Let Sunny Ways Occupy Us

Justin is in the house

A thoughtful deconstruction of the Occupy movement from 2011 reveals the confusion that keeps people from meaningful political action.  This insider's account of what caused the Wall Street movement to fade away isn't so surprising.  Newcomers to social activism often shun the tools that allow dissenters to disrupt the status quo.  It also wasn't astonishing that it happened in the U.S., where the republic's usual mechanisms are so tightly seized.

Since October 19 our own form of parliamentary democracy has shown it still has the flexibility to break the grip of the vested interests.  Working within the parliamentary framework that Winston Churchill called the worst form of government except for all the others, the new Liberal government of Justin Trudeau has declared that it will use the parliament itself to consult Canadians on how to reform their first-past-the-post electoral system.  The self-interested are already starting to howl.  Like their recently-deposed leader so often did, they would rather dump the conventions that  have sustained this nation through war, depression and existential crisis.

Improbable as the new Trudeau mantra may be, it offers possibilities for change. Until somebody conceives of a better system, it makes no sense to abandon the procedures that history has bestowed.  But if tweaking can make them work better -- that is, to respect principles of democracy that vest power in  the  majority instead of  a privileged few -- why not support it?.  

          

A Season for Seeking

Oliver Boldizar appears to have had a remarkable life, to be sure.  I wonder who’s going  to document it.  Seems like his journey was designed as a lesson for others in the consumer-crazed and unsustainable society  that  we inhabit.  I had a nephew who broke the mortal bonds on his 33rd birthday in despair over the life he was living.  Although  he only left home for a year in rehab, he couldn’t come to terms with his existence in a culture that celebrated inane behavior and worshipped consumption.  In the end, his vital organs gave out too. 

Oh, and compliments of the season to you.  Increasingly, I’m with the reactionaries who want to strip the pretext of religiosity out of Xmas.  But there should always be a time to step off the treadmill and think about what we’re doing.

Citizen of the World

The environmental movement has been around since the early 1970s, more or less thanks to Maurice Strong.  Thousands of people have subscribed to its principles.  But Strong was the towering figure who transformed principle into action.  From  the beginning, Strong understood the extent of the threat from carbon emissions.  He also understood that nothing would be accomplished unless the environment and the economy were managed together, in a balanced and coordinated way.   And he gave effect to his  beliefs not from the head of a line of demonstrators, but as chairman of some of the most powerful energy industry leaders. The  point was, THEY had the power to make changes.  NOT the demonstrators, who could only pressure them to act.  Strong also understood that traditionally, politicians follow public  opinion.  They  don’t lead.  So, after one aborted attempt to run for office, he never aspired to political office again. 

There has been a disinformation campaign under way for many years, initiated by people who want to debunk environmental leaders like Al Gore and David Suzuki.  The criticism is usually that they have  profited personally from their preaching.  Because Strong has centered his efforts for the last  30 years or so around a think tank based in the West he has also been dismissed as an elitist, new age kook.  But Strong also understood that one answer to climate change is innovation.  Not more innovative consumer products so much as new ways of thinking by people with the power and influence to organize societies to act sustainably. 

Like Pierre Trudeau, Maurice Strong was a Canadian who became a Citizen of the World before that phrase was coined.  In a way, Justin Trudeau’s introduction to the world stage in Paris this week closes a circle that his father and Maurice Strong helped to create.  As a middleweight nation, Canada isn’t going to solve this problem single-handedly.  But we can show others the way with a credibility that warring superpowers have long since surrendered.  If they’re successful, I believe it will be people inspired by the likes of Maurice Strong who will make it happen

We're Back!

Hi there folks -- family, friends and fellow skeptics.  So you've had a break from my perpetual pestering.  Well that's all  over now.  It's been three years since I went missing from this forum to discover the true meaning of press freedom in  this new information age.  Thanks to some personal experience with the online news media, I've discovered it means working for nothing.  If I'm going to do that, I'll publish my own views.

According to today's contribution from the  CBC's Ideas series that may be a good thing.    Hard as it is for an old ink-stained wretch to accept, I understand the point that  writer Paul  Mason has made in his latest book entitled Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future  If you think that idea is too much to swallow, have a listen. It will only take a few minutes and I promise you it won't hurt.  What WILL hurt  is continuing to live with  this unsustainable system that rewards greed and ignores all other reality.

Oh, and by the way, if you're among those who cringe every time you've heard that "We're Back" since October 19,  that too is a good thing.