Wants a moral leader

“We need a strong leader.”

As a student of history, there are not many four-word phrases that cause the hairs to stand up on the back of my neck at the collective utterance. It’s also the strongest indication of the general emotional state of a society —fear.

It is the same fear that saw countries, ours included, nearly beg for restrictions to our freedoms after 9/11and the same fear that leads to the rise of fascism and the loss of the “pseudo” democracy we enjoy. It is the same fear that creates an “us” and a “them.”

Yet, here we are, not resisting but assisting the fall.

Take the Tesla boycotts and protests as just one of many examples playing out today. Tesla employs 128,000 people, people who have families, mortgages, rent to pay and food to put on the table. Does anyone sincerely believe the billionaires in charge suffer one iota? The system is rigged so that the whole of society suffers, not the billionaire (owner).

Canada has nearly one million shares in Tesla, held by the Canada Pension Plan. The U.S. has more than $480 billion worth of shares held by social security investments.

In short, we all suffer, now and in the future. But let’s elect a “strong” leader to fight. Trust me, the farmer in California who grew the strawberries (Canadians) refuse to buy because they have a ‘Made in USA’ label is just like you and I. So, whom do we fight?

After 2,000 years of the the rise and fall of dictators, perhaps we should consider a line of thinking in complete opposition to the idea that, this time it will be different.

Let’s work to elect a compassionate leader, a moral leader, a leader with empathy who lacks the privileged life upbringing that leaves our current leaders bereft of true wisdom and without understanding of the daily struggles so many face.

Garhen Avalokiteshvara