Copenhagen and The Culture of Entitlement – Part 1 of 5
The last Liberal government was defeated under the shadow of them believing that they were entitled to some things. They were perceived as believing that they had an historic 'right' to govern; that they are “the natural governing party of Canada.”
They were caught up in the Sponsorship Scandal and after the subsequent inquiry the public came to the conclusion that a culture of entitlement had eroded the Liberal Party and the Liberal Government of Paul Martin.
Sadly on this day when the environmental treaty discussions in Copenhagen sought and failed to arrive at a global environmental and emissions agreement, the truth about the Canadian culture of entitlement has been laid bare. It was not Paul Martin's Liberals who invented this misapprehension of democracy. It is not only Stephen Harper's Conservative Government that now exercises the assumed 'rights' of the entitled.
The entire nation is being put under the spotlight of international media scrutiny and under an indictment of selfishness, self-indulgence, greed, carelessness, irresponsibility and waste that is rapidly eroding hope for the more vulnerable nations of the world.
But we will soon join them in their suffering and despair if we cannot abruptly abandon this misconception about our own worth and importance in the world context.
Environmental Criminals - Part 2
This week the world has branded Canada and Canadians as “environmental criminals” and sadly I fear they are right. I have tried to do my part to alert Canadians about this looming crisis, only to discover that the “culture of entitlement” does not begin with our governments.
Rather governments are a reflection of a population and we get governments like our selves. We are getting the kind of government we want and like. We are getting government that expresses who we really are - environmental criminals selfishly consuming the world's resources at an extraordinary rate while feeling jolly about ourselves.
This destructive culture is seen in the lifestyles of people who live frivolously in the fast lane, indulge themselves in the distractions of our culture, enter into business ventures that have little or no place in the real world...like Christmas tree farms! These people are out of touch with the Crisis that is threatening to destroy them, their families and all that they know about in their entitled place in the world. They are out of touch with Reality!
Canadians must change if we are going to get the kind of government we want going forward. For democracy is government of the people, for the people, by the people.
Canada has slid fast and hard into the gutter of history and into the bad books of our international neighbours. We have gone from first to worst in the environmental area after a few short years of Mr. Harper's Conservative government.
We are wasting away the hope of the world while we play video games, watch movies, acquire TOYS, grow fat on fast foods that give no nutrition and tell ourselves how wonderful [and deserving] we are.
The Roots of Entitlement - Part 3
Stephen Harper's Government did not create this problem, They simply represent Canadians in the way Canadians want and believe they deserve at this point. “They” are not the problem. “We” are the problem.
But we can also change and solve this historic problem. Canadians can rise up and confront this challenge. We can become part of the Solution rather than the poison tip of the arrow that kills millions without consciousness or conscience.
Almost all Canadians share this attitude of entitlement. Perhaps there are a few [like David Suzuki] who understand how the rest of the world must live in distress in order to support and sustain our greedy lifestyle and sense of entitlement. We must all reflect carefully or live with the dire consequences that will come from inaction.
This Culture of Entitlement is widespread in Canada and it blinds Canadians to the suffering of others...in spite of our compassion and reputation for generosity. We are an oil ghetto and we think we can afford to be generous. But we are causing some of the big problems that we so generously try to help relieve after we have done the damage.
Democratic Representation - Part 4
The tar sands of Alberta is one example of the blight we are creating that touches all people everywhere. Canadians have an environmental foot print that is twenty times bigger than most people who live on the planet.
We are using more than our fair share because we believe we are entitled to it. What exactly makes it so and what makes us believe this nonsense? Is it the Invisible Hand of the Market? LOL No it's irresponsible choices!
Also, Stephen Harper IS representing his constituents. Calgary Center is the home of some of the big oil companies' head offices. He seems to think that since THEY elected him he should do as they please. It actually makes democratic sense at some twisted primitive level.
Here is a comment from the Polaris Institute about that. "Mark Rudolph, a 20-year veteran lobbyist who represents Suncor Energy Inc. and Shell Canada Ltd. in Ottawa, said that lobbying the province of Alberta is virtually unnecessary since, he said, the government is entirely on the industry's side. Alberta, in effect, represents the single most powerful lobby in Ottawa, according to Rudolph." from Big oil's relentless lobby
I believe that much of this attitude about entitlement derives from our colonial history. In large part we have attempted to transcend this sad backdrop to our present prosperity. Our First Nations peoples have felt the hot whip of European and others peoples' sense of entitlement and often still do.
