Psychopathic Invasion of Political Leadership

In George Monbiot's post on outer turmoil he lists and analyzes the biggest problem of our age: the corruption of leadership.

"A few years ago, the psychologist Michelle Roya Rad listed the characteristics of good leadership. Among them were fairness and objectivity, a desire to serve society rather than yourself, a lack of interest in fame and attention, and resistance to the temptation to hide the truth or make impossible promises."

The Journal of Public Management & Social Policy list the characteristics of leaders with psychopathic, narcissistic or Machiavellian personalities which is something I have observed even in non-profit societies and has deeply disturbed me. Manipulation and a talent for deceit without remorse which has turned the world from one where we struggle for social fairness to one that reveals a complete contempt for life.

We must be vigilant to the ways that politics (with the support and help from media) misrepresents trends in human values. The display of hate towards women in Congress in the US during a Trump rally is a captured moment "showing support" for his racist ideas.

If we are willing to believe that this president has majority support in the US he can keep behaving like a pop star instead of the leader he is supposed to be, while the masses accept the degradation of the nation, under the pretence that this is what greatness means.

People who support movements of hate either want power at the cost of social justice and freedom for their community kin, or they don't know what they want and are happy to follow whatever trends are presented to them. People who believe that celebrity is leadership and those who rise to the top must be worthy of the adulation promoted by their publicity teams are dangerously naive.

It's past time for us to evolve beyond the circus trickery of politics and understand that the easy way out is never out but down. This means taking responsibility for our part in the drama.

Political Cleverness

Be careful of political cleverness.  The big trick with high stakes. The "gotcha" that's irreversible. I'm talking about political expediency. Creating division between peoples who have become friends. About shaming someone for the sake of maneuver. 

Ultimately what it creates is the disruption of a whole society because the operating principles have changed while the minority of the people are still using the culture they were born and raised in.

Now I know that empires have risen and crumbled on political cleverness and the losers are the ones who often have the most integrity. Political progress has, for the most part been corruption, disruption and violence.

It is no wonder that young people believe they have to give up integrity in order to win in politics and business. Cleverness has become underhanded, fraudulent, sophistry. The most vulnerable are thrown under the bus while psychopaths are rewarded with high positions.

This is not simple naivete. It is the underground train that logs old forests, pollutes the air and the ocean, turns populations into criminals, parents into agents and children into pawns. It turns all relationships into corporations, and leaves a void where the village used to be.

We are rightfully disturbed when we witness our democracy crumbling under authoritarian rule, when the news is a list of violent events, and the town hall becomes a supermarket.

The trickle down currency of inequality is exploitation but even that word is too polite. Citizens become consumers then the consumed (cell phones, social media, then data).

In this environment we lose our leaders to gamesmanship, we ignore facts, dismiss science and swallow fake news because it resembles the familiar soap opera.

Now I'm not saying we all take the easy way out. I'm saying the playing field is full of snakes and pot holes so even competing in the game can leave us with permanent injuries. I'm saying that our earthly home has become a site of domestic violence as the corruption penetrates the spirit and the heart and our kin become prison guards.

I'm saying that good mental and physical health includes a healthy community. Yup that's social conscience  I guess.

The Wealth of this Land is its people - Letter to the Premier of Ontario

Dear Premier Ford

I came to Canada in 1965, full of myself. I learned about being Canadian in the years that followed, because of the kind people who corrected my views of entitlement. They didn’t put me down, make fun of me, or shut me out - they simply explained they did not agree and why.  At the time I was not happy but later I would think about what they said and could see the value of their wisdom.

Later after the birth of my children and the guidance from Victorian Order of Nurses who helped me find answers, I could see how effective social programs linked knowledge to health. They had an education beyond mine, and they saved my family’s life.

Growing up watching popular TV and reading teen magazines I thought I had to learn how to come out on top, to make sure I had the last word and climb the ladder of success.  Of course so many other people felt that too, and when I didn’t win I would berate myself until kind friends taught me that wealth was in having a supportive community.

I thought many Canadians were really good at the down to earth wisdom and it was apparent how structurally violent my competitive attitudes were, how out of touch was my ego.

Then, housing was available to most of us, further education was affordable, and Canadians were mostly authentic. First in Montreal, then in Toronto, then Abbotsford. They came from India, Italy, Hungary, Ireland, UK, Germany and Africa. Their heritage was Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic & Protestant. Within a year or two immigrants would learn the real wealth of this nation - it was equality, positivity, and cautious optimism.

