Wednesday 5 October 2011

Oct.5 - I was the only local candidate to respond to the Federation of Citizens'Associations survey

Hi,
as has been normal this election I was the only local candidate to respond to a request from a local group of citizens. see my responses from teh Federation of Citizens'Associations survey at
http://www.fca-fac.ca/

It is a sad day for democracy when YOUR canidates will not meet with you.
Another example of the same sad state was my last event of the campaign yesterday, a visit to a Retirement Home in Bell's corners. Lisa [PC] had been there  but when invited the Liberal and NDP candidates did not even bother responding to a request for them to come, not even with an excuse!

So, as you decide where to cast your ballot, also consider who has really tried to get their message across and really BELIEVES in their party platform.

All the very best & have a blesssed day.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Oct.4 - the last day to campaign - it's over!

It's over
It was a fun election full of surprises - who was to know that the Green Energy Act would become the lightning rod for both discontent and hope? As usual, I learned more I expected, especially about wind energy, and as I have a good friend who has worked in the field for 20 years, I will continue to learn more to help ensure that they are placed and used properly to help us have a better and eventually cheaper electricity system.
Thanks again for ALL YOUR SUPPORT and best wishes!

Remember; Live Green, Vote Green.

Monday 3 October 2011

Oct.3 - See your candidate live on YOU TUBE!

It is the last few days before the election and it looks like a Minority government...
that means, more than ever, that YOUR vote counts!
To help you decide the Osgoode village assoc. after trying unsuccessfully to have a live debate [nobody would come except me] has put together a 'live' interview with tough, surprise questions for the candidates. So far on the PC & Green candidates have chosen to accept the challenge. It is sad that the Liberals and NDP have chosen not to participate in this, and all other, community forums.
Now you can see Lisa & I & choose who you would prefer to represent you at Queen's park.
See


 http://www.youtube.com/user/WordBanks?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/WEZjUi-zMnI

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Sept.27 - Leader's Debate Tonight - Sadly, with Mike Schreiner the Green Leader

The leaders debate is tonight.
But the hundreds of thousands of voters who voted Green in the last provincial election will not be represented by Mike Schriener, the Green party leader, tonight at the debate.
Too bad for democracy. Too bad for all those who are undecided voters [the majority!] who are looking for a fresh point of view and place to park their vote and feel good about, instead of voting strategically against 'the bad guys'; a sad trend I hear at the door as I canvas. It seems that most people do not vote for what they want, but against what they do no want. Perhaps, if they really know more about the pragmatic Green approach they could vote FOR something, and feel good about... for more about this see;
Green Party of Ontario calls for democracy in Provincial Leaders’ Debate
Open Letter
An Open Letter to Ontarians

http://www.gpo.ca/blog/2011-09-27/open-letter-ontarians
http://www.gpo.ca/media-release/green-party-ontario-calls-democracy-provincial-leaders%E2%80%99-debate

sept.25 - local DEBATES?

I do not know if you have noticed - but there are no local debates scheduled for you, the voter, to see the candidates "live". you may ask, why is that? did no organization think to organize one? or did the candidates not want to attend any organized debates?...
sadly, it looks more likely to be the latter.
First, Osgoode HS gr.12 political science class invited all the candidates to answer questions by the students - only I accepted this kind invitation.
Second, the grade 5 class at Kars Public School wanted a debate with all candidate; once again only I responded with an enthusiastic 'yes' - they never heard a word from the other candidates.
Third, the Osgoode and Greely community associations tried to organize a public debate in Greely for Sept. 28 and once again only I responded, quickly, with a "OF COURSE". The other candidates were either 'too busy' or did not even respond.
Too bad. Too bad for you. Too bad for democracy.
Because, when you come down to it you are voting primarily for a person, not a platform. Platforms change, but the character of a person does not. Want you want is a person you can trust, somebody who will think through the complex issues we face today and come up with pragmatic solutions that are in the best long term interests of ALL voters.
And the only way to really get a sense of character is to meet somebody in person. So, although you will see all candidates on ROGERS TV @ 7 Thurday sept. 29 it is much better to see us all live.
So, if you want to see me 'live' give me an email & I will gladly drop by!