Repentance and Change – Part 5
We need to quickly embark in a different direction. In my Christian faith we call this kind of directional/behavioural/ethical change of direction Repentance. Canada, which sometimes fancies itself a “Christian nation”, should stop, look, and repent. We must change direction 180 degrees for the sake of our brothers and sisters and our human family of today and tomorrow.
I hope you will join me in building The Canadian Dream of sustainability in all things, coupled with freedom, justice, compassion and prosperity in the new emerging economy of environmental responsibility. We can do this but we can only do it together. Once we begin the world will line up to help us.
We obviously need a change of direction and this will require a change of government. Canada and Canadians need new leadership that is appropriate for the realities of the 21st Century. See my other blog posts linked below about the kind of Leadership I believe we need in this dark and desperate hour in history.
This is Urgent stuff that shapes our actions and reputation in the world.
Peace Pays!
"Don't keep the peace...pass it on."
Building The Canadian Dream blog - three Leadership post links
http://thecanadiandream.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-survive-leadership-2.html
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Break! Spend! Use! Consume!
There is a great stampede to accomplish this short list of human consumer activities. We are more intent upon spending and using up than we are about conserving and living sustainable lives.
Whether at home in our cozy Canadian housing, at work, in stores or at school, we want to use everything up as quickly as possible. Why? There is no possible rational explanation. But here is an [irrational] explanation.
First let us remember that this type and rate of consumption is criminal and unjust to those who suffer wont - those who are hungry and homeless and helpless in the face of a harsh economic climate. We are using the resources that are needed for a sustainable global future. If we do not cease then we will perish.
We are already robbing our brothers and sisters in all nations so we can live lavish and self-indulgent lives while they starve along with their children and parents. Their suffering feeds our greed in our “open market system”.
So why do we consume at what is likely the highest rate of any people of any nation in the world or in history? The sad news about that is that we are all caught up in a frenzy of consumerism that is perpetrated by large corporate industry.
This is driven by advertising and marketing that cares only for profit and nothing for the future or for environmental responsibility. [Think about the plots and characters of television's Mad Men.] They need and want us to spend spend spend.
This is what drives corporations – sales. In this way they grow stronger and bigger and richer and more powerful. This happens at the expense of the vulnerable and the Earth. And the rate of consumption is destroying the earth, the water, the air, all creatures great and small, the Earth's atmosphere, our health and any hope for a happy and safe future.
How can we make it stop and change? By simple self control in our lifestyle habits! Be thrifty with money and resources and time. Think about how much water and food you use and how much garbage and compost you produce. Some communities do not produce any garbage and prove that our wastefulness is unnecessary. Always do the math.
We can change the world one small decision at a time. We must always consider our children's future when we break, spend, use and consume everything. We are sentencing them to a very bleak future and they want us to stop.
But we ask ourselves, “What could children possibly know that we adults do not?” The answer is quite simple. They know that they will perish if we do not cease and desist in these destructive and self-destructive behaviours.
Search your conscience and ask yourself whether you really want to destroy the hope and opportunities of every future generations of humanity. I know I don't. So I have been modifying my behaviour with my children and grandchildren in mind, and with their help. I hope you will do the same.
Be economical in everything. Use less and want less. Prudence and economy were considered to be virtues for several thousand years prior to our consumer age. We should redeem and embrace this heritage of sustainability in all things and teach it to our children as a desirable character trait and as a social virtue.
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Whether at home in our cozy Canadian housing, at work, in stores or at school, we want to use everything up as quickly as possible. Why? There is no possible rational explanation. But here is an [irrational] explanation.
First let us remember that this type and rate of consumption is criminal and unjust to those who suffer wont - those who are hungry and homeless and helpless in the face of a harsh economic climate. We are using the resources that are needed for a sustainable global future. If we do not cease then we will perish.
We are already robbing our brothers and sisters in all nations so we can live lavish and self-indulgent lives while they starve along with their children and parents. Their suffering feeds our greed in our “open market system”.
So why do we consume at what is likely the highest rate of any people of any nation in the world or in history? The sad news about that is that we are all caught up in a frenzy of consumerism that is perpetrated by large corporate industry.
