The Psychology of...

In Canadian politics, (and I'm sure in most if not all democracies) we have a system in which political parties, with their carefully marketed brands and historically established norms, compete for our check-mark every four years or so. They take our vote and then draft policy, pass bills, and make decisions on our behalf. The only power we hold over them is that in a few years we go back to the polls so that we can "hold them accountable". My observation is that conservatives get into power long enough to pass policy that discourages enough liberals to mobilize themselves to the extent to which they can then elect a liberal government, then the liberals do the same. Back and forth. The Left stays in long enough to raise taxes on the rich. The right stays in long enough to lower corporate taxes... yadda yadda yadda. It's absurd these days to suggest that a good idea could get bipartisan support in parliament or congress. In the US we've seen 8 years of congress ...

po·lit·i·cal cor·rect·ness noun the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against. In my attempt to try and genuinely understand why so many good and intelligent people are still supporting Donald Trump for POTUS I keep stumbling across the general frustration with "liberal PCness" gone amok. If I understand correctly, conservatives  feel like their freedom of speech has been threatened and limited by the liberal media. That their favourite jokes are now scorned. Their ideologies are unpopular. Their worldview is devalued. All of this makes being mainstream seem shameful. White, heterosexual, cysgendered, males are the enemy! As far as I can see, I agree that there is an argument that in the attempt to stick up for the little guy we have overzealously created some unnecessary conflict. Wh...

I love education. I love learning. I love learning about how to be a better person. Which is why I am often left with an uneasy feeling whenever the topic of morals in public schools is brought up. I have been working in the school system for seven years, across various grades, schools, and school divisions and my experience tells me that morality is being taught to our kids more than ever before. Anyone that says to me that morals are no longer taught in school has obviously not spent time in today's classrooms. I have observed lessons on kindness to others, gratitude, teamwork, self-regulation, respect, delayed gratification, multiculturalism, healthy relationships, etc. You get the point. I think where most parents who have this concern are coming from is an issue not with the absence of morals but the source of them. Parents assume that since values aren't being taught from a religious point of view then they aren't values at all. The institution of education, whil...