Tommy Douglas & Mouseland

[SweetSue]

Tommy Douglas (1904 -1986) was one of Canada's best known New Democrats. He was a man of many talents and, being involved in politics since 1936, he is renowned for various reasons.

The "Mouseland" story is a small sample of the wit and humour many people knew him for. To see and listen to Tommy Douglas in person was a rare treat. Tommy was a most accomplished orator.

Some people saw Tommy Douglas as a true democratic socialist, someone who placed human rights and needs above the mere pursuit of profits and power. Such principles should be implemented at the wish of the majority of the people. A social minded government would plan the economy of the country to allow all people to share in the country's wealth and have equal access to such basic needs as health and education.

Others saw Tommy as a great politician whose natural speaking, story telling and debating abilities helped bring social change to the country. Tommy was first elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa in 1936. He later switched to provincial politics and it was during his years as Premier of Saskatchewan that Medicare was first introduced to North America. Prior to Medicare, health care services were only available to those who could pay the price.

When the C.C.F. (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation) was renamed the New Democratic Party in 1961, Tommy Douglas was chosen as the Leader of the New Party until he resigned in 1971.

Tommy Douglas relates his message of social democracy in such a fashion that any audience can understand even the most complicated issue and be well entertained at the same time.

To social minded people everywhere, Tommy Douglas remains a constant source of inspiration.

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Mouseland

As told by Tommy Douglas in 1944

It's the story of a place called Mouseland. Mouseland was a place where all the little mice lived and played, were born and died. And they lived much the same as you and I do.

They even had a Parliament. And every four years they had an election. Used to walk to the polls and cast their ballots. Some of them even got a ride to the polls. And got a ride for the next four years afterwards too. Just like you and me. And every time on election day all the little mice used to go to the ballot box and they used to elect a government. A government made up of big, fat, black cats.

Now if you think it strange that mice should elect a government made up of cats, you just look at the history of Canada for last 90 years and maybe you'll see that they weren't any stupider than we are.

Now I'm not saying anything against the cats. They were nice fellows. They conducted their government with dignity. They passed good laws--that is, laws that were good for cats. But the laws that were good for cats weren't very good for mice. One of the laws said that mouseholes had to be big enough so a cat could get his paw in. Another law said that mice could only travel at certain speeds--so that a cat could get his breakfast without too much effort.

All the laws were good laws. For cats. But, oh, they were hard on the mice. And life was getting harder and harder. And when the mice couldn't put up with it any more, they decided something had to be done about it. So they went en masse to the polls. They voted the black cats out. They put in the white cats.

Now the white cats had put up a terrific campaign. They said: "All that Mouseland needs is more vision." They said:"The trouble with Mouseland is those round mouseholes we got. If you put us in we'll establish square mouseholes." And they did. And the square mouseholes were twice as big as the round mouseholes, and now the cat could get both his paws in. And life was tougher than ever.

And when they couldn't take that anymore, they voted the white cats out and put the black ones in again. Then they went back to the white cats. Then to the black cats. They even tried half black cats and half white cats. And they called that coalition. They even got one government made up of cats with spots on them: they were cats that tried to make a noise like a mouse but ate like a cat.

You see, my friends, the trouble wasn't with the colour of the cat. The trouble was that they were cats. And because they were cats, they naturally looked after cats instead of mice.

Presently there came along one little mouse who had an idea. My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea. And he said to the other mice, "Look fellows, why do we keep on electing a government made up of cats? Why don't we elect a government made up of mice?" "Oh," they said, "he's a Bolshevik. Lock him up!" So they put him in jail.

But I want to remind you: that you can lock up a mouse or a man but you can't lock up an idea.

The Moral of the Story

"Mouseland" is a political fable, originally told by Clare Gillis, a friend of Tommy Douglas. Tommy has used this story many times to show in a humorous way how Canadians fail to recognize that neither the Liberals or Conservatives are truly interested in what matters to ordinary citizens; yet Canadians continue to vote for them.

The story cleverly deals with the false assumption by some people that CCF'ers (NDP'ers) are Communists. The ending shows Tommy Douglas has faith that someday socialism, which recognizes human rights and dignity, will win over capitalism and the mere pursuit of wealth and power.

[MORTARDUDE]

Bring it on....


Capitalism .... Socialism .. Communism.......


whatever...

