Progressives don’t believe in real democracy

Vincent J. Curtis

21 Feb 21

RE: School Board Crisis May Need Outside Help.  Hamilton Spectator editorial of 20 Feb 21.

From reading the editorial, the “outside help” referred to must be from the Chinese Red Guards.  It is obvious that the editors understand neither representative democracy, nor their own argument.

One of the crimes allegedly committed by the trustees at issue was the “efforts to silence the voice” of complainant student trustee, Ahona Mehdi.  What is the Spectator’s solution?  To silence the voices of the four trustees by forced resignation or removal!  With perhaps a period of incarceration in a re-education camp.

Free speech is most protected among elected representatives.  The reason is that, as representatives, they are to give voice to the sincere beliefs and opinions of the people they represent – warts and all.  Otherwise, representative democracy is an elaborate farce. (And they wonder why Trump got elected!)

And sometimes those representatives actually believe what they say!

The school board isn’t a private club, and by law takes money from taxpayers to fund Board operations.  The universe in which trustees are not answerable to some outside consultant is this one.  It doesn’t matter that the “independent, third party” hireling found that some trustees exhibited racism, and that the accused refuse to speak to the Spectator about it.  The trustees are answerable only to the electorate, some of whom may agree with the opinions expressed.  One of those opinions might have been, “better to keep your mouth shut and your ears open, honey”

Progressivism doesn’t believe in real democracy.  Or adulthood, it seems.  The opinions of adults need to be policed for deviations from the party line.  That’s the opinion of the Red Guards, and, apparently, of the Spectator editors.

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