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Sept.20 Energy; the lifeblood of our Modern Economy and Way of Life

Energy
We Canadians, unlike most of the world, can take it for granted.
Like water, we have LOTS of it; maybe too much for our own good. Because it is so plentyful, and relatively cheap by world standars, we have become sloppy and inefficient with it and taken it for granted.
In particular, Ontario Hydro has been forced for decades to under-charge us for the true cost of maintaining and investing in the long term health of our GRID and our nuclear power stations - both of which have fallen in disrepair and now need massive [ie. many billions] in investment.
It is time to pay the true cost of power and to see that our current reliance on non-renewables will only put good money into an antiquated solution that is approaching its end game; meaning that that the natural gas and uranium we rely upon will only be available cheaply for the next couple of decades. This, when you think about investing in an electical system, is only a blink of the eye.
And there is more to the saga. In Japan, many people want to remove ALL nuclear plants because of teh devastation the earthquake and tsunami did to the Fukashima nuclear plant and resulting long term radiation damage. Here is a quote from today's Asia Times:
 TOKYO - Following the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant six months ago, nine prominent Japanese intellectuals have launched a popular movement that seeks to abolish nuclear power and the closure of all nuclear power plants in Japan.  The group, which includes Nobel literature prize laureate Kenzaburo Oe and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, plans to collect 10 million signatures in support of their proposal for a nuclear-free Japan. On Monday, the group organized a colorful demonstration followed by three vocal protest marches through Tokyo, attracting about 60,000 people.
Germany too is shutting down its nuclear plants.While we Greens would keep our current plants we would NOT invest in new ones but only keep what we have running as we transfer, over the decades, to a electrical system based upon renewables. This will be difficult, expensive and take a long time, but, like all good things, it will LAST for generations and not damage our health, ecosystems or climate.

Friday 16 September 2011

Sept.15 - Listen to the Green message in a CBC call in about wind farms in north gower

on Sept.15 a resident from North Gower resident, Jean Hillman, asked all nepean-carleton candidates about their views on the wind farm going up in that village. to listen;                                                                    http://www.cbc.ca/allinaday/2011/09/15/listener-election-question-2-wind-farms/   
She liked the Green Party platform response best !

In other election news look forward to news in the EMC news and Metroland newspaper next week about my efforts to promote the Green message. 
It looks like the Liberals are on a winning streak BY avoiding all reference to the defecit and accumulated DEBT - debt that is 10x per capita more than the 'horrible' debt of California whose debt is 'so bad' that many consider them close to bankrupt.

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Sept.14 - at the Mayor's Breakfast and after 5 on CBC

good morning!
my day started off early with the Mayor's breakfast where the keynote speaker was D.McGuinty.
I must admit he is an excellent speaker and very compelling and if I did not know some of the details of the issues he addressed I would have been convinced to vote Liberal.... but I do know the details and realize that while he is going in the more or less right direction on many issues the focus on the big corporate approach that shuts out the ordinary, especially rural, citizen and small companies is not healthy for our social fabric. [ie. wind turbines] He also, sadly, is making no admission that the debt is out of control while the fact is that 1/2 of our current deficit [8-10 billion worth, depending upon who you talk to] is simply paying the INTEREST on our debt; meaning that our debt is shackling our ability to deliver services in the future; this is a classic non-sustainable approach which Greens cannot support. We cannot burden our children with our excesses!
After 5 on CBC 1 with Alan Neal all the nepean-carleton candidates will be showcased as they respond the question from a North Gower resident on our positions on the Green Energy Act and wind turbines in particular followed by listener comments; stay tuned!
Now I am off to canvas in Findlay Creek, a new development off Bank Street and Vernon, a cute village on the southeast edge of our huge riding - wish me luck!

Saturday 10 September 2011

Sept.9 - Wind Energy is "blowing" across the election landscape

Wind - it is a part our lives & hopefully part of our energy future.
Yes; politicians seems to have lots of hot air too.
Too bad that although the Liberals have started a good idea with the Green Energy Act they have allowed large corporations to step all over our rural neighbours and destroy their quality of life by putting huge wind turbines only 500m away from homes instead of 2 km as they have mandated in Australia.
Too bad that the PCs would kill green energy when around the world, and especially China of all places, wind turbines are sprouting like mushrooms as countries see peak oil is coming soon.
Too bad that more people cannot understand the Green position the although Wind is our potential friend that, just like hurricanes, too much, too close is a bad thing.
So let's hear it for the Green party position in wind that ONLY communities can own wind farms- they do the financing, they get the contracts from corporations to install and maintain the wind farms and they BENEFIT from the monies earned. You know it is amazing how an 'ugly' turbine becomes beautiful when the profits go into your own pocket.
For more see the Ottawa Citizen editorial board view of the Green approach at
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2011/09/08/weird-green-energy-policy/
and here are some quotes form
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/MacLeod+would+kill+Gower+wind+farm+proposal/5374510/story.html

