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Okay, so I've been thinking about this for the past couple of days and have come to, if not a conclusion, at least a way to put them into words. This has to do with the whole Troubled Monk thing and the amount of disbelief in the actions on both sides and everyone else inbetween.
It's likely gonna be long, so buckle up. Let's start by saying that I'm not going to advocate boycotting or supporting - that's your decision and you're free to make it. The goal is just to put to words the situation we're in and how we got here. I say this because
We can't get out of it until we understand how we got into it.
I'm old, so I remember back when tolerance was a thing. Some of you may be thinking that I'm remembering some golden age. I'm not.
Tolerance was horrid, but it was better than what was before.
I'm old, so I remember back when tolerance was a thing. Some of you may be thinking that I'm remembering some golden age. I'm not.
Tolerance was horrid, but it was better than what was before.
See, tolerance was a word that came out on the "left" back when it was pretty much agreed that gay people were abominations, but we probably should "tolerate" them and not actively make their lives worse.
I'll add that not even everyone on the left agreed with that much.
I'll add that not even everyone on the left agreed with that much.
This "tolerance" applied to a whole lot of things. Religions, brown people, etc. It became a paradox where certain religious or cultural practices were supposed to be "tolerated" but they were objectively horrible.
At the time, this was not great, but an ok comprimise
At the time, this was not great, but an ok comprimise
That's because the other side of the argument was to round up all the queers and put them on an island to die of AIDS. It sounds like an exaggeration to modern ears, but this was a legitimate proposal, in addition to the regular old hate crimes and "corrective raping."
We've moved beyond that and "tolerance" doesn't really exist anymore. Now it's about celebrating differences and intersectionality, which I'm not even remotely qualified to speak about, so I'll leave it alone. The point is that the "left" doesn't "tolerate" anymore.
Tolerance was the absolute least you could do, on the left or the right or whoever is in-between, which is most people. Saying "so much for the tolerant left" doesn't even make sense anymore because we all kind of agreed that being anti gay or overtly racist is just not cool.
And so it was assumed that anyone who unapologetically held antiquated beliefs that would cause harm to minorities shouldn't be allowed near the reins of power. Danielle Smith's WRP and the "lake of fire" comment that ended their run seemed to prove this.
See, a good portion of the gay community thought they had allies because of this. They thought that comments like this would be deal breaker. When Charles Adler asked if Kenney would apologize for trying to prevent gay men from visiting their partners dying of AIDS and he refused
It was astonishing to a large portion of Albertans. It was even worse seeing our friends and neighbours vote for the guy because he might bring oil jobs back. Ignore that he had no solid plan to do so or everything since. Our allies threw us under the bus for a feeble promise.
And then the rest of it. "Conscience rights", rolling back protections for queer teens, attacks on healthcare workers, negligence on the pandemic, and it wasn't just the gays anymore. The man has earned a visceral hatred from so many groups and it's dismissed as "derangement".
Now to leave that completely aside, if none of that applies to you, it's easy for it not to be on your radar. It's easy to say that your insurance going up or property taxes going up is just the price you have to pay to get the economy back on track.
And politics before the NDP were pretty simple. Sure a lot of people hated Klein, but it was a pretty simple arrangement. The PCs would spread the charm around or you'd have a conversation and stuff would get done. You had friends in high places.
Had Redford been more likeable, this probably would have continued. That's just how politics was done in Alberta. And so it was assumed that when the NDP were in power, you could have them over to a brewery, let them know your concerns and they'd use it as a promo.
The NDP also provoked visceral reactions. They were blamed for crashing the oil market and even those who knew better still blamed them for the lack of recovery. Having political leaders at your business wasn't cool anymore.
Now to be fair, craft beer people tend to be fairly neutral or even slightly left, so Notley's appearance at a new brewery was greeted with some comments about alcohol policy, but not much else. Kenney though, is a different beast.
I don't believe that Troubled Monk agrees with any of Kennedy's values. In fact, it's entirely possible they're unaware of the reasons he is so loathed. That might come hard to believe for those who are hyper aware of his policies because they are affected by them daily.
I believe Troubled Monk is just trying to influence interprovincial alcohol policies and you do that by talking to your government. Unfortunately, I doubt they understood the perception. After all, they spoke with Notley as well.
If you want to punish them for ignorance, that's your choice. Or if you believe they threw you under the bus, that's your choice. If you want to support them for those same reasons, that's also your choice.
I'll leave with this. Politics and politicians have changed drastically. If you're a business, I'd think twice nowadays about inviting a politician for a photo op.
