I'm reproducing another insightful letter from a Star reader, this time from Edward Carson of Toronto, who writes about how ideology reigns supreme over reality in the Harper government:
The Harper government’s “tough on crime” agenda through Bill C-10 is a policy and fiscal disaster in the making.
A government so focused on this country’s financial resources is putting into place an already discredited solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, one that is certain to strain those very resources. And yet all the evidence is simply being ignored.
The reason is rooted in Harper's adherence to ideology over common sense, but driving that ideology is a mix of easily recognized personal psychology and organizational behaviour resulting in a habit of going to great lengths to avoid a perceived loss — a win-at-all-costs mentality, not unlike that found in sports, that refuses to re-evaluate strategies, ideas or actions inconsistent with the facts.
We see this tendency to undermine rational action or thought in a range of things the Harper government does, from responding to questions in Parliament or media interviews with predigested answers that bear no relation to the questions asked, to larger issues such as their rejection of the long-form census or refusal to adequately address the actual cost of new jets. The initial, often ideological perspective is maintained in the face of empirical evidence to the contrary or the wisdom of a wider collective experience.
Edward Carson, Toronto
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