STEREOTYPING...not only in Canada Eh? Pity...

The spin-doctors and frustrated backroom political strategists in the Conservative Party have demonstrated for us yet another example of systemic prejudice in practice. We the public know that this sort of thing has always been there and will be there for eons to come. In a sheer "brilliant" move, the small C party has thought it smart enough to publicly display this sort of prejudiced thinking (they probably call it political savvy) on national television. What am I writing about ? The introduction of "anti-Dion" ads on television by the Conservative Party is openly described by our "ace" media/political commentators as part of a "smear campaign" directed at the new Liberal Party leader Stephan Dion. By the way, for those of you who are still living in the Trudeau era, the leader of this mixed bag of "political unknowns and non-events" that make up the new Conservative party, happens to be our Queen's own leader of Canadian public servants.

I confess that I have never been a fan of these types of ads and furthermore, do not subscribe to this method of political battle in any form. Having stated this, I should point out that they nonetheless, do provide us media-watchers and students of political science with an excellent opportunity to observe and analyze how deeply ingrained our prejudices lie. I should mention that there are different types of these ads that are apparantly directed at Mr. Dion and I have not seen all of them. The one in particular I saw recently, made several negative comments about the Liberal Party throughout the duration of the ad and finally, attributed all that negativity to a member of the Liberal Party, namely Mr. Dion. There were no specific details provided in this ad about Stephan Dion himself, although the ad was clearly directed at him.

Behavioral studies do indicate that our brains may be wired in such a way that we tend to seek order and think "stereotypically" in an attempt to predict, plan and control events around us more easily. I suggest that we should however, make the effort to prevent this "cognitive laziness" when the consequences of stereotyping are destructive to our community (e.g., racism). These "smear" ads are not only irrational and inaccurate, they also send a message to the public on a latent level, that this sort of stereotypic thinking is acceptable. These ads will no doubt have a powerful impact on not only Canadian minds but the minds of all viewers who see them. Viewers may learn to transfer their learning to other interpersonal situations at work, in schools and in other public places.

The bigger question is: Are we to witness this sort of stereotyped thinking by our public servants especially those in higher power, in domestic policy-making and foreign affairs ? If I was to stereotype, I would answer "YES".