The Lessons of History

I get it. Our society has a short memory. The older people who lived through things are becoming fewer and fewer. Maybe they didn't pass down their wisdom, or maybe the younger generations were too busy with all the amazing new technology to listen.

People have forgotten what it was like before vaccines. They don't remember and were never told how almost everyone knew a family who had lost a child to now-preventable diseases like smallpox, polio, whooping cough, measles, diptheria, influenza... 

Scarlet fever, tuberculosis, chicken pox... Whole families were decimated sometimes. And when vaccines became available, mothers lined their children up to wait for hours to be vaccinated, because they didn't want them to die. 

But people have forgotten. And now we have widespread anti-vaxxers. And now we have children dying of those same old horrors, even though they don't need to because we can protect them... 
cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-g…

And people have forgotten about the Nazis. They have forgotten the scourge that was fascism. Some even deny the Holocaust happened. There are so few alive now who were there and saw it with their own eyes... 

People have forgotten, to the extent that now neo-nazi white supremacists are called "very fine people" by the American president. And the American public did not rise up and drag him from the White House. 

Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: 'Some Very Fine People on Both Sides'The president backtracked from his remarks on Charlottesville just a day earlier.https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/trump-defends-white-nationalist-protesters-some-very-fine-people-on-both-sides/537012/

And now... now we have the US president and conservative leaders around the world declaring "antifa" (literally anti-fascists) a terrorist organization. 
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Fascists. That's Nazis. You do know that, right? And antifa, or antifascists, are opposed to Nazis/fascists. What does it tell you when political parties try to declare what isn't even a real organisation a "terrorist organisation"? 

When a political party tells you that anti-fascists are the enemy... It is a clear sign that they are pro-fascist. See how that works? It's not vague or ambiguous. But people have short memories. Society has a short memory. 

There were people in the UK, Canada, the US, and in Europe in the 1930s who thought fascism was a good idea. It was all about nationalism and jobs, after all. Until it wasn't. Until it became all about death and oppression and persecution and war. 

But, our society seems to have forgotten that. Our journalists cheerily talk about "antifa" the way they would talk about the IRA or ISIS. Except, it's different. Anti-fascists are regular people, those who have not forgotten. And they are reacting to an existential threat. 

Anti-fascists are not looking to take over anything. They want to prevent a take-over. There is a big difference. The reason this gets any traction at all is there are an awful lot of honest-to-goodness fascists out there in high political positions. 

Trump, Bolsonaro, Orban... The list goes on. And don't forget right wing political parties not in power. 

But our society has forgotten. We have not learned the lessons of history. I fervently hope we will all come to our senses and not be forced to repeat them. 

BLM: Watching America From North of the Border

Like many Canadians, I am watching in horror as our neighbour falls into chaos and disorder. And, after reading so many Tweets and news posts about what is going on down there, I feel moved to ponder the situation.  

What I am seeing is a country built on slave labour, that fought a brutal and bloody civil war before slavery could be abolished. And even with the abolition of slavery, many continued to treat people of colour as inferior. 

Then there was a civil rights movement, which demanded that people, black and white (and brown) be treated equally under the law. And some changes were made to the laws. But legal changes alone do not change the way people think. 

And there are other levers of power besides the law. Under-funding certain schools, suppressing some people's votes, not having the political will to ensure all people have access to a living wage and health care and housing... 

Combined with a police force that started out as slave-catchers and, in many places, continued that culture within their ranks, all encouraged by a wealthy class that holds the lion's share of political power in the country... 

This has led to gross inequality, and discrimination. And instead of progressing from the victories of the Civil Rights Movement, the US has slid back, in temperament and outlook. There are laws to protect black citizens, but they are not observed. 

Police who kill are seldom sanctioned. Fear of the "other" has grown, not receded. Black people are killed almost every day in the US by police. And the number of cases of black people being killed while doing nothing wrong grows and grows. 

And the media helpfully feed the notion that, well, if he or she wasn't doing anything wrong this time, they probably did something in the past... It seems like any past transgression can be turned into a crime punishable by death, if it happens the person is black 

Which has led to the "........ while black" - it could be grocery shopping, or talking on the phone, driving a car, sleeping in your own home. It is a terrible, sick way to treat a segment of your population. And this has been going on and growing for a long time. 

It is no wonder people are taking to the streets in protest of this (yet another) innocent man killed for being black in America. 

And now it seems a lot of the violence, the property damage, that is happening when peaceful protest turns violent, is being instigated by people not involved with Black Lives Matter. It has been suggested that white supremacists are involved. 

This makes some sense. What would white supremacists, like Proud Boys and the KKK want to accomplish? Well, if they can gin up a lot of violence around these protests, they can get regular Americans to turn against BLM, and begin to adopt more racist views. 

They can begin to discredit black Americans whenever they try to organize or push for greater fairness and equality. They could get more supporters, gain more sympathy from legislative bodies. 

And then there is the theory that undercover police are also instigating violence, masquerading as protestors. And what could they possibly gain? Well, proof that their Blue brethren were right to be treated as above the law, because look how dangerous BLM is? 

