Politics: Promises, part 1
Self-tutoring about politics: the tutor continues about promises.
In yesterday’s post I mention the idea of political promises and why they might get abandoned.
One disadvantage that a promise to “save” inevitably carries is that it involves investment. Let’s imagine a government promises to balance the budget by cutting spending, for instance. (Don’t worry; from what I’ve read, the concept is academic.) Someone, by consequence, has to sacrifice now for a better life later.
Realizing the benefit of a balanced budget requires imagination and patience, which people are perhaps less trained to have these days. “Don’t believe without proof,” people often say. Yet, to a hostile audience, proving even an obvious fact can be very difficult. I don’t imagine proving the sun will rise tomorrow is easy to do, if possible at all.
To believe the impact that running a deficit can have, perhaps a person needs to have lived through it. I did, in the early 90s. That’s why, to me, balancing the budget is important.
Are most voters simply younger than I now, or do some my age forget Canada before a few courageous ones restored the books in the 90s? (They came to power in ’93).
Source:
Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.