Some times you wake up in the morning and think, ‘why I have put myself in such a lousy situation’! Your relationship is fucked up. You hate your job. Even the roof is leaking. And then you started to reflect. ‘I should have done this and that because for sure, all of this mess did no start today. I should not have engaged with this particular soul. Why did I not have the guts to take this job that could have … and yes, I knew there was a crack in the house. Well now you have to start anew. You are full of good resolutions. ‘I am going to this and do that’. First thing first, I am going to fix what I can TODAY, because, the first step in the long march is where it starts. So then if you are very courageous, you move. But often after a while, your resolutions become weaker. You have repaired the leak after all, but rebuilding the roof is complicated and costly. You had a discussion with your mate, so at least you can talk with that person without hoping the sky would crash on him/her. You don’t feel too good about it, but then you think ‘I am no superman’, I do what I can. And so life goes on.

It reminds me of our present political mess. We definitely are in a big dark hole. Talk about the financial crisis, the climate change crisis, the energy crisis, the militarization crisis. Without being a genius, many of us think, ‘this is a turning point’. And then we have the lousy small time politics, the spins, the lies, the cheating and the selling. Moreover, we have the State, a monstrous engine of deceit and control. The state creeps in our lives, our structures, our minds through reactionary and useless tools to punish and reward. It’s terrible and we know it. But what can we do? From day to day, we have the choice between the worst and the terrible. We deflect, we maneuver, we try to avoid being hit in the face. And right how, fixing the roof means defeating the Harper revolution. You have to do what you have to do.

But what else? Can I find the courage to rebuild the house? Can I get out of the box? The current political system is fundamentally irreformable. Its genetic code has been messed up. The idea that a tiny ruling class related by a bunch of unaccountable politicians and invisible bureaucrats can rule the place cannot work, we see now the results. And for sure, replacing one bunch of clowns by another won’t do much good on the long term. In rare but important historical junctures, it happens that people break out. Call it right now Bolivia or Nepal. Call it the not-so-quiet revolution of the 1960s in Quebec. Call it the decolonization of Africa. They are magical moments when people decide to go far and to go bold.

Where are we now? In the past days, we have been discussing a lot about ‘strategic voting’, ABH, and opposing the real and imminent danger. It’s fine and important. Tuesday night, we will see if all of these efforts have avoided the disaster. But Wednesday morning, you will probably start your and ask yourself, ‘what is my life such a mess’?!?!

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Pierre Beaudet

Pierre was active in international solidarity and social movements in Quebec, and was the founder of Quebec NGO Alternatives, and Editor of the Nouveaux cahiers du socialisme. He blogged on rabble.ca in...