so i was channel surfing last night..well actually i wasnt i had it left on CBC after the ottawa jersey game and i stopped paying attention and then i went back and i caught a bit of The Next Great Prime Minister.
i caught it at the point where Rick Mercer points to the judges, all former PMs, and asks them to decide the winner and who's to become the next great PM and Paul Martin said that it wasnt the job of four former PMs to decide because they all believe in democracy and the people should decide.
at this point i got pissed off and changed the channel. not because it seemed like a pretty stupid show, but because it's trivializing exactly what Martin was talking about.
what brilliant fucking idea CBC, let's turn Canadian politics into fucking Canadian Idol. i'm not going to say that the show isnt an entire waste of an idea as it does provide a real forum for the opinion of younger people to be brought forward into a medium where they can actually be heard and debated, but the sad reality of it is that this is a game and is NOT a serious debate.
I'll take another angle at this. the voting public always bitches abot how young people arent inerested in politics. the contestents in this show all range from 18 to 25. score one for us young'uns. obviously if the CBC decided that this show will be a big hit then it means that young people ARE interested, so why are people still going to bitch about it? because it's presented as a game. If it'sa game the viewing public is NOT going to listen and absorb any information given as actual critical and original material with which politicians could actually form new and working ideas for the country.
i bet you that not one of the suggestions put forward in any debate that went on in that show are given credit or are used as a voice for younger canadians whenever the next election happens.
the prizes in the show are 50 grand for the winner and a 6 month internship at MDF and 3 month internsips for the other three. guess what the M stands for. give up? Magna International. in my opinion a company that currently has a Member of Parliament who has declared that she will be returning to run the company after her term is up should have no part in a competition such as this. in my opinion this falls under the category of lobbying simply because the company has far too many connections with the former governing party that will undoubtedly benefit from a relationship with it in the upcoming election.
lastly, mostly because i have to go to superstore real quick and dont have more time to rant..., is the fact that this competition is set up like a game show in much the same vein as reality tv shows like ANTM and Idol. I say this because they all follow the same basic pattern: contestants try their best to impress a panel of judges who offer their opinions and ultimately their fate rests in the hands a the voting public, thus categorizing them as a type of reality tv. reality tv in this vein, as we all know, is bullshit and has pretty much marred the lines between true reality and screen reality.
my concern is that presenting canadian politics in a manner such as this will inevitably lead to the voting public in this country feeling that real politics and real elections should be presented and fought in the same way as this show. people will feel the need to have judges to provide instant criticisms so they won't really have to learn anything beyond the basic platform ideas and will then be able to cast their vote based on what four people behind a table tell them what to think. that and Rick Mercer mediating pre election debates.
anyway...
i have to go find new york cheddar kettle chips now.
i caught it at the point where Rick Mercer points to the judges, all former PMs, and asks them to decide the winner and who's to become the next great PM and Paul Martin said that it wasnt the job of four former PMs to decide because they all believe in democracy and the people should decide.
at this point i got pissed off and changed the channel. not because it seemed like a pretty stupid show, but because it's trivializing exactly what Martin was talking about.
what brilliant fucking idea CBC, let's turn Canadian politics into fucking Canadian Idol. i'm not going to say that the show isnt an entire waste of an idea as it does provide a real forum for the opinion of younger people to be brought forward into a medium where they can actually be heard and debated, but the sad reality of it is that this is a game and is NOT a serious debate.
I'll take another angle at this. the voting public always bitches abot how young people arent inerested in politics. the contestents in this show all range from 18 to 25. score one for us young'uns. obviously if the CBC decided that this show will be a big hit then it means that young people ARE interested, so why are people still going to bitch about it? because it's presented as a game. If it'sa game the viewing public is NOT going to listen and absorb any information given as actual critical and original material with which politicians could actually form new and working ideas for the country.
i bet you that not one of the suggestions put forward in any debate that went on in that show are given credit or are used as a voice for younger canadians whenever the next election happens.
the prizes in the show are 50 grand for the winner and a 6 month internship at MDF and 3 month internsips for the other three. guess what the M stands for. give up? Magna International. in my opinion a company that currently has a Member of Parliament who has declared that she will be returning to run the company after her term is up should have no part in a competition such as this. in my opinion this falls under the category of lobbying simply because the company has far too many connections with the former governing party that will undoubtedly benefit from a relationship with it in the upcoming election.
lastly, mostly because i have to go to superstore real quick and dont have more time to rant..., is the fact that this competition is set up like a game show in much the same vein as reality tv shows like ANTM and Idol. I say this because they all follow the same basic pattern: contestants try their best to impress a panel of judges who offer their opinions and ultimately their fate rests in the hands a the voting public, thus categorizing them as a type of reality tv. reality tv in this vein, as we all know, is bullshit and has pretty much marred the lines between true reality and screen reality.
my concern is that presenting canadian politics in a manner such as this will inevitably lead to the voting public in this country feeling that real politics and real elections should be presented and fought in the same way as this show. people will feel the need to have judges to provide instant criticisms so they won't really have to learn anything beyond the basic platform ideas and will then be able to cast their vote based on what four people behind a table tell them what to think. that and Rick Mercer mediating pre election debates.
anyway...
i have to go find new york cheddar kettle chips now.
you're the only one with hair?
i took over the world at 5:08 PM
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