What I Learned About Politics: Inside The Rise-And Collapse By Graham Steele

Graham Steele’s “What I learned about Politics: Inside the Rise —and Collapse— of Nova Scotia’s NDP Government” is a frank and straightforward reflection of fifteen years in Canadian politics. Steele recounts the reasons he joined and left politics, this account testifies to broader trend within Canadian legislative democracy and highlights the plethora of problems within Canadian politics. Although Steele occupied senior positions with the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, the tone of the book appears to remain non-partisan. Although, the tone of the book testifies that political differences matter little when the economic engine has been, regardless of parties, governed by the same capitalist ethos. Canadian legislative democracy is governed,

Although I agree that Powell highlights the general problem of all human affairs and the conditions under which they occur, Steele fails to emphasize and clearly point to the current economic system as the biggest hindrance to democracy. At the barest, Steele refers to an intangible force which truly governs, regardless of one’s Cabinet position. Thus, if citizens chose to participate in politics to serve the public, balance competing interests, and create a most just and equitable society, both Powell’s maxim and capitalist ethics render such aspirations elusive, at best. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that the proper democratic functioning of Canadian society is hindered by dishonest relations between political parties and electorate, and more importantly, that it is not enough to have democratic institutions if the economic system is governed by and for a particular few at the expense of the

Have politicians resorted to creating and reinforcing superficial differences and blatantly ignoring the fact that within our society exists a social class which operates outside the will of the majority and holds the monopoly of the means of production? Or, have our politicians not understood that their feeling of worthlessness, disillusionment, and even powerlessness — regardless of cabinet position — is a direct effect of the undemocratic means of production? That it is futile to aim for the public good when the economic system is in maintained by the exploitation of the many by the few? Steele also grieves the fact that all the substantial decisions conducted on bills and budgets are made outside Parliament or “…behind the closed doors in office buildings scattered around downtown Halifax” and that by the time a bill is tabled in the House of Commons, its content has already been reviewed and decided. Why do our democratic institutions exist if the real decisions are made in the private sector? Is, thus, the state merely an engine of the ruling class used to legalize, and enforce their class interest? It is clear that Canada’s legislative democracy is governed and operates under the yoke of an undemocratic engine which disproportionately exalts the interest of a social class. For Steele, it is the law of the universe that human affairs end