I say - Sell Out!!!!
Charles;
Elisabeth did not sell out, given that she is a biological
and psychological unit she had not choice according the principles that
govern human behaviour.
Why Elizabeth Weir resigned as provincial NDP
party leader and accepted a high paying position with benefits from the
Bernard Lord government was because she was too good as party leader.
Similar to Elizabeth, Ed Broadbent under the Brian Mulroney government
resigned as federal NDP party leader to accept a high paying position
with unimaginable benefits from the Mulroney government.
Both,
Elizabeth and Ed, escalated the popularity of their respective parties
to a level where the likely hood of an NDP election victory could have
become a reality.
In order for both the Lord government and the
Mulroney government to win the election of the day, they had to find a
strategy that would effectively remove these two politicians out of the
political arena. Since neither had any scandals to use against them, the
only solution that was available was to offer Weir and Broadbent an
offer they could not refuse.
There is an old saying that “Every
person their price”. While the price threshold varies from individual
to individual, there is that point where a person can be ”bought off”.
Unless you are Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Charles Leblanc or a Tibetan
Monk, but for most the potential of being bought out is great.
To
understand why people can be bought off and deviate from their beliefs,
you have to understand what motives and drives people’s behaviour to
behave in the way that they do.
Everything we do is based upon
satisfying the innate hidden primary drives, which are the drive for
survival, such as, hunger, thirst, sleep and reproduction. According to
Dollar and Miller, the secondary drives (the learned drives) are the
drives that are responsible for the manifestation of complex behaviours
that the human species emits to satisfy the primary drives, and by
satisfying these primary drives we get to state of no worries, “Hakuna
Matata” (Lion King).
What the government offered Elizabeth Weir
and Ed Broadbent was opportunity for Hakuna Matata, and according to
“Game Theory” was logically accepted. Had Jack Layton not passed away, I
suspect that Harper may have made that offer to Layton, or would have
made that offer, but that is something that only Harper knows.
The
future creates much uncertainty which creates stress and anxiety. The
fear of not being able to satisfy those primary drives will in all
likely hood motivate us to behave in a way to satisfy those drives, thus
reducing the stress and anxiety.
I close with a question, if
someone offered you the opportunity for the greatest probability of
attaining “no worries” would you accept it?