U probably should RE-READ the Commush*t Manifesto first. I think you missed a few parts...EH... SUE ?

[SweetSue]

Mort... I have never read the Communist Manifesto. Perhaps you would like to read the original CCF Manifesto?
What did you think of the story?
Susan

[MORTARDUDE]

'The Unseen Hand" by A. Ralph Epperson

You will find what I believe in and what I think of your story and what it really means. But then.... we both KNOW that, don't we.... ???

Larry

[SweetSue]

Sorry Haven't read that book.

Here is one review I found on it though.:

"Summary:The Real Story?
Comment:The author of this book, Ralph Epperson, promises to introduce the reader to the fundamentals of the conspiratorial view of history. This view of history is in direct contradiction to the accidental view of history, or the theory of history accepted by most historians today. The conspiratorial view of history posits that all historical events are either controlled or directed by individuals or small groups of powerful people. Accidental history has no controls; events happen because they do, and no amount of effort may successfully direct events.

Epperson supports the conspiratorial view of history, and he tries to prove this theory in "The Unseen Hand," a 488 page collection of secret societies, economic totalitarianism, and communist plots. According to Epperson, the overarching theme of conspiratorial history is that of power. When the rich amass enough money, they begin to thirst for power over their fellow human beings. Since most people want to have a say in the way their lives are run, these power hungry individuals must try to enact their plans in secret by using their influence and wealth to effect change that favors the interests of the rich and powerful.

The book is roughly chronological. It starts with early events in history and slowly marches through time until it reaches the 1980's. According to Epperson, the conspiracy began with the formation of the Illuminati on May 1, 1776. The Illuminati, founded by a Bavarian professor named Adam Weishaupt, dedicated itself to overthrowing the old world order of monarchy by adopting ideals of reason. Mankind, through reason, would come to reject religion and nationalism and found a collectivistic society. Epperson quickly draws links between the Illuminati and later movements such as Marxism and the socialist Fabians. Another aspect of this conspiracy, in close collaboration with the Illuminati and its later incarnations, is that of international banking. The bankers quickly moved to institute central banks in Europe in order to control the population through the manufacture of fiat money (money backed by debt, not gold or silver) and the creation of inflation. The American revolutionary war and the American civil war were attempts by the bankers to weaken the country and institute a central banking system, a goal finally achieved at Jekyll Island in 1913. No conspiracy book would be complete without a discussion of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Bilderberg group. All four groups are discussed in some depth here. Epperson takes great pains to point out that most of the upper hierarchy in American government are members of these four groups. The goal of these groups, which are funded by foundations set up by banking and oil interests, is to create a "new world order," or a global socialist/communist government ruled by a small oligarchy of wealthy individuals. This book works best when discussing the creation and role of government in a society, as well as the role of central banks and the control of the money interests. Epperson gives succinct explanations of how government and banking work, and how both can cause serious trouble if not properly regulated. It is ridiculous to believe that people in charge of so much money don't know the causes of inflation, or why prices of oil fluctuate as much as they do. Yet on any given day we are constantly informed by policy makers and other elites that they are as confused about why things happen as we are. What doesn't work as well is some of the weird claims that pop up throughout the book. A claim that Karl Marx was a Satanist certainly raised my eyebrows, as did the claim that Jesse James lived to be 107 years old and was a 33rd degree freemason. Where did that come from? We know that DNA tests performed on Jesse's remains leave little doubt that he was killed just as the history books describe. Of course, a conspiracy theorist would claim that the results were doctored or are fabrications. And that is the problem with conspiracy theories: every counterclaim to the conspiracy theory is a lie or a half-truth, which further bolsters the conspiracy. The source material for this book rests heavily on other conspiracy volumes, and most of the material for this book seems to be drawn from books and pamphlets from the John Birch Society. The Birchers built their entire organization around the ideas of a communist conspiracy and the creation of a global new world order. The last chapter of the book devotes a large amount of space in praise to the JBS, so an objective account of conspiratorial history won't be found in this book. Epperson also made the mistake of not going directly to source material for his information. Instead, he relied on the interpretations of others, and some of these people are wackos. This is still an entertaining read for those who want to learn about alternate history or the paranoia of those who believe in such theories. There is good information in this book, but care needs to be taken when looking at the volume as a whole."

But as I said, I myself have not read the book so cannot form an opinion on it.

Susan