To Complain...

Why don't people complain? I'm not referring to the always annoying people who mindlessly complain about trivial matters that they can easily fix; for instance people who complain 'it's cold outside' when it is in the middle of a Canadian winter. What I'm referring to is why don't people make a fuss about big problems in our lives?

The problems in this world are numerous, and yet most people feel content to live with them. Sure people gripe to one another about such problems, but they are not willing to actually do something about it. To be fair, where should one start by addressing such 'big' problems. We hear that we can always write or phone our elected official. Seniors are the ones most likely to do this, and even then they are just lonely and likely content with the way things are. Additionally, I doubt the elected official really cares about one person as opposed to a scenario where multitudes of people would complain at once.

What else can one do? Well some say protest. I doubt this does anything either. Sure there was a lot of protesting during the 60's through the 80's about everything from independence for Quebec, ending the Vietnam war, promoting civil rights, ending nuclear productions, and etc. Did any of these protests work? Hard to say, but they probably did very little. The fact is that it is the young who protest and it is the old who make the governmental policy decisions. The old are also the ones who vote the old into office, not the young. So if many young people protest, what weight do their threats carry?

Today people find refuge in entertainment. Movies tell of us these great David vs. Goliath fights. A new movie is coming out about this called "A Flash of Genius". It is about a man who invents automatic windshield blades but has his invention stolen by Ford. He sues them. This happens in the 1960's. This is a common theme in entertainment for North America. Apparently these stories only occur in the years between 1960-1980 something. There are many movies like this that make this time period out to be some magical entity where people could band together in a common goal and achieve their wish. It was a time of the Tyranny of the Majority and not the Minority. Rarely does the media promote stories about people performing incredible feats in today's society. Instead we are encouraged to roll over and press play.

You could run for office. The most affective way of invoking change is to invoke it yourself through entering politics, or so they say. Where are the young people in politics and who are they? Well.... they have money. They are not a representation of the majority but rather the minority. I also doubt that they differ all that much from the older guard. Truly, these 'young' politicians are brandied about as a face and not so much for showing their ideals. An example. Justin Trudeau (pictured left). I admit I do not know too much about this man, but enough to form some level of an opinion. He was the son of the infamous Premier of Canada during the 1960's; he gave Canada the need of taxes because he ran the country into so much debt, but then he also gave the country many social programs that became cherished. Justin slowly entered politics over the last ten years, culminating a few years ago in being elected to Parliament. He is a Roman Catholic. He is also 'close' to French communities and their perceived needs. He won his riding as a liberal. He is also an actor, appearing in a mini-series on CBC television. He also went across Canada giving talks about what 'young' people can do about Canada. These talks occurred about 3 years ago and at the time I was interested in attending. I never made it because it would cost well over $100. This is strange since his talk was addressing young people, but how many 'young' people would have over $100 to spend on listening to his talk? And yet Justin is now a politician, a 'young' politician, who should be addressing 'new' issues and making change in the government. No hope there I am afraid. It would seem that the average 'young' person is not as likely to enter politics as much as a 'young' person with connections and the motivation to not 'rock the boat' of the older ways.

So how can people complain effectively? They can protest, contact their local politician, or become a politician themselves. Are there more? Yes, by making money and power. Or so it seems to a cynic. Maybe there is another way.....