We The People Guy Rex Rodgers March 17, 2025 78 What We Choose To Remember Democracy was built on the idea that ‘we the people’ can stand together to defend ourselves from tyrants and adversity. ‘We the people’ is an empowering concept, unless your people are out of power, or they are part of a minority overpowered by a rival clan. Democracy was built on the idea that ‘we the people’ can stand together to defend ourselves from tyrants and adversity. United, we can weather tempests and, after the storm, share the burden of reconstruction. Unity has always been an elusive aspiration because human nature is fundamentally selfish. ‘Me first’ is basic survival instinct. In dog-eat-dog competition, the shrewdest and most ruthless live the longest. But that is not a life most people will choose if other options are available. Given a choice, most of us will cooperate for mutual benefit, which begins with the family, extends to the clan and can ultimately encompass total strangers, although that is an unnatural relationship. Why should anyone share anything with strangers? What is the motivation to assist needy people in a different part of the city? Or in a different part of the country? Or in a foreign country on the other side of the world? One motivation to help strangers is empathy. The sight of suffering stirs our emotions. Another motivation to help our neighbour in times of trouble is the expectation that they will reciprocate when we need help. A world without empathy, reciprocity and cooperation is a sad and lonely place. The current US president has embarked upon a campaign of America First. It is shocking to see the USA exert its considerable might in the pursuit of self-interest, ignoring friendships, alliances and principles. It seems illogical. Entire industries will be damaged, billions of dollars will be lost and multitudes will suffer, on both sides of the border. What is the motivation? What is to be gained? These are the wrong questions. There is no mystery in the selfishness of human nature or in the temptation for the powerful to exploit the weak. The real mystery is why concepts like empathy, reciprocity and cooperation inspire the human imagination, at least between periods of ‘me first.’ There is something otherworldly, almost miraculous, about strangers cooperating. This miracle requires trust and leadership. In Canada, we have been blessed for many years to live under these conditions. Our leaders have not been perfect, nor has our democracy. But, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, we had the best option available. Now it is threatened. The most pressing danger gathers outside our borders. The current US president could create such chaos and hardship that an offer of peace, in the form annexation, might appeal to a majority of Canadians. Those who prefer the old Canada would be lost within a double minority, as naysayers within a 51st state, and as unwanted aliens within the encroaching Empire. We live in Quebec. I’m writing this column in English. Here we have our own issues of tribal dominance, which are also on the rise. The CAQ government has been busily re-defining which Quebecers have full citizenship rights. This government is not using economic warfare. There are no soldiers in the streets. The battle is cold-bloodedly bureaucratic. The CAQ government has passed a series of interlocking laws to define Quebec’s values and identity: Bill 21 (Secularism) in 2019, Bill 40 (Education) in 2020, Bill 96 (Language) in 2022, and the latest tabled this year, Bill 84 (National Integration). These laws override minority rights that should be guaranteed by Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. ‘We the people’ no longer means that all Quebecers share the same rights and freedoms. The new definition of ‘we the people’ prioritizes collective values that the CAQ believe are shared by ‘true Quebecers.’ People with different values (languages or religions) can submit to the will of the majority or pack their bags. These are grim choices. We have no reason to expect special consideration from a foreign government. In fact, we should prepare for the worst from the current US administration, and not expect a return to ‘normal’ even after the next election. We do have a right to expect more of our own government, and we have a right to be angry about the divisive identity politics they have exploited. It will be poetic justice for Legault and the CAQ to be soundly defeated in the upcoming provincial election. Will the next government have the wisdom to restore a definition of ‘we the people’ that includes all of us? Maybe an external threat is what we need to bring us back together. Guy Rex Rodgers was founding Executive Director of the English Language Arts Network (ELAN) and recently returned to filmmaking. You can reach Guy at: [email protected]
