Where Church and State Align

 

 

He says on Canada Day, we celebrate all that is exceptional about our country, but we must not gloss over the fact that there are those who still need help.

 

Johnston urges all Canadians to discover what they have to give to create a better future.

 

It's a message we're hearing a bit these days - that each man for himself isn't going to work, that market forces don't create social balance and that the only solutions that work are ones that we build together.

 

It's the antithesis of the notion that Canadians don't care about the way our democracy functions, and that we're all on our own to survive as best we might with the resources we have or can wrest away one way or another.

 

The Pope feels the same way.

 

The Conservative Party has been attempting to rebrand itself as Canada's natural governing party - or, more appropriate, to rebrand Canada in its (Stephen Harper's likeness).

 

Alas, governments don't shape society in their image - it's society that, ultimately, shapes government.

 

Fordshow Goes Shirtless

It's quite a skill, actually.  No matter what he does, this Mayor creates a sideshow.



 

Kevin, Christine and the Way Forward in Ontario

 

 

The next 18 months were unlike anything he had every experienced.  The committee members - six Liberals, two Conservatives and a New Democrat - set aside their party loyalties and worked single-mindedly toward the same goal.  The let down their guard.  They talked late into the night.  They shared run-down hotel rooms in isolated communities.  As their sense of common cause grew, so did their determination to submit a report the government could not ignore or study to death.

 

 

That report called for a comprehensive mental health and addictions strategy.  Phase I of this strategy was targeted towards children and youth - it made sense that, to start addressing the problem in a sustainable way, you begin by providing youth the best support and education available.  That way, you could hopefully inoculate them against future mental health challenges, or at least help them identify and find the supports they needed not to fall through the cracks.

 

Phase II was to look at occupational mental health; this got stalled during the last term for many reasons, not the least of which was the reality of competitive politics in a minority parliament.

 

I would like to think that Kevin Flynn's appointment as Minister of Labour is an indication that Team Wynne is serious about addressing all things mental health in the workplace, including reducing the stigma, preventing accrued psychological injury and maybe rejigging notions of labour to positively impact customer service, productivity and even innovation.

 

It's all possible.  It's also something Flynn is very much familiar with.  I remember sitting down with him and Christine Pelletier, currently working comms with Children's Mental Health Ontario to talk about what a comprehensive "cognitive labour" strategy would look like.  It was one of many conversations I've had over the years with countless stakeholders in mental health, health, labour, justice, so on and so forth about how that common thread that weaves between sectors - people, behaviour, the minds that shape our activity - must be at the root of any structural solutions.

 

This conversation dove-tails nicely with that of Open Government - the process by which we can fix our structural governance problems and re-engage the electorate in our democratic process in meaningful, dynamic ways.

 

You simply can't have one without the other - what we need is a culture change, and the only way that can happen is by a majority of people inside and outside the system changing their view.  It's where mental fitness and behavioural insights overlap.

 

There's a good chance that a colleague and friend of Kevin's - Progressive Conservative MPP Christine Elliott - will be the next Leader of the Opposition.   There are few people in the Legislature as committed to fixing Ontario's mental health challenges as these two.  There are strong voices in the NDP Party, too - including France Gelinas and Cheri DiNovo.

 

I'm hopeful about what can be done - that collaborative change that starts on the common ground of mental health - can be achieved.

 

Time will tell, I suppose, but I'll say this - who'd have thought we'd be where we are now even three years ago?

 

Who Cares Who John Galt Is?

 

If you came up in the 80's it was al about 'getting mine.'  Greed was good, and conspicuous consumption was de rigueur; not for this generation.  Be it simply a reaction against the previous generation or the reality of the Great Recession and its impact on their employment opportunities, Millennials talk more about making a difference than they do about making the dough.

 

I know a lot of sectoral elites - captains of industry, punditry and politics - that think this approach is bass-ackwards.  They think millenials are messed up in their priorities and simply don't get/refuse to accept how the world works.

 

Which is kinda funny, because all those folk who came of age in the 60s had the same mindset, once.

 

The truth is the world works the way the people who run it do.  The people who run the world are successful only in as much as they are able to manipulate the masses.  It's hard to do that, successfully, when there is a going demographic that you simply don't understand.

 

Maybe the Millennials "don't get" the way the world works.  They will, however, be shaping how it works tomorrow.  It's not the first time such a shift has happened.

 

If the people wielding power and wealth want to check out and retire to wealthy estates somewhere warm, now's the time to do it.  The shifting demands of the younger demographic in both what they consume, what work means to them and how they are willing to define their work/live divide are such that if you aren't prepared to adapt, your future as an active player is limited.

 

Such is the nature of evolution - that which adapts, etc.  It's simply an interesting coincidence of history that when people put their own interests first, society falls, while those who believe in moving forward together thrive.

 

And who are we to challenge the natural order of things?

Too Bad Ayn Rand: The Truth About Society

 

There are lots of questions in this post, and not many answers.  However, if we so willingly hand over so much personal data to companies that have to make money to survive, then that data is bound to become a commodity.  In fact, it already has.

 

Social networks might not charge you a fee, but you can guarantee that you aren't getting something for nothing - you are all part of a research project of one kind or another.

 

True, this.  We are all connected, all consuming, all producing something.  It's a complex business, less like a financial transaction - and more like an organic system.

 

Which is what society is; what we are.  A system.  The sooner we realize that from top to bottom, the more we can start doing it well.

Ender's Mayoralty Election

"If he stays clean and sober for the next four months, he's going to be in office for the next four years," Maggi told CTV's Canada AM on Monday.