"The Tory candidate in Nepean-Carleton wants a controversial wind farm project slated to be placed in North Gower killed.
Lisa MacLeod, the incumbent for the riding, told the Citizen editorial board that her stand was not only because of her constituents' adamant opposition to the project, but stemmed also from a fundamental objection to Liberal clean energy plan, which she claimed was contributing to high hydro rates in the province.

Kubanek said the Greens also opposed the North Gower project only because they didn't believe in corporate involvement in clean energy production. They believe that wind farm and other renewable energy projects should be undertaken by community groups, not corporations.
"We are convinced that for the next 20, 30, 40 years, we are going to need to have wind and solar energy. The Liberal plan is a great idea, totally flawed execution," he said."

Here is an interesting article about a Chinese company getting a piece of the action:
Chinese wind company eyes Dufferin
This is shaping up to be a key local issue so stay tuned!

Wednesday 7 September 2011

sept.7 - The Election Starts !

Green Party of Ontario Launches largest campaign focused on creating jobs, tackling energy prices and health promotion

Toronto, Ontario – Joined by candidates and supporters at Queen's Park , Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, kicked off the largest campaign in the party’s history.

“We are in fantastic shape for this campaign,” said Mike Schreiner GPO Leader. “As I’ve talked to people in communities across the province, it’s clear to me that politics as usual is not working.  We have Green candidates in each of the 107 ridings across the province ready to give Ontarians a choice for change at Queen’s Park in this election.”

The Green Party’s Five point plan tackles the big issues of our time: the loss of good local jobs, rising energy prices and climate change, and the sustainability of our health care system.

The Green Party is the only party with a plan that:

·         Creates jobs while responsibly managing taxpayers’ money

·         Tackles rising energy prices and puts a stop to subsidizing the wasteful use of energy

·         Focuses on a comprehensive health promotion strategy

“A vote for the other parties will only result in more of the same,” concluded Schreiner. “If you think that  fairness, integrity and respect for our communities belongs at Queen’s Park, we think just like you do.”

The Green Party was the first provincial party to launch their [ https://secure.gpo.ca/sites/secure.gpo.ca/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=34379&qid=502514 ]platform on May 25, offering a bold vision for building a financially, socially and environmentally sustainable Ontario. Since that time the party has polled in contention in tight races across the province.

Capitalizing on the momentum from electing the first Green MP in Canadian history, the Green Party of Ontario is looking forward to an exciting election campaign.

For more on the Green Party plan please visit: [ https://secure.gpo.ca/sites/secure.gpo.ca/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=36611&qid=521576 ] www.itstimeforgreen.ca

Monday 5 September 2011

sept.4 - election in 3 days....

3 days is the provincial election and it looks like anything could happen - good!
while the greens are down in the polls currently i am sure that once voters see that all the Liberals can do is bribe them with special deals ie. $10000 to hire immigrants and only put the province even deeper into debt and saddle our children with interest payments for our bills OR they see that all the PCs can do is cut taxes on everything to show how much they care and say that trickle down economics, a la Reagan, is the solution to everything is the answer to all evils... well, just look south of the border to see how well that approach to government is working.
what we need is the 3rd way - and we are the 3rd way - all that we truly do differently is everything because we have a different TIME perspective - rather than thinking NOW we are thinking FUTURE - making sure that all our choices - whether about health care, jobs, energy, taxation or the environment will improve the lives of all Ontario citizens in the future.. and if that means a bit of pain now - so be it. Like all good medicine, it sometimes is necessary to swallow the bitter pill to have a better tomorrow.
so vote with your head and your heart - for your kids.