And who else has something to gain? Well, Trump tweeted that he is going to make "Antifa" an illegal terrorist organisation. Because, he says, Antifa is behind the violence and any outside agitators. 

It doesn't matter that "Antifa" is not an organisation, just a concept, a movement, a loosely connected scattering of like-minded people who do not want to see totalitarianism take over. Antifa, after all, just means anti-fascist. Which should be everyone's default state. 

This could give the GOP-controlled government the power to crack down on any and all protests. To make being anti-fascist illegal, makes it impossible to criticise anything the government does. Because, clearly, the GOP has distinctly fascist tendencies. 

And, as the police break heads and shoot at protesters, and target journalists and medics working with the injured, the President is contemplating making himself secure, and enabling his administration to do anything, anything they want. 

I read that the only reason there are not heavy tanks in the streets of most American cities right now is that they would damage the roads. Not that innocent people could be killed. No. Simply because infrastructure could be damaged. That speaks volumes. 

I want to be very clear about all this. I am not saying this because I think Canada has no racism. Canada does have racists. Many of them are supporters of the GOP's little brother party, the CPC. 

While we watch America burn, we in Canada should be taking this as a lesson. Racism is a powerful tool that can be exploited by the far right. It can be used to create conflict and then justify draconian measures to suppress that conflict.

Measures that can be used to suppress any and all dissent. Measures that can mark an end to democracy. 

As the US teeters on the brink of totalitarianism, we in Canada must think deeply about what kind of future we want for our country. We must take care not to let the door open to the kind of inequality, injustice, and unbridled brutality we are seeing unfolding in the US. 

We must take care to not let parties who foment hatred of the other, who try to make us mistrust and hate, form government. There is no room for "barbaric cultural practices" tip-lines, or racially motivated crime in our society.

We must stand on guard for Canada, now more than ever, and not let our country go down to darkness as we are seeing our neighbour do. It's time for Canadians to speak out about racism, to stand up to it. For all our children, and our children's children. 

Silencing dissent

Jason Kenney has people on the payroll whose job it is to intimidate and silence criticism of the UCP government. Albertans are, through their provincial taxes, paying for people whose job it is to silence any criticism of the government. Issues managers, spokespeople, the War Room, even some MLAs... And this doesn't begin to cover the trolls, pardon me, communications officers, that flood Twitter and Facebook when people dare to question what the government is doing.

We are literally paying people to tell us to shut up and F*ck off. That doesn't seem very democratic. In fact, it seems, well, fascist, to be honest. 

The wrecking ball that is the UCP is on a rampage in this province. Kenney has a job to do and he is getting it done while suppressing any dissent. 

From cutting off aid to Albertans he/the UCP/the CPC/the IDU consider liabilities (i.e. not contributing to corporate coffers) and justifying letting some of these people die to restoke the capitalist money machine, to paving the way for private education and health care 

I expect Jason's real bosses are fairly pleased with his progress. He is the steam roller and Albertans are the pavement. In another couple of years, there will be no universal health care, no harm reduction, no environmental protection... 

Coal mines all over the place, people with disabilities will have died or left, public education will be in tatters, and health care will only be available to the rich. It will be open season on LGBTQ and POC, and people will be desperate for any sort of job, at any rate of pay.

And people on the right, led by the UCP and their supporters, will convince people that they have a right to pay for healthcare themselves. And they have a right to work for peanuts. And... 

Another Rant About Canadian Journalism

I can no longer bear to watch Vassy Kapelos on CBC's Power and Politics . The show was once a source of, at the very least, an understanding of who was saying what. 

It seems to have turned into a "bash the Liberal government" free-for-all. This is not journalism. This is more of a blood-sport. Where the aggressors have traps, lures, and telephoto infra-red sights. 

I would like to point out that responsible journalism is not simply attacking the sitting government. It is not just giving everyone a podium to bash the sitting government. 

Journalistic integrity is based on some pretty solid principles.
- Is it TRUE?
- Is it verifiable?
- Is publishing it in the public good?

Journalism is meant to hold the sitting government to account, yes. But it should also hold those who would form government to account. This means not just letting opposition parties trash the government and, sometimes, even make stuff up, unchallenged. 

Journalists fail when they do not hold those who would like to form government to as high a standard as they hold the sitting government. It is not in the public good to give one party a pass, to not fact check both sides.  

And, speaking of both sides... This current trend to try to give both sides equal weight and time, regardless of their validity, is complete garbage. 

I mean, if you get a government minister of health, or civil servant on talking about the importance of vaccinations, then, in the interest of "balance" you allow an anti-vaxxer to spout off nonsense & only challenge the government person, that is irresponsible journalism. 

Sometimes, one side of the argument does not deserve the air time because it is complete balderdash. We need our journalists to recognize when this is happening and to react appropriately. 

This "good people on both sides" nonsense is fairly new. Perhaps not as new as the Trump regime, but pretty close. It is irresponsible journalism. No. Sometimes one side is correct and the other is nuts/evil/a threat to the public good. 

So it completely abandons journalistic principles to treat both as equally valid. You are supposed to be fact-checking, arbiters of messaging. And it is fine to question government officials. They are not sacrosanct. But to just attack and nitpick is choosing sides. 