 

"Rob Ford seems to be that sort of enigma of politics," he said.  "What applies to other politicians and other campaigns doesn't necessarily apply to him."

 

First - didn't know that Quito was becoming a go-to guy for media hits; good for him.

 

Second - yeah.  Rob Ford continues to defy accepted wisdom and changed everything.  Right now in mayoralty War Rooms across the city, seasons political campaign teams are reassessing, digging in or pushing back at gnawing doubts that are tugging at the backs of their brains.

 

Can Rob Ford be defeated?  With all their experience, all Ford's follies, how can it be that Rob Ford even has a fighting chance?

 

A good many of the organizers behind the front-running candidates have run multiple federal and provincial campaigns; this shows in the way mayoralty candidates are being portrayed as the only one with plans to right the City and the only one who can beat Ford.  Of course, Toronto's Mayor isn't the head of a political party; they don't have the ability to whip votes, though we've clearly seen Team Ford try to play it that way.

 

Who knows, one of the teams may pull off a win, prompting their candidate (and themselves) into four years of "power" at City Hall. 

 

Then again, maybe not. 

 

As we've learned following the recent Ontario election, traditional wisdom is hardly as reliable as once it was.

 

Which, to my mind, suggests that perhaps a new approach is needed.  A different way of thinking, of approaching politics.

 

Rob Ford has definite strengths, but ultimately the decisions made by voters aren't about him - those choices are about them.

Partisan Indulgences

 

These emails are the main way political parties today are reaching potential donors, and experts say the missives are carefully crafted and targeted to get average Canadians to open their wallets and give.

 

"It is a psychological effort to try to get people to give money," says former Conservative strategist Tim Powers, now vice- chairman with Summa Strategies.

 

 

Once upon a time, Communist-related insurgent groups around the world engaged in kidnapping for political purposes.  These organizations, largely funded by the USSR, had distinct political agendas.  When the USSR died and their funding dried up, these groups realized that kidnapping was also a great way to make money - hence, the K&R business was born.

 

It's a dirty, cruel, manipulative business that can justify itself any way it wants to, but at the end of the day, it's about making money.  Kidnappers employ brutal tactics to subdue their captives and frighten their targets into paying ransoms.  It's psychological sales, with the well-being of actual humans ending up as collateral damage.

 

I thought about this as I read my email this morning and received this little message:

 

If you've been thinking about being part of the 5,303 who contributed $270,561 to this campaign, follow these instructions...

 

You may be surprised how good it feels to give - and be part of something this big.

 

If, by "something this big" you mean the industrial political complex, than yeah.  How much of this money trickles down into the Canadian economy, resulting in more jobs for youth, under and unemployed Canadians?  How much of it goes into the pockets of well-heeled advertising or polling consultants, who then spend it on renovations to their summer home in the Bahamas?

 

Political Parties are streamlining staff, consolidating their operations and trying to be as "businesslike" as possible.  That means earning more and spending less - except on all things marketing-related, including data-mining and behavioural insights-informed manipulations like these.

 

While raising money has always been a big deal for political parties, increasing restrictions on corporate donations has changed the game in fundamental ways - just as the death of the USSR did for the K&R industry.  

 

We still see high-priced, closed-door fundraisers where privileged access to policy makers is exchanged for ridiculous sums of cash, but now there's an increasing effort to target those Canadians who don't have as much money to donate.

 

The stakes are high, we're told - they have raised more money than us this quarter; if left unchecked, they will use their funds to manipulate even more Canadians than just those on their email lists and unleash the Zombie Apocalypse. 

 

Forget donating to your kids' summer camp, the Red Cross or some food bank or whatever - all those donations are wasted if they are left unchecked.  Feel the pressure?

 

Ah, but our souls aren't entirely forfeit - not if you put a few sheckles in our coffers, and do so regularly in small sums that add up to big sums in annual aggregate.

 

Only our leader can save Canada from them, restore peace and prosperity to the land; not your local charities, or even your local church, unless by church you mean political party, i.e. us. 

 

Every party is guilty of these sorts of manipulative tricks that are designed to hit social-emotional triggers, compelling donations in the way a moth is driven to a flame.

 

Let's put it another way; those pols who smirk and tell Canadians not to care about what happens in Parliament and suggests they fend for themselves when it comes to saving and sustainable living?

 

Those are the exact same ones that are condoning the use of sophisticated techniques of psychological manipulation designed to make Canadians feel the only way they can "fend for themselves" and invest in the promised land (where you, your friends and your family have a real and fair chance to succeed) is by giving their money to political institutions that won't visit a single dollar back to the benefit of those Canadians or their communities.

 

Remember that division between Church and State?  Well, now we have political parties setting themselves up as the Church, offering political indulgences and communion with the Leader at BBQs and what not in a way to fill their coffers. 

 

Here's the real deal, folks, that we periodically need to be reminded of:

 

We are already part of "something big" - something bigger than any institution, something that doesn't require a payment to contribute to.

 

It's called society.  By extension, it's what democracy is all about. 

 

They hold no power except what we let them assume through laws, manipulative ads and by outsourcing responsibility to them.

 

We remain as we always have been - the problem, when we disengage and the solution when we choose to work together, to listen, to bridge gaps and build collaboratively.

 

It's not a message you're going to hear from the people at the top - they're too reliant on compliance and psychological tricks to see how trapped by the game they themselves have become.

 

Leadership, folks, never comes from the top of a tower; it always comes from the ground up.

 

That nugget of wisdom is yours, free for the taking. 

 

You have to want to get engaged but when you do, you can make a difference.