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| Food is still far and away the best cure for hunger. |
I didn’t count, but I think that as I
watched the Conservative leadership convention last night, I must
have heard the expressions “core values” and “Canadian core
values” a hundred times or more. Brad Trost and Kellie Leitch hung
their hopes of winning the leadership on convincing Tory membership
that there exists a common Canadian value system and that we must be
vigilant guardians of that system.
No real mention was made of where
these values come from and what actions they precipitate. Are they
Christian imperatives? Were they handed down to each new wave of
immigrants by the indigenous elders who would know because they’d
occupied this land for thousands and thousands of years? Are they a
natural outgrowth of gluttony on American television fare? Are they
a consequence of our northern geography and climate which makes us
robust lovers of life and ardent conservationists? Whence came these
values we supposedly all hold because we’re Canadian?
Maybe it’s an ingredient in our beer
that’s always been produced using only water from fresh, cold
mountain streams.
Let’s make no mistake. Canadian
values were “shot to hell” when the first European set foot on
this soil, planted a flag, claimed the land for some shallow,
belly-scratching foreign king and declared the indigenous inhabitants
to be heathens and savages and therefore unworthy of the land God had
provided for them. If there is a “set” or “system” of values
held by Canadians, it’s in that reality that we ought to be looking
for at least one source.
We use the values
word too loosely; we confuse it with policy.
Some would claim that opposition to giving women the choice to abort
a pregnancy or not arises from their value
of respect for life. You can’t really preach that position without
implying that the policy of giving women choice in the matter signals
that lawmakers who enacted the policy of choice don’t
value life. So if the law
regarding abortion is favoured by 65-70% of the population, how then
can a Conservative
policy on the subject be labeled a “Canadian value?” Well, it
apparently can be if you’re running for leadership of the
Conservative Party of Canada in 2017!
But
let’s consider that what were touted as values
at the convention were words, words, words, and nothing but words.
The authenticity of a claim to own values
is not shown in blather, it’s in the actions and choices that
values precipitate. Person A earns a modest income and often teeters
on the brink of bankruptcy because he donates so much of his means to
an organization that treats eye problems in an African country.
Person B earns a modest income but hoards his means, spends his time
on the computer looking for the best return on his savings. Their
actions derive from different value sets.
Both are Canadian. They both live on our street. They curl on the
same team.
There’s
a lot we do and/or tolerate as Canadians that insults my values—and
yours, I’m sure. I’m also certain that they’re not the same
things for you as for me. Martial parades, policemen in uniform, the
eulogizing of our soldiers at sports events, all these raise my
hackles because I’ve had the idea instilled in me going back at
least 50 generations that true peace can’t be won through the
application of force and fear. In the light of my values
on the subject, making and/or brandishing an AK47 seems not only
repulsive but also stupid, a product of a fixation that is naïve,
self-destructive. But I have coffee with people who may well value
the idea that our freedom, our way of life depends on the ability to
engage successfully in warfare.
The
other emphasis of the convention that struck me was the oft-repeated,
blatant declaration that this was about 2019 and choosing the leader
and adopting the strategy that would defeat Justin Trudeau and his
Liberals in the next election. The NHL draft with its competition for
acquiring hot, new prospects came to mind.
There’s
no harm in talking about, comparing values. But when we do, we ought
to be looking at what it
is that we do, and
working backwards to determine what there is about us that makes us
do what we do. That determination will describe our true values. Say
you believe in protecting God’s creation while throwing your
plastic waste into the garbage can? Think again. Then tell me if you
value conservation
over convenience. Say
you value the admonition to “love your neighbour as yourself”
while protesting the reception of refugees from Syria? I don’t
think so.
Could
be that our blather on our greatness as Canadians is only blather:
perhaps our real Canadian values are more like dog eat dog, exploit
creation while you can, save up for yourself treasure on earth, to
the strongest go the spoils and get as much as you can for as little
effort as possible. Try running for the leadership of the CPC on that
values-laden platform!
So
here’s a secret: it wasn’t our values
that brought us to whatever greatness we can claim, it was our luck
in landing on a part of the globe where creation has provided far
more resources than would be required to sustain us. It’s only that
that separates us from Bangladesh, or Nicaragua, or Chad. Were values
the measure of our greatness, I
fear we’d be judged on the values
that guided us to be chintzy and selfish in the disposal of our
surplus in a world where whole populations could survive on the food
we discard, where whole communities of Canadians are destined to live
their lives in abject poverty.
It’s
time to put that tobacco in our pipes and inhale deeply. (This is a
metaphor; don’t smoke unless you place little value on your health.)
