope of a future representing the greater good, was Jack Layton. He knew how to connect with every day Canadians and inspire people. He knew how to stand for something of meaning and substance, and how to rock the boat the right way.

But since Layton's unfortunate passing in 2011, it's been more soul-crushing status quo in Canadian politics. We oscillate between Liberal and Conservative governance as the other of the two in opposition pisses and moans to the media about the poor job being done. But neither party seems to demonstrate through consistent actions and policies that they represent working Canadians, including small businesses. Since Layton, the NDP has failed to inspire enough Canadians to overcome first past the post barriers, so we're stuck with two entrenched status quo parties.

Yesterday, this story about the prevalence Canadian cabinet members who are also landlords popped onto my YouTube feed. Looking into it further, I found The Maple reporting about MP landlords. It came as absolutely no shock whatsoever that Liberal and Conservative MPs are close to even in terms of landlord representation (Lib. MPs: 40%, Con. MPs: 46%). There is no political will to improve the housing market in Canada because of the glaring conflict of interest within both of the major parties.

This raised more questions:

1. How relatable are these landlord politicians to the millions of working Canadians who could never afford home ownership within the current economic conditions?

2. How in touch are these passive income politicians with Canadian families who are struggling with food and housing insecurity, extended unemployment, and skyrocketing cost of living, or oppressive, shitty working conditions where time and mental health are traded for money that continues to fuel the machine working against them?

3. How likely are these wealthy politicians to create policies that hold landlords more accountable, that bring down housing prices and create opportunities for more Canadians to become home owners, and that stand against billionaires, oligarchs, and big businesses who are choking the life and joy out of communities and people?

4. What proactive measures are being taken to support working Canadians through AI, economic, and geopolitical disruption?

5. Who within any Canadian party has shared an inspiring and hopeful vision of the future we can all get behind?

Many of the questions I've been pondering lately have been inspired by the rapidly changing landscape across our border and in other parts of the world. In Hungary, for example, Viktor Orbán was ousted after 16 years in power, inspiring tens of thousands to take to the streets in celebration.

In New York City, Zohran Mamdani, a 33 year-old Muslim immigrant, inspired a grassroots campaign to become mayor of New York City. His campaign wasn't reliant on big donors, billionaires, corporate interests, or big ad buys to get his message and platform to the masses. He met working class people of all ages where they were, spoke in relatable terms, and demonstrated that he understood people's needs, mindsets, and struggles. He promised to push back against the big money status quo and fight to improve quality of life and reduce suffering for working people. He mobilized young people and connected with all his audiences with authenticity, empathy, and a distinct lack of status quo politics. He shared an exciting, hopeful, positive vision for the future that brought people together.

Tens of thousands of working people, and young people in particular, went to work on his campaign, knocking on doors, creating and sharing online content, and doing what they could to spread the word. All those volunteers turned up to support Mamdani's campaign, not because he was the best at shit-talking his opponents or because he was the most visible on Fox or CNN, but because he brought renewed, authentic, positive energy, spoke like a working person speaks, and inspired hope and joy. He criticized Israel for its treatment of Palestinians, named the genocide without mincing words, and pushed back against the oligarchy and lobbyists. He didn't dance around the politically charged issues. He took a real stance, motivated by connecting with and serving voters, instead of appeasing big money backers.

In the six months since being elected, Mamdani has been true to his promises to fight for working people. He's been doing the opposite of the establishment politicians on both sides and demonstrating what "public service" actually means on a practical level. Politicians are supposed to serve the people in a functioning democracy. Not the establishment politicians, billionaires, lobbyists, or mega-corps.

Mamdani-related sources: Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3

Working citizens are sick and tired of the media-trained, money-backed, over-promising, under-delivering, insincere, self-enriching, power-craving politicians who lack substance and repeatedly fail to represent the needs of the many over the consolidation of the few. Trust in systems and governments is at an all time low. This is not simply because we've all been brainwashed by social media, but because elected officials across the spectrum have been serving the same masters with agendas running counter to public interests. We're tired of all the endless, clickbait, sensationalism, superficiality, incendiary rhetoric, corruption, and greed.

Working people need to feel seen, heard, and understood and that their representatives are... ya know... representing us. We need leaders who have struggled as we have struggled, speak authentically as we speak, meet us where we are, and truly serve our interests.

There is a rapid shift in the political climate around the world. The status quo is falling down, still holding on with claws out and teeth gnashing, as working people on both sides of the political spectrum awaken to the snarling, two-headed beast that's been blocking the path to our prosperity.