Hate Never Makes Us Great

When men and women support movements of hate, such as white supremacists, anti-immigrant groups, the Nazi's of the 1930's, the Spanish Inquisition of the 15th Century, and witch-hunts all over the world - is that because we are desperately trying to shake off the feeling that we are redundant?

Is the absolute focus on the economy a sign that humanity has been replaced by a mathematical construct?

Is the invention of endless enemies really about culling a species that has over-populated the earth and the reason we can't deal with our own part in climate change because we cannot face the notion we are culpable for the problems we created?

What I'm talking about here is that mass of  a privileged humanity who have not had to prove themselves in any public way but who understand that "we" are included in the narrative.   The ones who spend a lot of time thinking about right and wrong but whose survival is not dependant on making the moral choice. The ones who are outraged at abortion but who will never get pregnant. The ones who watch endless hours of TV dramas happily as long as the victims are not in any way like them. The ones who believe its hypocritical to protest pipelines when we all need power, but who don't live near the proposed sites. The ones for whom history has no personal meaning in the immediate present because we do not identify with a demographic other than tax payer or consumer.

Why do we protest the symptoms of our system without looking at the whole picture? What are we afraid of seeing? What is the horror behind all the violence and cruelty listed in news headlines? What is the purpose of such contempt for life?

Underneath our rage and violence, is it ourselves that we hate and fear? We who are unable to live in peace creatively. We who invented guns, bombs, and tanks because our bows and arrows didn't bring us the success we planned.

When we are willing to believe that greed is good and climate change is a hoax surely we are creating the conditions for our demise. When we dismiss anything life-affirming as naive then aren't we announcing that WE ARE REDUNDANT?

Well we are NOT redundant even though the operating system (propaganda, ideology) keeps telling  us we are. So who or what is holding up that structure if not humanity?

Our task is to be human.  Money, the economy, the nation, security, or power is not greater than life. They are all things invented to support the community where we live.

Yes nihilism has purchased our institutions, and people who are employed are often asked to do that which is repugnant to the conscience of sane minds, but how far are we willing to cooperate with that in order to never ask ourselves what it really means? How long will we rally behind the structures that celebrate death because we are too frightened to question the meaning of it?

How The Light Gets In

The story of civilization on this planet is held in Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem”. 

How can I contribute to my society so it sustains and avoids the entropy of corruption, pollution, death and despair?

Cohen's song inspires me. I see our history on this planet as a cautionary tale of cycles, problem solving, good intentions and unintended consequences.

The first stanza of Anthem announces the birds sing at the break of day.  This tells me that I need not look to our human history alone. I can find wisdom and inspiration in all living things. If the birds start the day by singing then I can do something every day. Music is like a prayer urging me to go on, not give up.

Those "little things with feathers” that Emily Dickenson called hope, were taken for granted by us, until Rachel Carson warned of a silent spring. DNT was killing so much of the natural world many of us didn’t notice until Carson pointed it out. It inspired the environmental movement to pressure the monolith of “the economy” to find a way without DNT. It did and “hope" returned in many places.

I am advised not to dwell on the past or “what is yet to be”. Just because an avarice in our human nature is driving our planet to crisis while the innocent "holy dove" is sold and caught and sold again, it doesn't blot out all hope for the future.  Who is the holy dove and who is catching, buying and selling again? What is it that traps her? Is it our need to believe we can own peace and freedom forever? Is it spite? Or is it the will to power?

Humanity invented the market and those who prospered are now enslaved by it. How can I rise above it, change it, make it sustainable?

And what if it isn’t just an economic system? What if its a self interest so deep it only shows when the opportunity arises? What if I am so effectively conditioned to feel powerless that I cannot move forward or know what to do?

The song itself doesn’t get too stuck in the preaching: “Ring the bells that still can ring / forget your perfect offering”. After all I am not the conductor or composer but I am in the orchestra. My agency and problem solving skills are all I have but they come when something cracks and a sliver of light gets in.

It’s easy to fear the light I don’t possess, easy to let conspiracy theories discourage me. This is one of my tragic flaws. To feel incapable of reading the world and responding to it is natural, but only corruption benefits by my fear of being engaged.

If my society descends into fascism and hate, is my birth as a person with imagination and creative problem solving skills betrayed? If a social contract is harnessed beneath rules instead of love is that a “marriage spent” ? And is “the widowhood of every government” a reference to the lack of leadership, the abdication of responsible husbandry when profit is the only motivator?