Thursday 1 September 2011

Sept.1 - Issues for Nepean-Carleton

September - my favourite month. Not sure why as I, as a high school teacher, go back to work! Perhaps it is the old song:
"Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow."
It is election time - usually not a time to be slow and mellow - perhaps that is why only political junkies like elections and the rest of us just want to get it over with. This election - let's all - inlcuding me! - slow down, take time to REALLY think and ponder the issues and avoid sound bites, avoid negative advertising and simplistic jingoisms and most importantly say what we are going to DO once elected and DO IT.... slowly, patiently.
So as the song says; follow, follow the Green Party, follow us into a future which we can be proud of, a future where our children and grandchildren can look back at us today and be proud of us because we sacrificed form them.
...
Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Wednesday 31 August 2011

aug.31 Debt is not Sustainable

Hi - summer is over; now the reality of our decrease of 0.1% GDP and the election will wake us up to smell the roses. Our reality is that we, that is the baby boomers, have enjoyed a huge party at the expense of our children in many ways - today I will only present the monetary, debt, that we have bequeathed to the next generations. And by the way, this is not an Ontario problem, or Canadian problem but a world wide problem for all Westernized democracies; we have all lived beyond our means. Let's start by asking; when and why did this all start?
We have to go back to the 1970's when two coupled events conspired to put an end to the "real" post war boon; the Viet-Nam war whose cost encouraged R.Nixon to go off the Gold Standard in 1973 and allow funny money, Peak Oil in the US in 1971 coupled with the Arab Oil embargo in 1973 caused by the US support of Israel in the Yom Kippur war of the same year. Until then US and all western debt was miniscule but after these events grew, until today, exponentially.
Now we are stuck. To see how badly read this article from The Telegraph from today titled

When debt levels turn cancerous

 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100011744/when-debt-levels-turn-cancerous/
Enjoy.

Thursday 25 August 2011

German Quality is Beating Chinese Junk in Growth

Believe it or not there are MANY people who would rather spend on quality rather than cheap quantity. Currently that battle in the export market is being fought between Germany and China. Clearly, China with 1.6 billion people has a larger economy than Germany but little Germany is #2 on the world export market! Why? Well according to the July 2100 edition of the ECONOMIST [pg.59] "Sales of Mittelstand [medium family size business that specialize in more complex high quality products] industrial products are growing at nearly 12% a year; more than the Chinese economy." How is this possible? They produce well-engineered products built to last and are very fast at delivering the latest products to custom market niches. They also work closely with Universities who research for them and owners rub shoulders with their workers; no confrontation between managers and union there!

Perhaps there are some lessons for Ontario firms, government and Universities. Rather than participating in the "RACE TO THE BOTTOM' [ie. cheap, low quality] why not focus on niche industries we can excel in and that provide well paying jobs? As a matter of fact, if we want to maintain our current standard of living we have not choice.
So this election let's choose to work strategically and NOT follow the failed American model of a no holds barred, de-regulated economic system. It didn't work for banking and housing and it isn't working for industry either. So let's elect a government that can get all the right players to the table to build a 21st century economy.

Saturday 20 August 2011

august 20 - Japan's Costly Shift to Fossil Fuels as its Nuclear Program Fades

The New York Times (which I read every day online) has a great article which indirectly supports Ontarios' Green Energy Act. Here is the link and an excerpt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/business/energy-environment/quake-in-japan-is-causing-a-costly-shift-to-fossil-fuels.html?_r=1&hpw=&pagewanted=all


"Japan, the world’s third-largest user of electricity behind China and the United States, had counted on an expansion of nuclear power to contain energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, its nuclear program is in retreat, as the public and government officials urge a sharp reduction in the nation’s reliance on nuclear power and perhaps an end to it altogether.
As its nuclear program implodes, Japan is grappling with a jump in fuel costs, making an economic recovery from the March earthquake and tsunami all the more difficult. Annual fuel expenses could rise by more than 3 trillion yen, or about $39 billion, the government says. But as it doubled down on nuclear power plants, Japan was slow to develop alternative forms of energy, like solar or wind power, which account for just 1 percent of its electricity supply."
Let's make sure we don't end up in the same boat; let's continue and expand our Green Energy!


