The Wrong Tune for the Times

 

Once again, we're hearing reports of new Conservative TV attack ads in Quebec. 

 

With less than 24 hours left before tonight's critical fundraising deadline, this dramatic development illustrates what's at stake in this fundraising drive.

 

 

OMG!! Attack ads! Critical fundraising deadlines! Dramatic development!

 

Look, we get it; people aren't paying attention to politics, so a bit of drama is required.  You need a lot of money to reach people via ads and whatnot, which is much more controllable than empowered local riding associations and the like.  And yeah, all parties are guilty of the same damned thing.

 

But let's maintain a little bit of perspective, shall we?  It really helps with the credibility angle.

 

Canada is country filled with people both born elsewhere and with families in foreign countries.  Even those with no direct roots overseas are surely exposed to a little bit of international news.

 

The Middle East is one fire and the fire is spreading.  What's happening in the Ukraine with Russia - are we back in the Cold War?  What will happen with the massive protests in Hong Kong?  The conflicts in Sudan or Somalia?  The drug war in Mexico?  Ebola?

 

What about job opportunities for our kids instead of us giving money to monied people to spend pitching us for more money?

 

Attack ads aren't pleasant, but they're not dramatic, either.  Partisan fundraising isn't "critical" - few Canadians know who the players are, or even what issues the policy discussion is focused on.

 

What we are worried about is a world that increasingly feels like it's spiraling out of control.  We want to have confidence that our political leaders are paying attention, are hearing our concerns and have some idea of how to weather this storm and maybe help tame those troubled seas a little.

 

Are we getting that?  If the question was asked, not on a candidate-vs-candidate basis, but in general: "do you feel Canada's politicians are up to the global challenges facing us?" - what would the answer be?

 

I get in trouble for suggesting that maybe there's more to politics than partisanship, that maybe what the people think is critical is less about political coloration and more about the world we live in.  Nobody likes a party pooper.

 

But I've been right before, haven't I?

I Support This

TBS CanadaVerified account ‏@TBS_Canada Sep 1

Canada’s Open Government Action Plan 2.0 is coming together. Are you in? #OGAP2 #opengovcan http://bit.ly/VVRZ0O

 

Hey, Canada!  We recognize the need for change and have rolled up our sleeves to get it done.  First, we talked with you, reaching out in as many ways as we could think of.  Now, we've taken your ideas and culled them into some potential action items.

 

We have to move forward on this - we will move forward on this.  Canada deserves nothing less.

 

But you are Canada; we can only be sure we've made the right choices with your participation.

 

Open Government is for you - all we ask is that you join us in creating the change we all want to see in the world. 

 

We aren't selling you a pen.  Hopefully, we're inspiring and empowering you to write.  That's why we're doing this.

 

Are you in?

 

I am.  I'd love to take this journey with you.

 

It certainly beats the other way.

 

 

I Object to This

Justin Trudeau is the Leader of a political party and a potential Prime Minister.  His frame is that he's different - hope and hard work, the people first, all of that.

Yet here I am being told that, should I have the paid-for honour of talking to Trudeau, I've got to be prepared to pitch him, like I'm at a job interview.  The emphasis is on how I can convince him, not the other way around. 

This is my one shot at "the political experience of a lifetime" - donate now, the opportunity won't come again!  You don't want to blow this opportunity to engage in the democratic process!

And just to make sure I'm clear on where my standing is with the party, there's a helpful little notice of how much I have donated compared to XX number of other folk and what they've donated.  Gotta measure up, don't you know, if you want a shot at participation!

You'll note my donations equal zero.  I haven't had the luxury of being able to donate to much of anything to anyone of late, except advice and contacts, which folk like these are all too willing to gobble up without thought that perhaps something in return is in order. 

Not that it matters.  This is a race to the top, after all - if you can't contribute, if you can't support the leader, you're not of value.  Your access to the leader doesn't exist unless you earn it. 

That's fine - such is the nature of partisan politics.  The question is "what can you do for your party/leader" rather than "what your party/leader wants to do for you."  Harper's fund solicitation gimmicks use the same frame.

What I object to, rather strongly, is the notion that unless I give money to Team Trudeau and psych myself up to make an amazing sales pitch to Trudeau himself, I'm not "all in" with my commitment to shaping Canada's future.

