It’s election time for Canada. The day is coming up and I’m already hearing and seeing the usual fracas on social media and amongst my friends and my clients.
The frenzy is taking a toll.
I recall some elections in the past where a lot of folks simply deactivated their social media accounts, stopped talking to friends, and generally hid until the elections were over. Not a pretty scenario. I recall a politician once telling me that politics is “blood-sport”. It’s true.
Here are some tips to survive:
1) Do deactivate your social media accounts if you want to. The less noise coming at you the better. Will you miss anything by logging out? Unlikely. Politicians are people and like most other folks they are attention seekers. They crave your eyeballs. So do their syncophants. They’ll pretty much say or do anything to get attention. Don’t give it to them.
2) Refrain from conversations about politics with your friends. If you already agree that a candidate or party is worth your vote, you have little to gain by discussing it. If, on the other hand, you disagree…you will gain nothing by discussing/arguing about it.
3) Refrain from conversations with strangers about politics. See point 2!
4) Do some “Google hunting” about the candidate in your area. Learn about what they stand for. Their voice in Parliament is somewhat limited, but you CAN, at the very least get a feeling for what sorts of things are important to them. The most important thing to figure out is how to contact these folks and how amenable are they to talk with you.
5) Take this time to learn how our elections and government work. Back in the day, we had a course called Civics that taught us about how governments work. I’m pretty sure such a critter isn’t taught now. Educate yourself. I’m sure you’ll be stunned at what you don’t know.
Have a great day, folks!