August 18 Dragonflies


We are still at the cottage in the Quebec bush. All there is to entertain us are the woods and lakes and our imaginations: they have sufficed. Today goes down as the day that a bit of heaven came down to earth in the form of dragonflies. Yes, dragonflies. You see – they eat the mosquitoes and other noxious bloodsucking vermin that make these north woods uninhabitable for several months a year. But now, in late summer, nature has had time to create the antidote for them – dragonflies.
I love them.
I love them as I drive down the road to pick blueberries. The blueberries are plentiful this year – as is to be expected in the cycle of life after a terrible harvest last year. We picked a mere 40 minutes but each of us filled our baskets. And the sun! Just the right temperature and soaking into old bones as we sat between bushed laden with blue treasure – a treasure a pirate could lust after. Mind you, the berries are small, but to toss a few warmed by that sun was to taste a bit of heaven itself.
I love them – those dragonflies, as we sat on the rocks of the waterfall and as my girls slid down the steep and slippery cliff into the pool of warm water below. What a place. On Mont Diable [Devil mountain] the ice ages scraped and chiseled to leave a shallow lake near the mountain's top with a rocky granite boulder strewn stream with fresh, but for the north surprisingly warm, waters jumping from boulder to boulder and pool to pool through the dark forest green until the smooth rockface of the almost vertical (well, it feels that way as you slide down!) where sheets of silver only inches deep careen into a deep pool – just the right depth for shrieking children and parents. It was worth the hour trip on gravel roads.
We did meet two families there – but only two. It is august, so not quite high season in these north woods, and yet up here summer is only 2 ½ short months. Any other time frosts can come and kill all your flowers and attempts at gardening. Only two families. To wondour at the dragonflies.. I wondour if they saw them too from the top of that enchanted waterfall – darting back and forth, round and round, making our day blissful as the warm, but not hot sun, warmed our bones after our many collapsing falls into the depths?
These simple pleasures; it seems that so few people, at least in North America, get a kick out of them. After a week at crowded, but lovely, Cape Cod; filled with its shops and restaurants and hotels and parking lots it is shocking to be almost alone.
In the silence. Almost alone – except for a family or two and our soul's companions – sky, wood and water – those elemental being from whom we came and to whom we return. They are our family, they are our best friends and they speak to us all, if we could but listen and hear, in so many languages.
Today, the language I understood them speak was dragonfly, a beautiful darting dainty language who, fortunately, I heard today.
And I am grateful.
Thank your dragonflies, thank you forest and stream and lake and sky – my family up here in the north woods.

Aug.15 Silence


Silence.
The true silence of the north woods.
Not a peep from the frogs. Not a rustle from the leaves. Not even a bird twittering gaily away.
Silence. Not cars clanking or motorcycles roaring or trucks rumbling in the distance. No neighbours calling out for their children or wives and husbands arguing over who knows what.
Silence – is truly deafening. It roused such a strange sense of foreboding. Like the calm before a storm. Like a pregnancy just before the birth. Like a look from my wife just before she kicks me under the table for yet another social 'faux-pas'.
It filled me with joy, with wondour, with trepidation. With a sense that the woods and lakes and sky were trying to tell me something, something important, but I was unable to hear. Was I was deaf? Had the city life of hustle and bustle destroyed my ability to hear in the silence? Was I doomed to yearn for a word from creation, a creation that begged and yearned for understanding and companionship; was I doomed to hear only the lies of man made consciousness – a consciousness full of self-conceit, a consciousness so unaware of its role in the grand symphony of life that it had turned music into noise, laughter into tears, and truth into lies.
Silence is, perhaps, the antidote for lies.
All the lies we tell ourselves and others and we attempt to create significance for our lives. But clearly, based upon the wars and violence and drug abuse and alcoholism and depression and heart attacks and cancers whatever lies we tell ourselves to bloat ourselves with deluded self-importance have not truly convinced us that our current values and ways of living are life-filling or life affirming. Because the way we live seems to only bring more death.
Even, or especially, the fact that there are now 7 billion of us infesting Mother Earth, tells me that we have become that worst of all cells in the body; cancer. Growing exponentially in number, with no specialized function to help the entire body, the body of the Earth, become healthy and achieve its true purpose (more on that later). No, like cancer cells, we are becoming all the same, all sucking resources from the body of Mother Earth and giving nothing in value in return except poisons like carbon dioxide that is altering the climate in ways that we will only understand in retrospect and nitrogen runoff from fertilizers that run into the oceans and kill all life in that region.
No – there is not enough silence, yet, to cut like the sword of truth through the lies of our current so called 'civilization'. For, if we were truly civilized how is it that the suffering not only of people, but plants and animals and the very earth filled with worms and bacteria itself groan and cry out for justice.
They cry out for silence.
For the truth it brings. For the wake up it will bring, for the removal of the blinders that make us unable to see the destruction and hate that we are, admittedly blissfully unaware that we are doing so, inflicting upon each other in our feeble attempts at happiness and meaning creation.
So, dear friend, find silence. Bask in in it. Let the roar of it fill your being. Let time flow so it stops and you realize, perhaps for the first time, that your life is a lie. That our current dreams our only wrecking havoc and death and destruction.
And then choose another dream. Dream.
Perchance to choose to live out a new dream. A dream where silence is not to feared by is welcomed like a best friend.
Thank you friend.
Thank you silence.

