Saturday 30 April 2011

A Partisan Poem by Franci Louann

liberal? yes that’s me
small “l” liberal, always have been . . .
small “c” conservative too, conserving, hopefully
conservation is a good word . . .
did I ever vote for Trudeau?
probably     not memorably

that photo of David Anderson with me
and a few others at a picnic in Victoria
must have been circa 1972
I probably voted Liberal that year
probably voted for David
along with a few others on that blanket

David, finally in Ottawa, had a long career
but I don’t remember voting Liberal . . .
Trudeau never embarrassed me
Trudeau did amuse me
I’m proud of Trudeau
but wasn’t part of Trudeau-mania . . .

I’m glad Pierre was older than Al
Margaret younger than I was
but – what was the purpose of this poem?
oh yes – I have voted NDP, I know that
but never so much for the person
'til Jack turned my head . . .

Jack Layton, that smarty-pants-from-Toronto
I’ve been proud of him since his victory speech
at the leadership convention!
time for a dark horse, a bright horse!
our bright hope –
Jack Layton!



written by Franci Louann June 25, 2004, rewritten September 30, 2008

Friday 29 April 2011

Wishes for Will and Kate

Having watched this beautiful and lavish wedding today, what I wish for this young couple is that they live
~ in a world governed by leaders of good conscience
~ where the voices of environmental stewardship prevail
~ that their children bring them joy
~ and they continue to cherish and support one another as they discover each other's imperfections and failings
~ finding the means to overcome despair
~sharing this earth with the common people who remain vigilant in defending the human rights they have come to expect
~so that we help one another raise the level of consciousness towards an understanding that justice is not justice if it is not available for all.

Thursday 28 April 2011

Power Stupidized

The issue of Barack Obama's birth certificate is not about the truth of his birth or about getting silliness out of the way so that US leaders can get on with the important things - it is, I believe, aimed at destroying civil society, democracy, justice and the future of America.

It creates suspicion and fear among Americans - not just whether their President is legally their President or not, but that a poll somewhere indicates 40% believe he might not be. It's another one of those media loops that make people look stupid, another device of division and alienation just like bad television sitcoms. It's an extension of shared shame witnessing the behaviour of dupes in 'reality' shows, video footage of men parading in white hoods burning down the homes of frightened black families, or the fall of adored celebrities going out without underwear, getting drunk and drugged. 

There is nothing redeeming or intelligent in the video of Donald Trump congratulating himself on his anti-Obama campaign; it is the basest form of racism, as Baratunde Thurston points out, which puts all African Americans back in the defensive position of having to prove they are American.

A nation divided by whipped up rage deposes its leader, and eventually. as dehumanizing rhetoric becomes more inflamed, the war of words becomes war - the ultimate in disaster capitalism.  It worked in Europe, in South and Central America, in Africa, in the Middle-East and now its coming to North America. But the only winners will be the arms industry.

Saturday 23 April 2011

Gun Registry Saves Money

In a Straight Goods report headed "Gun registry saves money as well as lives", I am struck with the feeling  that saving lives needs to be justified by saving money.

"OTTAWA, April 20, 2011 – The Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) believes that gun control is an important measure to help prevent public violence and in particular, violence against women. Most firearm-related deaths in Canada are caused by rifles or shotguns. These are the guns most used in domestic violence."

According to this report, abolishing the registry may save us between $1.5 to $4 million per year, but money incurred as a result of deaths and injury by firearms was estimated at $6.6 billion in 1995.

We know that a registry alone will not stop violence, but we need more conversations about violence, about the cause of domestic violence to match the steady news reports of violent deaths in our nation.

Since the Harper Government has slashed funding for women’s groups that attempt to deal with this issue  and also proposes to slash the gun registry - how will they, if elected, support safety and uphold the value of life?

To what extent is violence nature or nurture and what are the socially aggravating factors that lead some people to harm their own families?

Friday 22 April 2011

Every City Has a Kathryn

A person who always has room for you to stay the night at the last minute, who will open their home for the writer's conference and feed everyone too, who will organize the food bank and who will exhaust herself caring for those who need it.  These Kathryns don't make a lot of noise about what they do, they don't tell others what to do either. They are not likely to spend much time on Facebook or twitter or developing PR  strategies because their lives are taken up with the needs of nurture. Their impact on their cities are like gold in the bank but they don't have much of that metal in their accounts.  Their influence on their communities are like the Reverend Doctor in the pulpit but you won't hear them preaching. They will be out there dealing with the most difficult and contentious issues without complaint. They are strong but not domineering, they have a message but do not shout.  Every city has at least one Kathryn and if they left you would feel it, although most of them don't receive awards or much notice of any kind - in fact they probably eschew applause and praise. Not all of them are named Kathryn - some are called Mary or Jack and you can sometimes recognize them by their manner - the word "I" doesn't find its way into daily small talk.

Thursday 21 April 2011

Infinite Power

Everybody knows, as Leonard Cohen’s song goes, that everything is about power. Yet if you use the word in polite society you’ll see eyes glaze over as though your friends fear what might be coming next—a plunge into conspiracy theory or an inventory of global atrocities, and suddenly the topic is changed before anyone notices. The word itself reeks of polemic and conjures images of storm troopers. Yet it is the power of informed, committed citizens, even in small groups, as Margaret Mead reminded us long ago, that changes the world.

