June 1996 Voices in the dark by Arthur Hanks I am a voice. It is what I do. Perhaps you have heard me. I may even have spoken to you, but you probably will not remember. Together we share anonymity. I am never seen and people make of me what they will. To support myself going through school, I work the phones at a market research company which does public opinion polling. My job is highly structured and I must maintain-the-stance of the disinterested observer. It’s a “cool” job. I may as well be the man in the moon: “Hello, my name is Arthur and I’m calling from Vancouver....” I am to be impartial, especially when reading political questions, which is often, for that is my company’s forte. Many people do not have the time for me. Understandable, as people are busy, or eating dinner, or doing the naughty and otherwise reacting to demands being placed on them by others they know and can actually see. “What does this voice want? No thank you, Arthur.” Click, they hang up, and I have to call someone else. But then there are times when I actually speak to people. Some volunteer, thrilled they have been chosen. Others will grudgingly give me the time, and then monopolize it, speaking for half an hour what was supposed to be a ten minute phone call. No matter. That’s am simply to listen and to register everyone’s point of view. Because all I do is listen, people make of me what they will. They think that I am sympathetic to their point of view. This is not a problem, except when I hear voices of bigotry and rage. Then it is scary. I hear voices that are not just expressing an opinion, but that are vitriolic. Some nights we do surveys about native land claims, and the reaction has been ugly. A vocal minority makes comments like: “They have no rights. They have given them up!” “The war is over and they have lost.” “Sure, there were injustices in the past, but now it is the present. Why should there be two laws for British Columbians?” These respondents are angry that natives are seemingly getting a free ride at their expense. “It is like they are children,” they say, “And it’s time they grew up!” Here is the frustration. There is no memory. Blame it on TV, education, fear mongering politicians, the media in general, any convenient scapegoat. For there has never been one law for all British Columbians. From the head taxes passed on Oriental immigrants, to the internment of Japanese Canadians during WWII, to the prejudices new immigrants face when entering Canada today, and to the devastation of native culture in this land for the | guilty because th eay can say whatever they want and all I can do is dutifully record. I could be anyone. could be a native myself, on the phone talking to these folk. But behind the veil of anonymity, I’m a 29 year old Caucasian male, biting on his tongue. an occupational hazard. I hear a variety of discordant points of view. I am charged not to correct, nor to inform, and not to argue. I Ship of fools, busload of idiots past hundred years...how can we say this has beena _ free and equal society? I want to slam the phone down, when I hear people say these things. I feel Just another BC election by Byrun Stedmann To be fair, politics in BC have never been boring. From our entry into confederation, to a premier who changed his name to Amor de Cosmos (formerly a Californian gold miner named Bill Smith). From Wacky Bennett and his capitalist hordes, to Davey-boy Barrett and his socialist hordes, to Little Billy Bennett (son of) and his capitalist hordes. From Willy Vander- Zalm’s egocentric circus for the ridiculously simple-minded to Milquetoast Mikey. And now we have Go-Go- Gadget Glen with wanna-be god Gordon Campbell waiting in the wings. No, we British Columbians have never been at a loss for political oddballs, eccentrics, wusses and weirdoes. Let’s face it. With the NDP moving steadily Right and Gordon Campbell’s Liberals (staffed with the higher end ex-Socreds) waiting to show Ontario premier Mike Harris what hack-and-slash budget balancing is really about, what kind of future can we hope for in this province? Vote for the underdogs? Considering the options in that field, I would rather have Caligula’s horse running for office—at least it had an air of dignity and intelligence. The Progressive Democratic Alliance seems to be a party driven more by Gordon Wilson’s ego and hubris than by competence. The Reform Party, a haven for lower end Socreds, belongs completely to the redneck vote, while the undead Social Credit Party had the electoral stake driven through its heart May 28. (In the spirit of any good horror-movie monster, expect it to return from the grave yet again in another four years.) The Natural Law Party exists only for the amusement of the electorate. Then there is the Green Party, whose unrealistic idealism and —haco. . social agenda just give the rest of us on the Left a bad name. (I’m ignoring the BC Conservatives, Libertarians, and the CCCF, although the Party of Citizens Who Have Decided to Think for Themselves and be Their Own Politicians deserve mention, if only for the name.) If I seem cynical about politics it is because I am. I am a self- declared Political Agnostic. There are no answers awaiting us in the political realm. Capitalism has put the world into an irrevocable bind, fiscally and environmentally, while socialism appears to be a nice but unattainable fantasy that depends too much on the innate goodness of humanity. (The track record of this century should suffice to deflate that myth.) Some people rightfully assume that I have anarchistic sympathies. However, I don’t see much hope in that direction either. If you really pushed me to name an ideal society I would have to say the Amish. But how many people would go back to that lifestyle after living in this age of convenience? That, perhaps, is the problem. The answer lies in going back, rather than accepting the myth of progress and pushing forward. But how do you get people to go back to a more communal way of living? How do you explain to the wanting masses of the Third World that the luxuries we have enjoyed over the last hundred years are no longer a viable option? The system is a delusional lie; it feeds on our fantasies of opulence and comfort. It promises us that the world can be at our fingertips, all we need to do is work for it. My great-grandfather worked for it, as did my grandfather and his two sons. And yet my cousins and I face a mountain of debt that we have no hope of paying off. Despite the promises of governments, the debt can never be eliminated. The government spends so the majority of the populace are taken care of, yet the more they spend, the more debt that is incurred. So the government taxes people to pay I] for the cost of the programs. But it is never enough, and the taxes | | continue to mount. This foolishness will continue until“ the system implodes under its own inflated mass, inducing a state of anarchy, which will probably be followed by a a feudal-style authoritarian state. There was no one in this past + election who could have made a significant difference, only slow down the process that is already J in place. I’d like to believe that + there is a government that could 4 really change things. d Occasionally an individual who could change the system rises up, but that person is usually 4 silenced, marginalized or bought . out. It’s a cynical approach, I know, but look at this province, this country, this planet, and tell me: what am I left with?