Friday 12 August 2011

slow down & do it right - aug.12

my wife and I are cleaning our windows today - first time in years and boy are they dirty!
it has taken us this long because, like you, we are 'too' busy. yup - guilty as charged. somehow even though i work part time and have the summers off [being a HS teacher] i am too busy! so now, as I try to 'walk the talk' as the GPO candidate for the upcoming provincial election, i will try to be an example of one aspect of living 'GREEN' - living slower by doing one thing at a time and doing it right.
This is tough for me, tough for you, and even tougher for the young generation who have been brainwashed into thinking that multi-tasking is 'efficient' and you get more done , faster. False! According to recent research ( http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2011/07/when-multitasking-is-not-a-good-idea/ ) : "
A rash of recent studies shows that multitasking is not a solution. In fact, studies show that multitasking is actually a misnomer. While we think we are multitasking, we are actually task switching, doing a little bit of one thing and then doing a little bit of another. Our brains just won’t allow us to perform two complex operations at the same time with the same skill. Quality necessarily suffers, as does depth. Not only that, but multitasking is not even very efficient. David E. Meyer, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, found that “people who switch back and forth between two tasks, like exchanging e-mail and writing a report, may spend 50 percent more time on those tasks than if they work on them separately, completing one before starting the other.”
Meanwhile, if we surround ourselves by too many stimuli, we force our brains into a state of continuous partial attention, a state in which we keep tabs on everything without giving focused attention to anything. . . .
Whether through multitasking or through monitoring so many sources of input that we remain in continuous partial attention, we lose the ability to think in a sustained way."
There you have it. On top of this research finding life experience has taught me, against my natural inclination as I usually do everything FAST, that doing that ONE thing SLOWER is essential to do the job properly. Or, as the folk wisdom says: "A stitch in time saves nine."Here is a concrete example.
Yesterday I did not close the outer gate to my chicken yard. I was busy in the house and our younger dog was very bored -so she got into trouble, of course. She went to the inner fence by the chicken coop and dug a hold under the fencing and all the chickens escaped. Later, as I was rushing (!) out the door for dinner I saw the chickens, had to repair the hold, try to corral the chickens in, finally walk the dog.. and was thus an hour late for dinner.
So, simply not slowing down, and focussing on the task at hand, in this case closing a gate, cost my an hour of work and hassle.
So today, let all of us do what we know.
Slow down.
Do one thing at a time.
And do that one thing properly.


Saturday 6 August 2011

August 4, 2011 Does the End of Abundance mean the end of Democracy?

Perhaps.
Or maybe a better way to say it is 'maybe'.
These unsatisfactory answers rely upon the fact that in spite of all I have seen of blind and self-defeating human behaviour I still believe that we have the power to choose our futures and are not victims of fate.
However, in The Limits of Power – Andrew J. Bacevich p.23 writes: "historian Frederick Jackson Turner made the essential point; “ not the constitution, but free land and an abundance of natural resources open to a fit people,” he wrote, made American democracy possible.”( the frontier in American history, NY 1921)
a half century later, the historian David Potter discovered a symbiosis between affluence and liberty. “A politics of abundance,” he claimed, had created the American way of life, “a politics smiled both on those who valued abundance as a means to safeguard freedom and those who valued freedom as an aid in securing abundance.”
… In short, expansion fostered prosperity, which in turn created the environment within which Americans pursued their dreams of freedom even as they argued with one another about just who deserved to share in that dream.”...

In other words, no abundance, no freedom.
No love of freedom, no democracy.
End of story.

