THE HUMAN CONDITION - IMPOSING ONE'S WILL UPON OTHERS

There are lots of jokes about being either leaders or follwers. One of them is in regards to the advantage of being the lead dog in a dog sled. Something to the effect that if you're not the lead dog then the only view you have is of the dog's butt immediately in front of you. Hopefully that view is not characteristic of the human condition. Regardless am I the only one who has noticed the plethora of short men in politics? Seriously just look around the municipal and regional councils in Waterloo Region over the last fifty years. I could run off a list of names but why embarass Cowan, Wideman, Zehr, Martin, Deutshman and all the others. My suspicion only is that some short boys who are picked on in school, end up being short men who want to reverse that situation. Yes I admit this is unresearched psychology by me (> 6 ' tall) but what the heck I'm only spitballing here on that topic. .................................................................................................................... On a more serious bent I have long observed a "get along to go along " attitude among politicians. In other words, provincially of federally it's perfectly O.K. to criticize or insult members of opposing political parties, however at the municipal level where indeed many politicians make no bones about their party affiliations, it still is a no no to personally attack fellow councillors. Generally the rule is to not throw mud at a council colleague because the public may interpret that as all or most councillors are unworthy. Hence the ongoing outburst regarding mayor Les Armstrong over in Wilmot is extraordinary. Sure he messed up regarding "Black Lives Matter" but looking at his police background and more, I did not find it surprising. That he publicly apologized twice shows that his common political sense quickly took over which is also not surprising. ............................................................................................................... In Woolwich Township some councillors also quickly attacked former mayor Todd Cowan over his self-serving financial irregularities. These included Mark Bauman and Bonnie Bryant. Mark was seriously upset over Todd's environmental stance regarding Chemtura (Uniroyal) and the citizens' committee's (CPAC) strained relations with the dishonest and deceptive polluter. Hence he was on the attack. Bonnie on the other hand I am only guessing about. Maybe it was an appropriate response to apparent fraud and taxpayer theft or she was seriously offended with Todd's paternalistic, superior attitude to women either in politics or in general. ................................................................................................... Strangely, to me at least at the time, was Woolwich's support of mayor Sandy Shantz's self-serving financial errors and multiple transgressions in her election Financial Statements. To this day she still has not fully complied with the conditional order of Justice David Broad reinstating her to the mayor's chair. He ordered that she resubmit her election Financial Statements and include ALL her expenses as defined by the Municipal Elections Act (MEA). That she has not complied with and some smart operator at some point may very well be able to reverse some (or many) Woolwich Council decisions based upon her failure to fully comply with the judge's decision. .......................................................................................................... Municipal councillors especially do not make great money with the exception of the mayors who double dip as regional councillors. They also are subject to public criticsm in Letters To The Editor, Blogs, newspaper stories and editorials as well. So what is their motivation? Some of it is personal recognition and even a certain amount of no publicity is bad publicity attitude. Others may have legitimate concerns that they feel they can address as councillors. Lastly there are those who simply like to be able to boss their fellow citizens around. Whether it's lecturing delegates to council who get a touch feisty or even simply being the ones who make municipal zoning, property tax and by-law decisions, it makes them feel important. It's all a bonus when after a suitable length of time on council they get buildings or other structures named after them to immortalize their importance to the community. The human condition for some.