As turmoil around the world has caused insecurity and anger, I have learned how privileged I was to be an immigrant here. I have learned that peace can be found in compassion, empathy and a willingness to work for the greater good. I have learned from our First Nations the strength of working on universal values and taking care of our home. 

I write to ask you to consider the wealth of this nation that is beyond the bottom line and financial spreadsheets.  Please take care of the people first.

Janet Vickers

Gabriola BC V0R 1X1

What is Power?

Years ago we visited a cottage resort, same time and same cottage each summer, reuniting with the same families in other cottages.

As was my habit I brought note books and papers to write and read. One day I asked each of the adults "what is power?".  Their  answers were varied:

• power is energy
• E=mc2 
• power is what turns men into monsters
• love is power

So I pondered these answers, as throughout the years, the subject fascinated and troubled me.

My answer to the question would be - power is the ability to create, to influence the outcome of events. Humans certainly have wielded power throughout our time on this planet.  We have created culture - opera is one example of cultural power. Language, story and education is another. People working together to create something memorable and inspiring. Cell phone technology is another magical example of technological power. Raising our children responsibly so they are able to find their way through the unknown future. Think of all the years of study and discipline that goes into building a beautiful temple. Think of the labour, the energy, the beauty of the design. Think of all the writers who have written books that sit in the library of most towns in North America and Europe.  All the cars that jam our roadways, the drivers who learned how to drive, the planners who put up traffic light and signs to guide them. The sum of our power is so great that we have created terrible problems for the environment, and yet it has become too common for us to notice.

Dismissing the power we have has bred a different kind of power. The circus, clowns exploiting vulnerable people and animals.  It clamours for attention in a way that makes humanity seem like a bunch of suckers.  Consumer commercials, magical thinking, snake oil salesmen, political bloviators, astronomical greed, Punch and Judy shows, and celebrity gossip.

I call this fake power.

The only thing this power creates is alienation from society - it doesn't even try to represent anything of worth. It arises out of our failure to appreciate the life bestowed on this planet. It's a cynical  race to see how quickly we can destroy decency, civility replaced with thuggery. Corporate media obsessed with evil,  as though we are powerless to save it.

This culture is saying to young impressionable minds you are powerless to change anything. We laugh at the naiveté of the desire to care. By example we are offering them victims to bully with the glorification of brute force. Gang rape, racist slurs, intolerance to diversity, contempt for the fragile.

Bad enough that the young might display this behaviour, but even worse are the men who hold positions that would normally demand intelligence and leadership but who brag about making it a game, as though our universe is merely a casino and man's task is simply to take home the most chips.

This is not power.  This is just capitalism. Turning the diversity of  the web of life into a lottery where there is only one winner and billions of losers.

What dominates this culture is not power at all but a soul destroying pretence of power based on the universal contempt for all life as we know it.

If we want to have a future we need to build it on the real power we have to sustain the healthy community. Peace and a reverence for life is the ultimate profit from our efforts. 

Track Changes

Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence Against Aboriginal Women: "reviewed 58 reports dealing with aspects of violence and discrimination against Indigenous women and girls, including government studies, reports by international human rights bodies, and published research of Indigenous women's organizations. The reports cover a period of two decades. (They) found only a few of more than 700 recommendations in these reports have ever been fully implemented." 

Harper's record of refusal: An Act of violence against Indigenous Women. Muskrat Magazine, rabble: "Since 1996...over 40 reports have been delivered to the federal government calling for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.  In August 2014, the premiers of Canada also called for an inquiry stating there are two possible routes to getting a national public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women: Prime Minister changes his mind and calls one -- or he is defeated in the 2015 federal election." 

Globe and Mail Editorial February 1, 2015; "Prime Minister Stephen Harper never tires of telling Canadians that we are at war with the Islamic State. Under the cloud of fear produced by his repeated hyperbole about the scope and nature of the threat, he now wants to turn our domestic spy agency into something that looks disturbingly like a secret police force." 

Letter to PM Harper from Ralph Nader, Rabble: "Particularly noticeable in your announcement were your exaggerated expressions that exceed the paranoia of Washington's chief attack dog, former vice-president Dick Cheney. Mr. Cheney periodically surfaces to update his pathological war mongering oblivious to facts -- past and present -- including his criminal war of aggression which devastated Iraq -- a country that never threatened the U.S." 

ICBC may withhold licence for outstanding court fines, student loans in default. CBC: "The provincial government has proposed legislation to expand ICBC's ability to refuse driver's licences to those in debt.The insurance company is already able to withhold licences from people who owe money, such as toll fees, but the new bill — if passed — would be a "last-resort measure" to collect on outstanding court fines or student loans in default." 

