‘The reality of mass politics makes parties absolutely necessary’

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 11:00 AM - 14 Comments

Andrew Potter defends the existence of political parties.

Nenshi also pointedly refused to affiliate himself with any particular party. He re-emphasized that line while giving a speech in Toronto last week, saying in the Q&A after the talk that the absence of parties is the one thing he likes best about city politics. Parties, he said, are of interest to academics, to the media, and to politicians themselves, but to the average citizen they are useless.

Like almost all popularly held views, the only problem with this is that it’s wrong, and based on a serious misunderstanding of what parties are for. Most people think that parties are supposed to advance a specific ideology, like left-wing egalitarianism or social conservatism. Some parties do this, but that is mostly just a side-effect of their primary role, which is to translate popular support into political power. They do this by delivering a cohesive and disciplined block of support sufficient to sustain a government for an extended period of time.

See previously: In defence of partisanship

Party City

By Jonathon Gatehouse - Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 1:40 PM - 4 Comments

As the 2010 Winter Olympics enter their second week, there’s little question that the people of Vancouver have embraced the Games.

All those pre-Olympic worries about whether the laid-back West Coasters would show their pride and welcome the world have been put to rest—with a vengeance.

Nothing I have witnessed in three prior Olympics compares to the crowds thronging the streets of downtown. From very first thing in the morning, until well after closing time, sidewalks and public places are jam-packed.

During daylight hours the vibe has been fun, with lots of tourists and families with small children. At Robson Square, home of the BC Pavilion, people are lining up for eight hours for a 30-second zip line run, high above the crowds. Near the International Broadcast Centre, the Olympic flame was already a huge draw, despite the less-than-ideal viewing conditions. And once word spreads that VANOC quietly replaced the chain-link fence with plexiglass in the wee hours of this morning, look out.

The bars are packed all day long and filled with friendly ribbing as Canadians diss foreign visitors about the day’s performances and vice-versa. National colours, painted faces and flags as capes are the order of the day. (My favourite get-up so far was a guy in a kilt with a t-shirt reading “Opening Ceremonies Hydraulics Team.”)

But as the evening progresses things are getting a little ugly. Last night, the vast pedestrian mall on Granville Street seemed more like a riot waiting to happen than a street party. The crowd—young and homegrown (at least it sure smelled that way)—was closer to legless than tipsy. And there was a distinct edge to the pro-Canada celebrations.

Vancouver Police were out in force, gamely trying to dissuade people from drinking in public. But in contrast to their colleagues on the day-shift, the cops seemed tense, moving about in large, unsmiling groups, obviously girded for trouble.

Now comes word that the V.P.D has asked the Integrated Security Unit, the 10,000-strong, RCMP-led force in charge of venue security, for a hand in managing the crowds. It’s a wise decision.

iPod Fascists

By Sarmishta Subramanian - Monday, November 9, 2009 at 11:30 AM - 3 Comments

The hijacker usually strikes without warning. He has an iPod stacked with examples of his discerning musical tastes burning a hole in his pocket, and he’s in the mood to impress. Perhaps imagining he has just flown back from a gig at a club in Ibiza, he slinks toward the iPod dock. One moment your party guests are enjoying tracks from the new Air record, and the next—yoink, and on comes a laborious Middle Eastern fiddly jazz number with a sudden extended Strokes-style rock section, which the hijacker—let’s say he’s the bearded fellow in the corner drinking port—is conspicuously alone in savouring. “Well, I kind of liked it,” allows Chris Church, a violinist and singer-songwriter from Halifax, who witnessed this precise act of musical terrorism at a recent house party. “It was interesting. But I looked over at these women with kids who were sipping Chardonnay, and I wondered what they were thinking.”

Hijacking may not be an entirely recent invention—one woman who works in publishing recalls a traumatic operation from years ago when a well-meaning friend pressed the eject button on the painstakingly assembled mixed tape she and her husband were playing—at their wedding. But it’s a plot line that’s become increasingly commonplace at parties, weekends at the cottage, the car, even some workplaces. It has never been easier, or more tempting, to foist our musical sensitivities on our fellow men. In an era of unprecedented musical portability, we walk around, most of us, with our preferred soundtracks to our lives—not to mention our entire record collections—in our pockets. We’re used to turning any public space into our own private universe, courtesy of a single pair of earbuds. Is it any wonder that when we find ourselves on the wrong side—this seems to play a part sometimes—of several jiggers of booze, near an iPod dock that’s playing some tripe that’s definitely not our taste, some of us can no longer resist the urge to intervene? Continue…