Talking Politics with my Dog
 ME: We often hear that we get the
government we deserve. With federal elections coming up in both
Canada and the United States in a few weeks, perhaps we should
talk politics.
HUNNY: As a dog, I don’t normally pay too much attention to the
subject. What I do know, however, is that "poly" is a Latin root
for "many" – and ticks, like fleas, are blood-sucking creatures
that can certainly leave you scratching your head. Isn’t that
the derivation of the word "politics"?
ME: Very funny. But many people would say that you might have
hit bit of truth with that old joke. Certainly many of our
politicians seem intent on sucking us dry of our money.
HUNNY: There you go talking about those pieces of paper again. I
have never been able to figure out why humans are so preoccupied
with the stuff. Most humans think that the more of it they have
in their wallets, the happier they will be. Yet they can’t eat
it or play with it.
ME: That’s true, but it does allow us a bit of freedom. Perhaps
that’s one reason our governments seem so eager to take it away
from us.
HUNNY: It seems silly to us dogs that not having certain bits of
paper should reduce freedom. But I have noticed that politicians
have also used paper to try to restrict what we can do. They
write things down on them and the next thing you know, "pit
bulls" are banned or dogs can’t run around freely without a
leash. Some have even tried to force people to contain their
cats! Can you imagine that! I wouldn’t want to get anywhere near
a cat on a leash – they can go really berserk when they don’t
want to be restrained; those claws can do a lot of damage.
ME: I understand your point about cats; they definitely do not
like to be restricted. By the way, those things written down on
pieces of paper are called "laws". Like you, I have noticed that
they tend to restrict our freedoms. Ban this. Ban that. The
trouble with bans, and in fact with most laws, is that they are
usually brought in to restrict criminals or control
irresponsible behavior.
HUNNY: So, for example, the responsible dog owner is placed
under more and more restrictions. And a lot of good dogs like me
are banned or even killed. Even I can see that it is the
criminal or irresponsible person who doesn’t obey the laws,
causing more and more laws to be passed.
ME: You’re right there. It seems to me sometimes that
politicians are trying to take responsibility away from the
individual so that the government can control everything.
Perhaps it would work better if responsibility for the
individual’s actions were to be placed back where it belongs –
on the individual.
HUNNY: Like: "Make you as my human owner responsible for my
actions as a dog." Of course, you would still be responsible for
your own actions, just as I would have to face the consequences
if I did something bad.
ME: Exactly … that’s the only thing that makes sense to me. That
way we could simplify and reduce the number of laws we have and
governments wouldn’t have to micro-manage every last detail in
our lives.
HUNNY: What I can’t understand is how you humans choose a
politician? And why do some humans vote for the same political
party time after time no matter what? In our packs, if a better
dog comes along, we just pick that dog to become our new
alpha-leader.
ME: That’s a tough question. I would have to say that some
politicians count on us to keep voting the same way so that we
won’t examine their policies too closely. I would tend to vote
for the man or woman I felt had our best interests at heart and
who understood that he or she worked for us and not the other
way around. I would look for the most decent, honest and ethical
person I could find.
HUNNY: And if I had a vote, I would certainly go for any
politician who would try to simplify our laws to give us some
responsibility and freedom back.
ME: You know there will be some people who won’t agree with us.
Many of them think that it is better not to rock the boat and
that "you can’t change City Hall". And that we should accept
whatever our politicians pass without objection or protest.
HUNNY: Well, for those people, I guess they really do get the
government they deserve. But if they don’t pay attention, they
may end up with a government fit not even for dogs.
Previous "Petitorial"
articles by David McKague:
Editor’s note:
I would like to encourage dog lovers everywhere
to start a PETITION to have this law thrown out or revised to such
a form where justice prevails. SFR.
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