Perhaps Katie Telford won't recall the conversation we had, many moons ago, where she advised me it was a hard road, committing to community-building over putting financial wins for oneself first.  I remember it very clearly, because she was absolutely right.

I have dedicated countless hours and my considerable, if varied talents towards pursuing the liberal dream of "strong individuals for a strong society"; I've put in more than my fair share of hope and hard work. I have done so because it's what I believe. 

Katie knows what my big idea is, though she probably hasn't paid much attention to how hard I've been building it.  Occupational mental health, workplace culture, open government, opportunities for grassroots empowerment, actual job-training for political staff - I've spent the past four years pursuing these things with dogged determination which is starting to pay off for many people, possibly society at large - just not so much me.

I have dedicated every fibre of my being and made more than a few sacrifices in furtherance of the vision of Canada that I, Katie, even Justin Trudeau say we believe in.

Part of that vision is that every Canadian has value and that political access should not be exclusive, nor based on how much money you make or how skilled you are at sales-pitches.  Some of the most amazing ideas are emerging at this very moment in marginalized communities from people without money, or access, or refined speech.

These folk believe in themselves; what they need now is for others to believe and invest in them.

That's how moving forward really works - not through exclusive access, like a political indulgence, but by leaving no one behind.

Craig --
When it comes to meeting political leaders and debating big ideas, I’ve been there.
So if you win the chance to brainstorm your big idea for Canada with Justin Trudeau over breakfast, here’s my advice.
Come prepared. Take a deep breath. Smile. And believe in yourself with every fibre of your being. Because you’re about to have the most interesting conversation of your life.
With only 36 hours left to win the political experience of a lifetime, it’s time to decide.
Are you ready to go all in to shape Canada’s future? I hope so, and have included your 2014 donation history below to help:

DEADLINE: 36 HOURS! Third Quarter Fundraising Drive donation status: PENDING** Total donated nationally in 2014: $0 (You have $1,200 in contribution room left in 2014) Estimated 2014 tax savings: $0 (of a total of $625 in potential savings) Recommended donation: $3

When you give, you’ll be joining 3,785 Canadians who’ve chipped in $265,486 in response to emails like this one:
https://www.liberal.ca/finish-q3-strong
After you donate, share your big idea for Canada and enter to win the political experience of a lifetime: a return flight to Ottawa, breakfast with Justin Trudeau and one of his senior advisors (you bring the big idea!), and a chance to hear former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speak over lunch on October 6, 2014.
Everyone who gives will receive an exclusive electronic preview from Justin Trudeau's new book, Common Ground. And if you give $200, or more, you’ll receive a complimentary hard copy of the book.
Thank you.
Chrystia Freeland
MP, Toronto-Centre

Never Judge What You Don't Understand

 

Funny.  Judgment is what people do.  We are focused on success, fight, sales, profit, entertainment; we judge people on their ability to these things.  If a human being fails on these fronts, they are not human and therefore not worthy of time.  Hell, they may even feel like lurching hands trying to pull us down into those same, sub-human depths.

 

Sales is about closing the deal, not about the quality of the product, the integrity of the seller or the comprehension of the client.  We are functionally fixed on sales these days - it's a convenient narrative for the haves, because it absolves them of all responsibility to give back.

 

Meanwhile, everyone else looks disdainfully on peers that don't help them get ahead and look for tricks and corner-cuts to make a buck, regardless of how or the consequences thereof.  The result isn't a competitive, improved level of service and productivity, as proponents of laissez-faire capitalism want to believe, but a hollowing out of the whole.

 

If you can't communicate that in a soundbite, though, nobody cares.  You'd have to be crazy to think that far around.

 

No Armageddon

The one thing that we yearn for in our living days, that makes us sigh and groan and undergo sweet nauseas of all kinds, is the remembrance of some lost bliss that was probably experienced in the womb and can only be reproduced (though we hate to admit it) in death.

 

The yearning for Armageddon isn't about moving forward - it's about going back.

 

And we can never go back.

 

Nor can we stay in the same place, unchanging, because place itself is constantly changing.  Walls erode, borders shift, moods rise and fall.

 

Even death is not the escape we think it is, for death is merely a phase in the reconstitution of life.  The phrase "you are what you eat" is quite literal - the animal and plant matter we consume transmuted is the stuff of which our bodies are made.  Why should we feel it's any different for our selves as we are consumed?

