Owning Democracy

For several weeks now a banner ad has been appearing in the front section of The Globe. It reads, "Democracy is yours, own it! Your opinions = free music." Apparently, Canadians under the age of 25 are invited to complete a 2-minute election survey and claim a free music download. The ad has been placed by The Democracy Project, "a national non-partisan initiative of the Dominion Institute designed to engage under 25s in a dialogue on democracy."

Is it just me, or is there something a little weird about bribing young people with music in order to impart the value of civic engagement? It reminds me of those kids growing up that were rewarded for doing regular things like getting good grades. If the point of the project is to engage young people in the political process, what does it say about Canadians if in order to do this we need to offer them free stuff? The notion that one can "own" democracy is odd, no? It appears that somehow our roles as citizens have become obscured by our roles as consumers.

Anyways, someone should tell the good folks at the Dominion Institute that most people under 25 steal their music off the internet.

And about that debate...

For those of you wondering what I thought of last night's leaders debate: In the immortal words of Shakespeare's Macbeth...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. That being said, had I been offered free shit for my opinion, perhaps I'd think differently.