There are many voices of reason from individuals and groups doing all they can, with very small budgets, to influence their governments.  What must be really clear to any concerned and thinking person is that those who hold the highest seats of power  like presidents, prime ministers, and CEO's of large corporations, do not appear to be providing leadership at all.  It's as if holding power is not compatible with social responsibility. Or the media feels its not in their best interest to report when these officers do consider the greater good. That, in fact to do real leadership for their constituents, to do what is wise and responsible, to do what we expect of adults, is likely to cause their downfall. That once they have won their seats they must be obsessed with holding onto their power by any means available.

Social responsibility is not seen to be the concern of prime ministers, presidents and CEO's. Somehow the building and maintenance of order and justice must fall on the citizens, sometimes sacrificing their own lives, to defend society, or to re-build their own structures of governance.

Power without social responsibility and justice is not leadership, and therefore not legitimate power.

Elizabeth May: this is what a leader looks like

May taken National Day of Action, Electoral Reform

The leader of the Green Party is an example of what a leader is. She focuses on the issues. She informs Canadians about what she is doing, what needs to be done, and why. Visit her website for well written and easy to read articles.

There is so much trivial noise created from various interests that the really important issues don't get the coverage they deserve.  But if you want to find out more about why things happen, their causes and what we can do about them visit the sites that inform.

A good leader knows that our collective survival is built on social justice not popularity.

Other leaders include, David Suzuki, Council of Canadians, staff at Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives , Karen Armstrong, and Thomas Mulcair.

Dear Prime Minister Harper

a river by Hwy 3 in BC

I forward this letter (italicized below), found on Rev. Frances Deverell's (President of Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice) blog in support of her fast for Climate Change.

I believe current world economic distress and natural disasters are caused by climate change and as a human race we must take action.  We must address the fact that we cannot grow our economies forever.  If our children and grandchildren are to have a chance at a quality of life we need real leadership from you and we need it now.

We need to direct our attention and our resources toward building an economy based on renewable energy.  We must slow the use of oil and coal and preserve reserves in the ground for future generations.  We can do this by:

•                Putting a price on carbon

•                Supporting all initiatives that develop and promote renewable energy

•                Supporting any and all methods of energy conservation

Slowing down the development of oil, coal, and nuclear will slow economic growth, but slower growth is inevitable because oil prices will rise as reserves are depleted.   This will impact our economy and cause labour disruption and unemployment.  We must prepare by designing social systems to cushion the blow and help people make the transition.  Current policies are pushing us towards instability and chaos instead.

We need your best, most creative leadership now to address these issues.  Will you enact policies that actively promote energy conservation and renewable energy?  Will you remove subsidies to big oil and introduce a tax on carbon?  Help us build an economy focused on creating quality of life for all, in a world without growth.

Respectfully,

Janet Vickers

Citizen of Canada

The End of Hierarchy?

Is it possible that we will find another way of organizing ourselves, when it has become clear  our ruling elites are not capable of leading us to a sustainable future?

Now that we can easily read so many different perspectives, can we invest a little hope in the organic power of good will for the greater good? Surely the competitive, isolating ideologies around economic success now seem as believable as the existence of Santa Claus.

This is one crisis that may lead to our opportunity.  The majority of comment on the net, in the news, indicates that people have dismissed the authority of those experts invested in big institutions.  We no longer see leadership, we see a ritualized power play with the fall of intelligence and the rise of brutality. 

Our future looks like an abandoned battle field of pollution, drought, famine and guns. Who needs education or health when the resources of the whole world are saved for so few?

It's against the many bleak examples that I look to the community.

There are people organizing food banks and have been for the thirty years since corporate fascism  replaced civil society. There are organizations of volunteers who have created integral media such as rabble, The Tyee, Straight-Goods, Avaaz, etc. There are churches that have given up on doctrine in aid of support for the disenfranchised, housing the homeless on cold nights. There are theatres and musicians and artists organizing festivals still, even though their funding has been cut. And then there are parents, spouses and children who are giving continually, and blossoming in a new appreciation for what is around them and how their power is integrated in all things.

So it seems, almost, that humanity is evolving from the shallow stereotypes played out on mainstream  media, to wise new ways of being in the world, while the institutions are crumbling under the weight of greed, still stuck on oppression and exploitation.

Will humanity transcend the failing structures that have governed for centuries, and find new ways of governing ourselves through creative cooperation?