 

The only true death is through the acceptance that the individual us is but part of a greater whole.  The only true rebirth is through submission to this truth and making the commitment to put the whole first, which means putting each other, and the world we live in, before our own selfish needs.

 

That's what submission means; not to fight the world, but to become the world.

 

There is no whole but the world, and we are part of it.  All of us.  Together.

 

Why History's Actors are History's Prisoners

 

"We're doing this in a very different way than in the past," Tony Blinken, a deputy national security adviser, said on CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley.

 

Got it.  Arming and training local opposition forces to take out the Big Bad. 

 

The US has clearly never taken that approach before and regretted it - especially in the Middle East.

 

Those hyper-confident folk who magically land on ideas like this that are too great to fail don't need to reflect on the lessons of history - that's for reality-based pols and the like.  After all - history's actors command and control the world and all its lesser creatures, right?

 

Which reminds me - I have heard rumblings for years that the death of bin Laden had done nothing to quell the tide of terrorism in the Middle East; indeed, like Hydra, the one head has been replaced by two or more.

 

This is just one piece of an increasingly fractious big picture, too - there is a growing amount of civic unrest out there, even in so-called stable countries.  The water hole of our resources continues to shrink, opportunity continues to become the playground of an increasing few and people out there are becoming angry.

 

Those in the bubble don't feel the changes, and therefore don't believe they're happening.  The world, to them, is as it has always been.

 

Ignorance is the most insidious form of enslavement.

 

Confidence is not the same as mindfulness.  Until this lesson is consciously absorbed, we are doomed to do this again, and again, and again.

It Gets Darker Before the Dawn

 

"It shows the seriousness of what is happening around the world, and how important it is for officers to be equipped with the best information, with a focus on their safety," he said.

 

The best information. 

 

What would that be, exactly?  It doesn't refer to an understanding of behavioural economics and a thorough analysis of the causal conditions that lead to criminal behavior - that's too much like committing sociology.

It probably has nothing to do with geopolitics, especially the local equity imbalances that ISIS recruiters, like any gang, tap into to gain converts.

 

No, one imagine that the information provided will be of more the carding variety - suspicion by association.

 

Then there's the whole "focus on their safety" piece, which is most troubling.  "To serve and protect" puts the people's interest first, not the safety of officers.  It's inherently a risky job, but by getting in early, engaging with a community and working on initiatives like mentorship programs, active police help reduce crime in the first place.

 

A focus on safety tends to involve less interaction and when it comes, it comes with greater armament so as to reduce officer risk. 

 

Ferguson is a great example of how this plays out in practice; well-armed police with their usual suspects list caused and escalated a tragic situation one expect to hear about from the streets of Syria, not suburban USA.

 

Or think the G20 - police had information about black block plans to escalate street violence and fed right into that beast, creating a public relations nightmare and increasing tensions among citizens and the police, already high and already growing higher.

 

"I don't talk to cops," a youth told me on the streetcar the other day.  This after I interceded when hearing her say "I hate all cops," dehumanizing them in the same manner as which carding dehumanizes certain ethnic groups.  Tell us more about the youth who are choosing to join with ISIL, government: are they ethnic minorities who feel marginalized in their Canadian context, singled out by police, ignored by employers, looked at with suspicion on the subway?

 

There are a lot of good officers out there.  I hear from them, sometimes, about the struggle they have within the current police culture that focuses on strength, wins, and threats more than it does public service.  I hear the exact same thing from youth entering that culture, which is alarming.

 

In recent days, more than 100,000 Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey in a bid to escape ISIS.

Why?  Because the folk of ISIS are brutal alphas with a superiority complex.  The God they worship is not the one of Islam; if anything, they have fallen for the false god prophesied by Islamic eschatology.

 

The thuggish converts to ISIS rape, pillage, torture, abuse power and focus on destroying others in defense of "their cause" which is a create a state in which they have absolute unquestioned authority and the respect of the international community because they're such bad asses.

 

Suspicion, fear, threat of arms, abuse - those aren't the tools of enlightenment.  They are, however, increasingly the hammer of choice for security.

 

As they say, it's darkest before the dawn - but the dawn is a long way off.  It's going to get a lot, lot darker - which why now, more than ever, we need to keep the candle of enlightenment burning.