The Summer of Discontent

"They are not listening to us," he added. "This is the beginning of a summer of discontent."

 

It's gonna be a hot summer in Toronto.  It's getting hotter across Canada.  Even Finland is feeling the heat.

 

Social discontent resulted I Occupy and the Tea Party Movement, just as it did Arab Spring.  In Canada, the second wave of protest was a bit more focused - people began to decide they would be Idle No More.

 

None of the issues that fuelled this rising protest moment have been addressed.  In fact, if anything, they've gotten worse.  Those political leaders who dislike progress can delude themselves it's possible to stamp out the spark of civic engagement and ignore the rising political temperature.  That just makes them the frog in the pot. 

 

It's a cycle we've seen before.   It would be most appropriate if a tree were to catalyse something bigger, something coordinated through social media, something viral and transformative.

 

I picked this as my song for last year's summer, but then I'm notorious for straying too far ahead.