Who can have faith in a lawless crowd? Injustice, racism, misogyny and greed does not offer a future. Violence has “summoned up a thunder cloud” and the killers need to hear from Leonard and the rest of us. What perfect offering could I ever possess that is more urgent than ringing the bell when the planet we depend on cracks under the weight of our wars and greed?

It is the deepest most difficult questions that let the light in even if my ego does not come out looking pretty.

(You can find the lyrics to Anthem here Leonard Cohen Anthem lyrics)

Pro-Life

It's so easy to say abortions are not nice if you have enough money to feed your children, pay the rent and sleep at night. If you have the support of an extended family and friends it's easy to imagine that an unplanned pregnancy will be loved and healthy and fed.


Denise Balkissoon's article in the Globe and Mail reports a 2017 study which found that "socioeconomic stress was the primary reason women in 14 different countries cited for seeking abortion". Millions of people in the world live in extreme poverty. Millions of women have no political voice to demand that men abstain from sex.


"If the concern is only what happens inside wombs, being anti-abortion also means being anti-women’s ability to raise healthy children and to lead their own lives with dignity."


The less power women have over their own bodies, the less reverence there is for life. While men argue over who will be bombed, who will be shot and who will starve to death, women grieve over the well-being of their children.


I'm not saying that women are pro-life and men pro-death but our hierarchical, colonial, neo-liberal, society -- has not succeeded in proving we are pr0-life in our values and habits.


Our habits tend to punish those at the bottom rather than re-direct resources to elevate life.

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.

Please advise: How did civil society become so dispensable?

Canadian climate change opinion is polarized, and research shows the divide is widening. The greatest predictor of people's outlook is political affiliation. This means people's climate change perceptions are being increasingly driven by divisive political agendas rather than science and concern for our collective welfare -  writes David Suzuki in Rabble.ca.

We are addicted to the mirror myths of our selves, and our addictions are sending our planet to hell. Addictions to fossil fuel, alcohol, drugs and power.

I saw a post somewhere that said it looks like our planet is a giant mental health ward where the staff are silenced or have left.

There are about 200,000 nurses registered, almost 5,000 psychiatrists, just under 15,000 veterinarians and thousands of teachers, in Canada. Add to this the people who have invested their time in healing arts and sciences.

How many people are trained to fix our cars, drive our buses, clean our schools and hospitals, fight fires, police the streets, plan our cities, and volunteer at community services.

Think of all the labour that goes into the care and nurture of this country. How many people work for the common good? How much energy and effort does it take to keep our country running even without the special skills of our top leaders?

Why is the news exclusively about the rich and famous or the bleeding and damned? It's evident in these narratives that celebrity breeds sociopathic behaviours. Why are we so impressed with their power no matter how harmful and stupid it is?

Why is analysis about the state of our world so dismissive of integral intelligence? What does power actually create in our society? Is it protection, comfort, food and warmth? Or violence and fear? Why is community activity portrayed as dependant upon the market?

Who is it that insists the sum of human activity is not worth paying attention to unless it creates money or rises to the top?

To answer this we must look at the ways we have been played, who has benefitted and who pays for it.

BC Pro Rep - Easy Entertaining Breakdown of the 3 PR Options

Human Rights Under Attack

CBC Ideas program have a full hour of Gareth Peirce On The New Dark Age.  It is worthwhile listening to entirely.

We are getting reports from the US, Canada, the UK and Europe about violence breaking out.

In the thirties Jews were targeted in Europe. African Americans were targeted in the US. Forced starvations were organized in Russia. First Nations and Japanese were targeted in Canada.

With each decade a demographic was denied dignity, imprisoned, murdered while mainstream voices who spoke out against the violence were ostracized and punished.

Now the White supremacists have organized hate marches.

The conversation about how we can heal the conflict, comfort the afflicted and move forward doesn't seem to make the headlines. So what is wrong with this picture? What is the nature and the name of the elephant in the room?

Hate has been whipped up throughout the centuries and after the slaughter, the fear, the bloodshed and displacement, there is work to rebuild, with the mantra "never again" will we fall for the hate-mongers, Then discontent creeps in, social systems break down and the hate boils over again.

This sounds like it's an organic thing. Individuals no matter how enlightened can't reach the thugs or the fascist supporters.  But is it natural. Or is it stirred, organized and presented as a grass roots eruption which we must accept as human nature.

I think that is a cop out. I think we know about how tensions, fear and hate is whipped, where it comes from and who benefits.