Oh, Canada…

I’m a 23 year old male who grew up in Alberta and now lives in Vancouver. And only until this last year would I truly be able to say that I’ve been informed (to a sufficient degree) of the political landscape of Canada. And that’s still a stretch.

You see, I cannot stand politics.

No, it’s not because I’m lazy, entitled or uneducated. It’s simply because the system is so broken that anytime I attempt to get involved, my brain wants to explode.

I just completed my second big attempt today (see below) and my head hurts, my stomach is upset and I’m exhausted. Here’s why.

Attempts: 1 & 2

I have pushed myself intensely to set aside around 4–5 hours recently to watch the two federal debates (if you dare to watch… one and two) and while knowing a lot of the parties’ stances going in, I came out of watching both only more confused and frustrated.

Here’s my summary:

Leader A says “the economy is the best it’s ever been since X.”

Leader B chimes in with “that’s not true Mr. B, the fact is… (complete opposite).”

And essentially you can repeat this same pattern to a mind-numbing degree until the bell rings for the kids to leave class.

Why is there no simple oversight on these debates? Why don’t we have someone standing up on stage with his own shiny podium that ACTUALLY HAS THE FACTS.

Why am I stuck after spending multiple hours listening to these well-trained men (and for only one debate… woman) argue, attack and talk over each other — having to then go research to find what the true facts are? (Note: I didn’t do this, yet.)

Honestly the only person who strayed away from this circus act (that I’ve seen so far) was Elizabeth May, when she simply pointed out the fact that the leaders ironically got into a shouting match when discussing political reform to fix that same type of issue happening in the House of Commons.

Oh, how politically correct this all is.

Cheap Shots of the Citizens

Now that I have started to engage more in political posts through Facebook, I’m beginning to get served more of that content (as it goes).

But I’ve started to see a trend in a very enraging “non-conversation” of content created by citizens who are making memes and posts that over-simplify the issues and proposed plans. A quick cheap shot that attempts to stop the conversation before it even begins.

Figure 1-WTF:

From what I’ve seen, this is only dumping gasoline on the fire that is the tension of talking politics. It’s like the elephant in the room is actually an inferno that we all feel burning us, but can’t really talk about ‘cause it would make us feel uncomfortable (plus, fires are really loud, so we too would be yelling).

Fear-based Decision Making

I don’t buy into this shit… Please watch out for it. Do not base your decisions on fear mongering statements that make you feel unsafe and that we need to close our borders or our minds. Canada is a very safe country. We need to make decisions with a calm and rational mind, not reacting to fictional future statements pulled out of a politicians ass (well known fact: that’s where they originate from | source: not needed, this is politics).

You can equate a lot of this fear to the anxiety you may feel when imagining yourself stuck in outer space. As someone who personally experienced that reality recently, this is me completing another bullshit statement. Carry on.

Why I Didn’t Talk About This Before

Politics doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable necessarily, but makes me want to take a baseball bat to everything breakable in my apartment.

For my whole life, I’ve been flabbergasted by how so many of the established systems are so very broken. With politics, it honestly felt as though I couldn’t do anything. I found it hard to get informed, difficult to trust any of these so called leaders, and near impossible to bring it up in conversation without starting a shouting match of my own.

But, What I’ve Realized Is..

This is exactly why these systems are still in place. It’s my own apathy that has helped it continue on long into the night. Despite how hard it may be for young people like myself (or anyone) to become informed and properly involved in the political landscape — that’s exactly what we need if we want change.

I Don’t Have The Answers

And I am still undecided on who exactly I’ll be voting for on October 19, 2015 — but I will be voting. I hope this will inspire you to take some time (if you haven’t already) to explore this grueling jungle of false statements and possibly empty promises because within that, there may be a glimmer of change. And we desperately need that right now.