Reaching, reaching for the power of majority

Reaching, reaching for The Ring of Majority Power that's just so close to his grasp ...
 

A metaphor for the 2011 Canadian election

A metaphor for the 2011 Canadian election:

Picture the scene toward the end of the Lord of The Rings trilogy where Gollum, Frodo, and Samwise reach a ledge on the side of a mountain, and Gollum/Sméagol whispers into Frodo's ear to turn him against his faithful friend Samwise who is still climbing up behind them.

The Ring is the ring of power, the ring of Majority, the ring that controls all others.

Frodo is the Canadian electorate, who bear the burden of decision, knowing that it is their duty, accepting the responsibility without complaint, knowing that they cannot shrug off the responsibility even though others are constantly trying to convince them to do just that (the insidious anti-democratic mantra of "Canadians don't want an election".)

Gollum is Stephen Harper, biding his time, acting on his most innocent behaviour in front of Frodo the electorate - just the 'little hobbitses' to him - to lie and mislead them until he can seize from them The Ring - the ring of power, the ring of majority, the ring that controls all others.

With The Ring of Majority, which he so desperately yearns, Harper will then control all others: majority in Parliament, majority in Senate, majority of appointments to the Supreme Court ("the Nine"), cutting off proportionally-representative funding to all the other parties (races of Middle Earth) to cripple them.

[Gollum and Frodo crest the stairs. Gollum motions Frodo to enter a tunnel.]

Gollum: "There."

Frodo: "What is this place?"

Gollum: "Master must go inside the tunnel."

Frodo: "Now that I'm here, I don't think I want to."

Gollum (impatiently): "It's the only way! Go in or go back."

Harper: "Voters, you must hand me the power of majority."

Canadian voters: "But we don't really want to."

Harper (impatiently): "It's the only way! If you don't, the country falls apart!"

Ignatieff is the weak Sméagol, the other side of the one Liberal/Conservative coin, who is nowhere near as Machiavellian and clever as Gollum, yet also desperately hungers to have the ring of power back, too. He thoroughly lacks judgement and foresight, is easily fooled by Gollum, and in the end always weakly goes along with Gollum's policies.

Gollum/Sméagol (the Conservatives/Liberals) have led Frodo (the Canadian electorate, the 'little hobbitses') thus far, playing nice, saying the right things, just waiting, waiting until the right moment and the ring of Majority is in their hands.

Samwise Gamgee is the loyal friend to Frodo, climbing up the stairs right behind them (in the polls). Samwise (the NDP), a simple gardener, has never been in power, yet is stoically always there for Frodo, looking out for the Canadian population, looking out for the little guy, and always warning Frodo against Gollum/Sméagol.

Gollum/Sméagol, who needs to be rid of Samwise so that the ring of majority can fall into his hands, poisonously whispers into Frodo's ear that Samwise just wants the ring for himself - and when Samwise does offer to take the ring for a short time to help his friend, Frodo turns against him. Gollum's Machiavellian plan falls into place and Frodo only realizes his costly mistake too late.

The Ring of corrupting influence has to be destroyed, and only Frodo and Samwise can do it. It means ending the corrupting influence of subsidized political contributions and big money. It means ending the undemocratic party power structure where elected members of parliament do very little more than rubber-stamp whatever their party establishment decides behind closed doors. It means shifting toward proportional representation, at the ballot box and in terms of political financing.

The Conservatives and Liberals would never destroy the One Ring that gives them inordinate power and longevity. They have too much of a vested interested in the first-past-the-post system, too much of a vested interest in non-proportionally-representative political contributions and big money. While saying otherwise, they would try to keep hold of The Ring forever, again and again falling prey to its corrupting influences.

Only Frodo, with the help of Samwise, can bring about the necessary change.