Here's How It Begins

Two stories I've just read, indicating the next slip into the spiral:

Rob Ford:

He said he wasn't sure why the statement was made. "I don't understand conceptually, at all, because it really speaks to perhaps some who may not be fully cognisant as to what some of the real challenges are," he said. "I would think that either the mayor has spoken in a moment of just emotion but I would think that the notion of immigration or immigrants being the problem is the wrong notion."

Jason Kenney:

“When the minister goes to the House of Commons … and they get centralized into the minister more and more of the power, it does give you concern because then you no longer have a parliamentary democracy, you are moving more and more towards an autocracy with power centred into the minister’s hands.”

This won't end well - not for anyone.  Sadly, it's those who think they can ignore past lessons and make up their own realities that are the ones doomed to repeat history.

CFN - To Each Their Own Doesn’t Always Work – Harper Government Please Don’t Let it Happen Again

It is disingenuous to look at bigotry strictly through a political lens. Ignorance, hatred and fear-mongering are not the exclusive property of the political left or right; as Buchenwald demonstrates, atrocities have happened under both fascist and communist regimes. Indifference isn’t the product of a political system; it’s what happens when we zero in on our own interests or ideologies so exclusively that we ignore the well-being of others. When the water hole shrinks, as the saying goes, the animals look at each other differently.

Today, we are facing a global economic crisis. Europe in particular has been hit hard. As the crisis deepens, nations within Europe and beyond are circling the wagons. “Your debt, your problem” is a meme that’s gaining traction. These fiscal woes are fueling an increase in social tensions, much as they did in the early decades of the last century. Political extremism and xenophobia are on the rise, accompanied by a swelling tide of ethnic violence. In Greece, this alarming trend is represented by the growing influence of Golden Dawn, an anti-immigrant political party that has even incorporated the Swastika into its branding.

In Hungary, the systematic discrimination faced by Roma and Sinti is becoming increasingly violent. Focused as they are on addressing the financial crisis, European leaders have been “too preoccupied… or unable or disinclined to deal with” this mounting social crisis. In other words, they’ve labeled it someone else’s problem.

Live Together, Die Alone

"Jedem Das Seine" - roughly translated from German, it means "to each their own."  This is the message vistors read when they walk through the iron gate into what's left of Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

The message is pretty clear - don't worry about your neighbour, you'll be lucky to get through with your own neck intact.  That was the message the Nazis wanted their inmates to take to heart - you're in this alone.  Concentration Camps were carefully designed to build on divisions; their evil genius was that the Nazis themselves had to do little work in keeping Concentration Camp inmates in line.  They took care of all that internally.

What toppled the Nazis?  Three things; internal division, external cooperation and brave men and women who fought against the sytem that tried to cleave them apart and fought together for something bigger than themselves - the idea that every man for himself isn't going to work, that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, that we can live together.

As all things are cyclical, it appears this is a battle we're all going to have to fight again.

Letter to the Editor in the Globe and Mail

... Not from me, mind you, but still worth reading.  Jason Kenney is repeating history - it's not too late for him to change his approach, but if he doesn't, history won't be looking very kindly on him.

Roma persecution

The article No Real Refuge in Canada (June 15) makes the case that Roma refugee claimants will be adversely affected by Bill C-31. That is true enough, but overlooks how these refugees are faring under the current law.

Roma refugee claimants in Canada are primarily from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, and the rejection rate for each of these countries in 2011 was over 90 per cent. It is the Immigration and Refugee Board, the independent tribunal that adjudicates refugee claims, which clings to the fallacy that persecution is unlikely in EU democracies.

Max Berger, immigration lawyer, Toronto