Political change in SK is slow and difficult. I want to share my personal journey in political consciousness. I went from uninterested and uninvolved to passionate. How did my eyes get opened? How did I break out of the right-leaning silo I grew up in? A 🧵
I grew in up in a largely apolitical household. We didn't talk politics much. I picked up books of political cartoons from the library, but I wasn't really sure what I was reading. I vividly remember dumb jokes about Meech Lake, but had no idea what it was at the time.
I had very little contact with people who were not like me. I went to a well-to-do elementary school, with other, comparably privileged kids. My education about indigenous issues was basically limited to building igloos out of sugar cubes.
People who were struggling were talked about as if they had chosen their circumstances. The refrain was clear. The beliefs that poverty equated to laziness, addiction equated to licentiousness, unions protected the lazy, and so on.
The refrain was constant. But it wasn't out of contempt. It was myopia. They didn't understand the complex series of events and circumstances that trap people in bad situations. And I was one of them. I vividly remember calling myself a "small C conservative" in grade school.
Then, my silo broke. I got a job working as a lifeguard at the City of Regina pools. I worked with inner city kids. I spent days working at Dewdney Pool, just getting to know people from different backgrounds from myself. And I started to see how wrong I had been.
I began to understand that many folks struggle because of forces completely outside their control. And that brought about a huge shift, from contempt to empathy. Instead of wondering if the homeless person was going to buy booze, I started just giving them the damn cash.
Then I got into University. And my horizons widened again. I learned abt indigenous people, and got to know people from diverse backgrounds. I became a feminist. I read everything that wasn't nailed down. I studied political philosophy, alongside literature from diverse authors.
The walls of the silo broke down more. Then I graduated. I got out into the world. And I saw how the privilege that I had been afforded gave me so many advantages. I had parents who could support me, but not everybody had that.
Sometimes I feel ashamed of who I was when I was younger. I was intellectually arrogant, insular, and smug. Some would say I'm still those things, but I assure you, I've really dialled it back. But who I was in an important step to who I am.
And this brings me to the point that I'm trying to make in this thread. People are going to start to come out of their political silos. Incumbency in Saskatchewan is incredibly powerful (thread incoming). Some conservatives are ready to take a step forward.
We need to educate them. Gently. Help them understand without deriding them. Show them the systems that exist just beneath the surface. Their worldview is often cultivated around them, without much input from them individually. Breaking out of that can be hard.
My threads are a part of that unpacking for me. I was taught to never, ever share political views growing up. It's part of how power in SK got so centralised. Only a small group of people are actually involved. I'm grateful that my personal experiences
prevented me from just becoming a slightly taller Ben Shapiro. Breaking people out of the reality distortion that exists in this province is a long and complicated process. I guess these threads are just me trying to be a part of the solution.
And maybe if I share my own experience, others will too, and we can make the world outside of the Sask party feel a little more welcoming.
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