I'm a Progressive Conservative
In practice, I've been a swing voter. Ideologically speaking, I'm a Progressive Conservative, I believe that we should always be cautious of change - change is change, it can bring good, it can bring bad, I'm always in wary respect of The Law of Unintended Consequences. I love how my computer brings me the internet, but I need my paper journal for record, after that mess in Florida, you will have to pull my Canadian paper ballot from my cold dead hands. I think the Kindle is good for fresh science reports and written pornography, but I like having paper books that Amazon cannot remotely delete for things I will repeatedly refer back to and take notes on.
As a queer person, I'm so overjoyed that Canada has equal marriage now, but back in 2004, I was wishing that we had settled for civil union first, and then slowly settle into same-sex-marriage - that's what the Netherlands did. I was worried that a premature push for equal marriage would spook queer fearing conservatives into writing a ban into the constitution - which is what was happening in the United States - and I'm so relieved that I was wrong.
Progressive Conservative might sound like an oxymoron, but the national party, before it was eaten by Stephen Harper's 'unite the right' coalition, was John A Macdonald's Party, and it worked, JAM used to lead it as the 'Liberal-Conservative (coalition) too! It means that to survive and thrive as a nation, we must progressive, but cautiously and conservatively.
I don't know how much of this has to do with my Chinese heritage, and being aware of Chinese history, but I've seen the worst of traditions without the room for progress: stagnancy and decay. I've seen the worst of Change without caution: Mao's "Great Leap Forward", millions of people starved to death as a consequence of his decision to reform agriculture and factory industry together when he knew fuck all about both. Mao decided to improve crops by eliminating sparrows, which sometimes eat the seeds - but the problem with that plan (which was successful, in its aim of killing the sparrows), was that the sparrows acted as pest control by feeding on insects as well. This could have been avoided if I dunno, he had fucking studied the bird first, and implemented the plan conservatively at one small location first.
I love Barack Obama when he said that it's not small/big government, but one that works, because which one is necessary depends on WHAT we are talking about and even when. I like change that are tested and preferably initiated on a local level before it is federally administered - or merely aided in terms of funding and facilities, that's actually how Canada's Public Healthcare started, provincially, by Tommy Douglas, who drew from his personal experience of farmers being unable to afford health care.
...and, in Canada, on a national level, we are not allowed to use the name Progressive Conservative anymore, but the ones that didn't split to join (New) Conservative / New Democrats / Liberals are now the Progressive Canadian Party.
As a queer person, I'm so overjoyed that Canada has equal marriage now, but back in 2004, I was wishing that we had settled for civil union first, and then slowly settle into same-sex-marriage - that's what the Netherlands did. I was worried that a premature push for equal marriage would spook queer fearing conservatives into writing a ban into the constitution - which is what was happening in the United States - and I'm so relieved that I was wrong.
Progressive Conservative might sound like an oxymoron, but the national party, before it was eaten by Stephen Harper's 'unite the right' coalition, was John A Macdonald's Party, and it worked, JAM used to lead it as the 'Liberal-Conservative (coalition) too! It means that to survive and thrive as a nation, we must progressive, but cautiously and conservatively.
I don't know how much of this has to do with my Chinese heritage, and being aware of Chinese history, but I've seen the worst of traditions without the room for progress: stagnancy and decay. I've seen the worst of Change without caution: Mao's "Great Leap Forward", millions of people starved to death as a consequence of his decision to reform agriculture and factory industry together when he knew fuck all about both. Mao decided to improve crops by eliminating sparrows, which sometimes eat the seeds - but the problem with that plan (which was successful, in its aim of killing the sparrows), was that the sparrows acted as pest control by feeding on insects as well. This could have been avoided if I dunno, he had fucking studied the bird first, and implemented the plan conservatively at one small location first.
I love Barack Obama when he said that it's not small/big government, but one that works, because which one is necessary depends on WHAT we are talking about and even when. I like change that are tested and preferably initiated on a local level before it is federally administered - or merely aided in terms of funding and facilities, that's actually how Canada's Public Healthcare started, provincially, by Tommy Douglas, who drew from his personal experience of farmers being unable to afford health care.
...and, in Canada, on a national level, we are not allowed to use the name Progressive Conservative anymore, but the ones that didn't split to join (New) Conservative / New Democrats / Liberals are now the Progressive Canadian Party.