Postscript – august 5 the ratings agency S&P lowered the US debt from AAA to AA+ rating; the 1st time this has ever happened. It looks like the maybe is coming closer to a certainty. The gift the US had of a virgin continent to plunder has been all used up – I hope and pray that we can learn the lessons and make intelligent choices for a new way to live... or else....

august3 - poverty

Today while at Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, watching my 2 girls cavorting in the early morning waves I was struck deeply by the following quote from my current favourite writer Michael O'Brien in his sumptuous novel “Strangers & Sojourners” where on page 300 he writes:
“The world is full of hatred because it refuses to be poor.”

How it is that it struck me down at this time and place is a mystery, perhaps. But maybe it is not such a mystery as I stay in a lovely home surrounded by nature preserves, wealth, lovely people just enjoying themselves all day long with no worries worthy of mention, in the country which has been ruling the world for over half a century but has slipped into an early dotage as it not only allows but encourages its richest not to pay taxes and cuts food stamp programs for the poorest of the poor...

Poverty.
My mother fears it even though she has so much money she does not know what to do with it as she saves her pennies buying day old bread at the supermarket. My mother-in-law loathes it as she spends the last extra cash she has from the sale of her condo on fancy curtains and a beautiful leather arm chair that she does not need but fancies even though she has not enough savings to keep her in a retirement home for more than a few months.
Poverty. Which kind? Material? Spiritual? Relationship-wise? Emotional ? There are so many kinds of poverty. For today let us stick to the most obvious poverty of materialism and suppose for the sake of this conversation that without some material poverty the other poverties rear their ugly heads as they seek in their twisted ways to help us see the real poverty in our souls that can only be healed by … what? That I do not yet know.

What I do know from a life time of bitter mistakes and delusions lived out in foolish grandeur for all to see is that material poverty, that is, not hunger, not cold, not want of the basics for living but poverty in the sense of an acknowledgment that you could and should and deserve more is very real and true and puts you in a situation of discomfort in a world where to be purposely poor is to be viewed as a loser or a fool or well meaning but deluded idealist at best. Yet here I am surrounded by wealth and comfort and luxury and realize deep in my bones that all I am surrounded by that seems like the vestiges of the good life have created all the fears that push me to want material wealth as a security in an insecure world but that this desire for wealth to be protected from the nasty world out there is what has and is creating the nasty world out there that I am trying to protect myself and my family from in the first place.

A Catch-22 if there ever was one. One of many Catch-22's that abounds in life for all that is truly life-filled is filled with paradox. Here is an admission: these paradoxes are what attract and confuse me all day long. I strive for wealth to allow me to live the life of a genteel country farmer south of Ottawa replete with expensive cars, solar panels, flowers, chickens, bees and gardens to show the world that I am self sufficient and have the time and money to display beauty and values that show my good taste. Now that is not what I thought I was doing when I developed my version of a wealthy life-style that I now see as poor in spirit because it focused on self-sufficiency instead support by and for others in the world who want and need a helping hand, just like I do if I was brave enough to admit it.

Alone. Afraid. Poor; in spirit.
Perhaps the antidote is self-imposed poverty? Perhaps living with less on purpose will keep the wolf of self-doubt and lies at the door? I will not know until I have tried this path. This path well trodden by Saints of old. The path that most of us seek to avoid like the plague because it seems too difficult and wearisome a choice. So I, like most people, probably like you dear reader, have chosen what seems like the smart and easy path; the path of wealth and self-reliance and strength. Yet where has it gotten us? To a world filled as much as ever with war and disease and famine and rape and drugs and addictions and suicide and depression and anxiety and fear.

Yes, especially now after 9/11 we live in a world dominated by fear. Perhaps because we refuse to choose, on purpose, poverty. For a life without cheap oil and cheap 3rd world slave labour would, after all, mean the end of our gluttonous post WWII party. But the party is over even as we, especially here in America where I am no on vacation, attempt to prolong the orgy with more debt and more war. Yet, many of us, I am sure, feel in our bones that the world is changing, has changed, will change, and we will be poor. But we fear it. As we should – IF we let that choice by made for us.

But if we have the courage to choose poverty it is transformed from a thing of fear to a state of freedom. Because we chose it. Poverty chosen is then not to be feared but to be longed for. Like a lover who is strong and who makes us aware of how vulnerable we truly are. And yet without that love we will only destroy ourselves. As we are doing today.

So I am choosing poverty. To be free. To be happy. To be more truly alive.