And to have panels where all participants just want to bash the government is abhorrent. Not all governments are bad. Thus far, overall, the Liberals have been doing a damn sight better job for Canadians than their predecessors. 

To anguish over nothing-burgers like a swingset the PM paid for, or renovations the National Capital Commission (which looks after Canada's official residences and buildings) has been planning for a decade, is completely disingenuous. That is being a mouthpiece for the opposition and not acting in the public good. 

I realise that the CBC has suffered sever budget cuts for decades. Which means they have to compete for eyeballs and clicks against sensationalist corporate-run and right-leaning media outlets.

I like to think that if the CBC was fully funded & not dependent on advertising revenue, and if the culture created by Harper appointments was purged, our national broadcaster could do much to educate the public about how our government works and about issues of the day in a non-partisan manner. 

Perhaps that is naive. But I believe there are some real journalists out there capable of adhering to journalistic principles and who actually care about educating the public.  

So many Canadians seem to not really understand how government works, how responsibility is divided between provincial and federal governments. When your guests say blatantly untrue things about how things actually work, it is your job to counter the misinformation.  

To give air time to people who are making sh*t up is not only not in the public good, it is a disgrace to the journalistic tradition and directly counter to the public good. When I was watching, I often thought, "My God. What are these journalists thinking letting this go?"

So, I am sorry if this offends Ms Kapelos . But I am not alone in feeling this show is failing in bringing facts to the table. It feels like a love-in for the CPC. This is not in the public good. 

Any party that aspires to form government need to be put under the same microscope as the sitting government. People in a democracy need to see who they are voting for, warts and all. On all sides.  

Language Matters: How the Conservatives Skew Value and Participation in Society

Canadians, language matters. Conservatives know this. They have been deliberately changing our terms of reference for years. We have seen them reframe lobbyists as "partners", and regular folks with local concerns as "special interest groups" (negative connotation)  

In this pandemic it is even more critically important for us to consider the well-being of others. We need to recognize the community we belong to. I would like to suggest a push-back against one of the most insidious changes to popular speech championed by conservatives.

For many years now, conservatives have referred to Canadians as "tax-payers". This has been done deliberately and consistently. And that choice of words has consequences in the way we think about one another.

We need to think of Canadians as "citizens", or "community members", not "tax-payers". It makes a difference. When conservatives speak to "tax-payers" they are immediately excluding all those who are disabled, elderly, unemployed, or working poor, from the body politic. 

Those people are citizens too. They are important community members. Monetizing people is wrong. It leads to statements like Kenney made about people "with modest levels of human capital" deserving a lower minimum wage. And it leads to people accepting that our value is determined by our financial contribution. 

Our value as human beings is not determined by how much we can contribute to the wealth of corporate entities. We are citizens, first and foremost, regardless of our ability to work, or our ability to pay taxes. 

We have now seen, in the shocking report from the Canadian Armed Forces, that seniors in Long-Term Care facilities have been treated barely better than animals in an industrial farm. Warehoused at the lowest possible cost, to continue bringing in a profit from storage fees. 

The conservatives push to reopen the economy regardless of whether it is safe or not, saying it's mostly old people who are dying, so that's alright, suggests they view our senior citizens the way an industrial farm owner views a cow that can't give milk anymore. In short, of diminished or spent ability to contribute to profitability. Effectively, a liability on the balance sheet. 

And this is also reflected in the way conservatives have treated veterans. If they can no longer be useful to the country, they are expendable. 

We need to remind ourselves that we are, first of all, members of a society and citizens of a country. We are not "inputs" to an economy. Our value does not depend on our ability to create wealth for corporations. Whatever conservatives may urge to the contrary. 

It is inconvenient to the conservative narrative to recognise the humanity of those who are destitute, addicted, infirm, elderly, disabled, or even the wrong colour or gender or sexual orientation. 

The conservative narrative seeks both to justify disenfranchising those considered "surplus", with no monetary offering to make, and also to divide us and make us accept selfishness and greed through devaluation of others. 

It is time we take back our humanity. It is time we recognize ourselves and all our fellow citizens as having a crucial role in creating and growing our society. We all have non-monetary contributions to make. 

Even the most vulnerable among us, the least able to be self-sufficient and contributing, offers the rest of us lessons in compassion, empathy, responsibility, patience, and caring, an opportunity to appreciate and find joy in things far more valuable than money. 

I encourage everyone to stop using the term "tax-payer". We are Canadians/landed immigrants/permanent residents, we are citizens, we are community members, we are people. We are not units of production, or lines in a ledger. We are not "human capital stock". We are not here to make someone else rich. 

We are here to live our lives. To love and dream and explore and find meaning. To help one another. To enrich our society with art and music and science and important ideas. To protect the earth for the future. To invest in a better quality of life for all. 

The word "tax-payer" does not begin to define us. Let's stop using it. 

I truly believe this is what we need to demand of government. That they treat all as important PEOPLE. When we raise up the most vulnerable, the most impoverished, and the most disenfranchised, we raise everyone up.