This week Alberta elected the United Conservative Party to power again. I wasn't surprised to see this result - I never truly got my hopes up for anything different - but I was still hurt. And angry. I've been thinking all week of writing about my feelings (despite my having fallen off from weekly posts), and debating what I could say.
I'm not going to talk the politics themselves. I am a queer, nonbinary person who works in public sector, has multiple health conditions, and is passionate about taking care of those who our society rejects. I have had all those conversations and explored all those topics.
Nor am I going to share a theory on why the results were what they were, what it means, or how people should change to try to have a different result in future. To be honest, that all bores me.
What I care about is: what do I do now? How do I keep going in a province that has just chosen this government? How do I protect myself and the people I care about? And how do I do so with hope and not anger or hatred?
The word I keep circling is compassion. I am choosing to actively practice compassion (and practice is a good word, because it isn't always easy) for those who voted in this government. Not out of any naïve belief I can convince them to care for my wellbeing. This compassion is not about them. It also isn't about forgiving the harm they have caused. It is about me and how I can survive.
I can understand why someone would want to live in a world where they believe that, surely, Good People* will be taken care of and treated well by The State**, so it's okay to support politicians who want to make life harder for Others*** (who, by virtue of not being taken care of, must not be Good People).
I can understand and give grace to people who have been taught that the thing between them and a Good Life**** is Others who are cutting in line or asking for too much or misbehaving. That explanation is so much easier to swallow than considering that the Good Life doesn't exist other than as a tool of State control. It makes sense that one would keep voting in politicians who will deal with those Others, in hopes that maybe they can stop the Good Life from always being just out of reach.
The world is a horror show if we let ourselves look at it. And their vote will not shield them from the harm that this Government will do. People who have leaned into the UCP will be worse off in four years just like everyone else. Some of them may start to question and change their opinions. Many of them will just be angrier, more determined that the Other is to blame, and more set on taking the world down with them.
There is no point me wasting my precious energy on hating them. I am much better off spending that energy on building community and care. I would rather turn that energy into what I want to see in the world. I want to see people taking care of each other. I want to see us embracing models of family and community that work for us. I want to see all the amazing kids I know and love turn into really cool humans who know they are loved and cared for.
Therefore, I am offering compassion. We are all going to be hurt by this world, but it does me no good to join in acting from hate.
Definitions for this post:
*Good People meaning people who look, think, and act like them.
**The State in the sense of a polity that has monopolistic authority to use violence (such as police and armies) along with many other tools to maintain control. Not in terms of the country south of us and how they have divided their regions.
***Pretty much anyone who doesn't look, think, and act like them.
****Also known as "the American/Canadian dream" - financial stability with space for endless consumption, not having to interact with anyone you don't want to, and a life without having to see any ugliness or experience conflict.
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