Thursday 28 July 2011

Simplicity - July 28

KISS = keep it simple stupid
easier said than done
for my summer reading  I have chosen the concept first made explict by Henry D. Thoreau in "Walden" - simplicity. Our current 21st century life is clearly too complex. The evidence is the need for most of us to deaden our senses with alcohol or drugs, or fall into depression or anxiety as so many I know. Know that I don't drink coffee - an upper - or drink alcohol - a sedative - I look around me and realize how much these social drugs allow people to get through the day. They are lubricants - and needed by most - but try a few days without them and you will realize that your tempo and stress of life needs them - you don't ingest them for 'the taste' - you are just kidding yourself - you need them to get through the day
like a drug addict needs his fix to get through the next hour - we are thus, in a certain kind of way, drug addicts
which means, of course that our lives need to change or we slowly descend into a form of physical, emotional or spiritual death - eventually...
so how to simplify? spend less, achieve less, - why? to leave MARGIN in your life - breathing room to , of course, breath. A life of deep breathing acts just like deep breathing does in Yoga - it brings life to all the cells of the body and health and peace of mind.
So breath - by having a SLOW life that allows the time to just be. Or, if you want an example, try the format that Scott Nearing , the original back to the lander made famous in his book "Living the Good Life";
wake up breakfast - 4 hours physical labour
eat lunch - 4 hours intellectual labour
dinner - 4 hours social interaction with others and community building - giving back
rest
more recent books that can help are
The heart of simple living by W.Urbanska
living the simple life by E.St.James
enjoy!

choice - july 27

we seem to have lots of choices
the problem is that most of them are destructive and lead to dead ends
so - real choices - that i will define those as choices that lead to positive growth - even if painful in the short term - are few.
so how do we choose from an excess of options? I used to ask people who i thought knew more than me - but recently that has not worked because most people really believe they know something and have helpful advice but actually know next to nothing and should be quiet....Of course you can try the advice of the famous Frank Sinatra song "I did it my way"... if you are foolish enough that you know everything about everything in this crazily complex and changing world... not for me thanks. Or you can pray. and meditate. A lot. And wait for an answer that can come is any form; a note, an article/book, a thought mentioned by a friend... who knows. I am now opting for the this third approach, mostly, because I have tried the other two and they do not work well for me.

 So it is your choice - on how to choose. As you do so the concept of Franciscan friar Father William of Ockham called "Occams razor" is helpful: "simpler explanations are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones".
This, of course, leads us to the concept of simplicity - which is tomorrow's blog report.
Good luck!

Thursday 14 July 2011

july 12

I am now officially the GPO candidate for Nepean-Carleton - a rewarding and enjoyable a task as there ever was! I look forward to meeting the electorate in September and sharing with them the good news that living Green means that their great-grandchildren can have as amazing a quality of life as they now enjoy.... or not if they choose the status quo.
As a Physics teacher I have become a huge fan of the part of String theory that demonstrates that CHOICE itself is a dimension, just like space and time are, being the 5th dimension, and those choices are REAL and controls all the lower dimensions of space/time and thus is not only real, but more real that physical objects...
So let us help choose a reality in which our great-grandchildren can look back at us and be proud and grateful for the choices we made for them.

july 14 - GOING TO THE BUSH

Tonight, after my 2 daughters watch Harry Potter's last film starting at midnight we shall drive them to our cottage in 'the bush' - blackflies and all. What I find amazing is that Canada has a vast area of real wilderness that is quite accessible to most, and yet very few Canadians go there. For some reason they prefer Disney World or Rome. My theory on this is that most of us are uncomfortable with 'nothing', with silence, with just "being there" and melding into the landscape which is what the 'bush' experience is all about.
So - for all you going to the Bush this summer - good on you! - and for the rest of you landlubbers - give it a whirl - perhaps you will be able to hear your own heart beating...

Sunday 10 July 2011

july 10

great news from Austalia !
They are staring a Carbon tax coupled with tax reform that will reduce taxes for the lower half of the earners, be neutral for all but the top 10% of earners who will pay 1% more in taxes. They will do this by only carbon taxing the top 500 carbon emitters to reach a target of 10% less CO2 than they had emitted in 2000!
This shows us that we CAN do the same as, having lived in Australia, I know that our two cultures are very similar. For more details see:
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/gillards-biggest-gamble-20110710-1h91b.html
By the say, tomorrow July 11, is the date to choose a candidate for the Nepean-Carleton Greens at 1096 River road, Manotick @ 7 pm - hope to see you there!