Working on the premise that two of the most enduring power tools—communication and cooperation, is available to those linked in to systems of support—this piece looks at how these tools work for and against the greater good.

What is power? Many years ago, at a holiday resort among worldly professionals, this question was given spontaneously to individuals. Answers came back readily—power is knowledge; power is what turns a decent person into a monster; power is energy; power is love. It’s these interpretations I use to examine the question.

Power is Knowledge
Chris Hedges in the February issue of Adbusters warns "We stand on the cusp of one of the bleakest periods in human history when the bright lights of a civilization blink out and we will descend for decades, if not centuries, into barbarity." We have been convinced, Hedges claims, that we do not have the capacity to understand and fight back against the "revealed truths presented before us".

The speed of global news allows us to virtually witness the economic, environmental and political crises as they unfold. But does this capacity empower us or leave us feeling powerless like spectators strapped and plugged into this thing called life?

When does knowledge give us power? What knowledge? The knowledge to live well among others, to be able to hold a job with a livable wage, the knowledge about how power works today?
If John Pilger, who won the 2009 Sydney Peace Prize (awards do imbue credibility and therefore some social power) warns—those who offer an alternative picture of our western, capitalist society that attempts to lead us back to the question "who benefits?" are quickly labled as conspiracy theorists—then shouldn’t we look for those alternative pictures?

Anyone reading this site has probably decided we should be interrogating power. However it’s easy to become disheartened and depressed when a pastor of a small congregation of fifty in Gainesville, Florida, gets world coverage for planning to burn the Quran on September 11th while countless others who work tirelessly on interfaith dialogue rarely get a peep from their local newspaper?
  
Power is what turns a decent person into a monster
A report from Germany that came through the Guardian claimed would-be Quran burner, Rev. Terry Jones, was dismissed in 2008 from a Christian community in Cologne for allegedly forcing members to give him a percentage of their earnings, working for little or no money, breaking up families and friendships and assigning himself a fake doctorate. An official sect monitor felt Jones had manipulative potential and needed to achieve notoriety.

Is power something which turns a decent person into a monster, or is the monster within seeking power in order to get out?

According to an instructor in the mental health services field—the most dangerous people are not the truly mad, but those with borderline personality disorders. They appear intelligent, charming, even charismatic, but wreak havoc on the people around them because they cannot empathize, they have no conscience.
Is charisma a natural power or is it manufactured through centuries where great warriors and manipulators are held in awe? Do we value the ambitious employee who bullies and demeans co-workers in order to rise to the top? Can we list the real achievements of Hitler, Stalin or Mugabe?

So, why did the media spend days covering this pastor’s threat? Looking at other issues on the news at that time, may give us some clues.

Brian Stelter in a reflective article in The New York Times, pointed out that this story coincided with the Moslem Centre seeking a building permit two blocks away from ground zero. Rage from those who were against or for it was stirred up along with the painful memories of September 11th, 2001.

Is a Moslem Centre in New York really a threat or an insult to those who died in 9/11, or is it suggested for the viewing public? How did the appearance of the Imam compare with that of Terry Jones?
Who benefits by this media event that representatives at Fox, CNN, ABC and others regretted running? Well the images are imprinted on the global brain and won’t be erased no matter how the story is unpacked afterwards.

Isn’t this how power works? Working through unconscious impulses hungry for locating the enemy? This may work with the unquestioning consumer, but imagine what would happen if table talk in every home in Canada was about how demons (and heroes) are created rather than identifying the monster.

Power is energy
For thousands of years we have created systems of support—family, community, language, ritual, and education, in order to survive. We are born into these systems, we depend on them and they depend on us. Certainly there is violence within them. But millions nurture the best rather than dismiss them, as Margaret Thatcher did when she claimed there was no such thing as society. Self-interest, technology and consumerism makes that easy to believe—until something tragic happens.

A loved one dies, we become ill, we lose our job. Then we look for services (which we pay for with our taxes and feel entitled to) to bury, to heal, to comfort and educate us. This is the tragedy of the commons. As long as we take the human capacity for cooperation and shared goals out of the popular narrative we lose our inherent power to solve problems.

Power is love
Generally, power lives in the mundane and doesn’t make news headlines. Parents, teachers, doctors, scholars and neighbours learn how to care, teach, heal, interrogate and help. This is love in its many functioning forms. The Dalai Lama's editorial in the Vancouver Sun (September 26, 2009) proposes that love and compassion bring individual happiness, and individual happiness will save the world from anger and hatred.

Power extracted from the life force to exploit and oppress, never lasts forever. It is ultimately defeated by the oppressed, and infinite power lies in the application of love and energy given by those left to re-build what has been destroyed. They are us and we have been doing it for centuries and can do it in the future as long as we don’t give our power away to interests that want us all to believe we don’t have any.

Everybody knows this—we just need to be reminded.

[shorter version first published in the Flying Shingle November 2010]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A second chance for humanity

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