Better a ballot than a bayonet
Our revolutionary ancestors are rolling in their mass graves
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reading 1848: Year of Revolution by Mike Rappaport. It seems apropos during an election to revisit the “Springtime of the Peoples”, when the demand for constitutional government erupted in revolutions that rocked Europe. It was the first major step that led to the eventual downfall of monarchical rule in favour of independent nation states. Revolutionary fever had been bubbling for several years, change was in the air; the people were evolving.
There were many factors that led to the widespread discontent among the noble, middle and peasant classes: technological change, demands for a free press and universal suffrage (male, naturally), discontent with the ruling monarchies, food insecurity via poverty or crop failure, and the increasing burden of taxation, are some noted challenges of the times.
That year, the spark of revolution was lit in Italy, where an anti-smoking campaign erupted into flames jumping from country to country across the continent. Drawing on the distaste of the population toward paying taxes, the nobles of Milan, inspired by events in Boston involving tea, proposed a tobacco boycott, a hit to the treasury of their Austrian overlords. One day, in perhaps a pique of tobacco withdrawal, a Milanese man attacked an Austrian soldier who was exuberantly enjoying his cigar. Knocking it out of his mouth, he started a scuffle where soldiers beat up some citizens. More citizens joined in, more soldiers retaliated, and by the end of the conflict, six citizens lay dead while 50 were wounded. But of course it didn’t end there, one thing lead to another, word spread, revolutions followed.
That’s a pretty quick overview of a complex environment. Tens of thousands of people died and an untold amount were forced into exile. For constitutional government and the vote for the citizen man. That’s what it cost to change the system in the middle of the nineteenth century. Revolution. Death. Destruction.
Revolution is a result of ideological fervour underpinned by the material deprivation (food, housing, clothing, etc.) of the masses. Smart politicians know enough to keep the people happy to ward off revolutionary fever. Others build up their militias to enforce their rule and keep their people in check.
In my comfortable 21st century Canadian existence, I wonder what it takes to drive people to such discontent that they’re willing to come to blows to exert their will? Willing to fight to the death for their cause. I wonder how it is that governments can be so blind to the effects of their policies, so preoccupied with whatever power they possess that they become lost in self-interest and preservation? The “people” become a vague concept as they go about protecting their jobs and padding their bank accounts, and those of their cronies, on the public purse.
I was hoping for a minority government coming out of this election. I didn’t care much which party, but a minority government. While majority governments tend to polarization and unchecked power, minority governments demand some level of cooperation to function and can end up satisfying the most people. If politics doesn’t get in the way and providing
good government for the people is the goal.
I was also profoundly disappointed at voter turnout. At 58 per cent, pundits are crowing at the increase over the paltry 54 per cent garnered in 2014. I remain completely disheartened. What does such a low rate tell us about our current method of electing representatives that so few people care to exercise a right so hard won? It’s a sign of disengagement for sure, but why? Complacency? Disillusionment? Indecision? We don’t know because no one cares. There is no interest in reaching these people. Who are they even? Where do they take their complaints? To the streets? Do they become the “ungovernables”? Who knows? Who cares?
Our electoral system has not evolved to serve the needs of the people. If it were working, more people would be voting. I get the social imperative of the sex-ed curriculum, but what we really need is a civics-ed curriculum to inculcate in every child the importance of their civic dut. Oh, and electoral reform.
In 1848, the people felt ignored, overtaxed and burdened by topheavy bureaucracies. And in 2018, the people still feel ignored; increasingly burdened by taxes for a system that continues to perpetuate inequalities; and where the real winners enjoy political patronage and favour at the expense of the people. We exchanged one set of overlords for another. But who has time, or desire, for a bloody revolution?
Change is better by a ballot than a bayonet. Margaret Shkimba is a writer who lives in Hamilton. She can be reached at menrvasofia@gmail.com or you can "Friend" her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @menrvasofia@gmail.com