GUELPH POLITICAST #423 – Why Do We Care?

There’s a presidential election this year in the U.S., maybe you’ve heard about it, and like so much of American culture it threatens to block out the sun here, not to mention a lot of serious political issues we’re dealing with here in Canada. Why are we so obsessed with American politics and is it to the detriment of our own political enlightenment in this country? We could intellectualize this by saying that what goes on in America is a sneak preview of what’s coming in Canada. The neo-liberal centrism of Bill Clinton presaged the arrival of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, the neo-conservative George W. Bush was followed by his Canadian equivalent in Stephen Harper, and many people are seeing a comparison between Donald Trump and Pierre Poilievre with the performative outrage over woke and a lean towards economic populism. We also have a cross border alt-right feedback loop. Yes, you can say that something like the Freedom Convoy was fed by Trumpism and other appendages of the MAGA machine, but Canada has given them Gavin McGinnis, Lauren Southern, Jordan Peterson, and patient zero for the "Satanic Panic", Michelle Smith, was a resident of Victoria, B.C. So should we ignore American politics, or ignore them at our peril? Our guest this week spends part of his year in Florida, and he might have an answer! Oliver Rockside, a Guelph Politico booster and friend, podcaster, and former colleague from the Gang of Four show on CFRU, joins us this week to talk about the state of play living in a gerrymandered area of Florida, what it’s like today talking to Americans, and whether or not he’s seeing some warning signs here in Canada that were following in their example. Also, are we too focused on American politics here in Canada, and does it have a negative impact on understanding our own issues in this county? So let us consider American politics on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast! You can check out the Oliver Rockside podcast universe by listening to his music show In Your Ear Holes, the Law & Order podcast The 27th Precinct, and the now complete Star Trek pod 78 Episodes 30 Good Ones. We will continue to dip into the American election for the next few months on Open Sources Guelph, which you can hear Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify. Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.