This is driven by advertising and marketing that cares only for profit and nothing for the future or for environmental responsibility. [Think about the plots and characters of television's Mad Men.] They need and want us to spend spend spend.
This is what drives corporations – sales. In this way they grow stronger and bigger and richer and more powerful. This happens at the expense of the vulnerable and the Earth. And the rate of consumption is destroying the earth, the water, the air, all creatures great and small, the Earth's atmosphere, our health and any hope for a happy and safe future.
How can we make it stop and change? By simple self control in our lifestyle habits! Be thrifty with money and resources and time. Think about how much water and food you use and how much garbage and compost you produce. Some communities do not produce any garbage and prove that our wastefulness is unnecessary. Always do the math.
We can change the world one small decision at a time. We must always consider our children's future when we break, spend, use and consume everything. We are sentencing them to a very bleak future and they want us to stop.
But we ask ourselves, “What could children possibly know that we adults do not?” The answer is quite simple. They know that they will perish if we do not cease and desist in these destructive and self-destructive behaviours.
Search your conscience and ask yourself whether you really want to destroy the hope and opportunities of every future generations of humanity. I know I don't. So I have been modifying my behaviour with my children and grandchildren in mind, and with their help. I hope you will do the same.
Be economical in everything. Use less and want less. Prudence and economy were considered to be virtues for several thousand years prior to our consumer age. We should redeem and embrace this heritage of sustainability in all things and teach it to our children as a desirable character trait and as a social virtue.
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Friday, October 9, 2009
Fight Child Slavery
Stand With Us Against Child Slavery - The Moral and Economics Crisis of our Age
Boycott Halloween chocolate and candy! Here is important information for your conscience.
See this
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Boycott Halloween chocolate and candy! Here is important information for your conscience.
See this
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child slaves and chocolate in africa
One hundred years from now people will look back with horror at the economics and business practices of our era. Just as we look with shock at the African Slave Trade of the 16-19th Centuries, so they will look at us with bewilderment that we could have used children as slaves and that we could build a global economy upon the slave labour of children worldwide. They will be amazed that we could ignore this horror.
The Ivory Coast in northwest Africa supplies 50% of the world's cocoa for the manufacture of chocolate. Child slaves harvest and process most of this cocoa. Children are also captured in South America and sold as slaves in Europe and elsewhere. In Asia there is widespread child sexual slavery. There is also child slavery in North America and Europe of many kinds.
In North America and Europe we have seen the emergence of a huge chocolate industry with companies like Hershey and Nestle. There is plenty of information about this child slave industry on the Internet. Check this link for lots of info.
“The $13 billion dollar chocolate industry is dominated by two firms: Hershey's and M&M's/Mars. Both of these companies use mostly Ivory Coast cocoa; their products are almost certainly produced partly by slaves.” Many of our schools use these chocolate products to raise money to help children. That's ironic in a heart wrenching way.
The most troubling aspect of this worldwide slave industry is the role we and our children play in Canada, the USA, Europe and elsewhere. Our children are used by this 'industry' to keep those child slaves in their place - in chains and cells and fields of blood and suffering where they labour under horrific conditions and die lonely and painful deaths.
Every time we buy and eat chocolate and coffee and other products of this slave trade, we are supporting those who enslave and exploit children for gain . Our children are slave consumers of these products. They are enticed by intense and effective advertising campaigns by companies who support children's television programming. In this way they are used to maintain the enslavement of children elsewhere. This is sadly ironic!
What have we in the “free" world done to help? We have increased our chocolate consumption and we have supported this 21st Century Children's Slave Trade. We have ignored the global system of slavery that causes this injustice and enables its continued profitability. Shame on us!
Bill S-209 [Protection of Children] is in Second Reading in the Canadian Parliament. It is a first step towards combating this ugly injustice on our soil and then helping those nameless little souls who labour for our pleasure.
Please help to end child slavery in our time! Our legislators will be condemned and castigated for their inaction and we will be branded as criminals for what we do without thinking every day – eating chocolate that destroys our health and enslaves children.
Stand With Us Against Child Slavery - The Moral and Economics Crisis of our Age
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The Ivory Coast in northwest Africa supplies 50% of the world's cocoa for the manufacture of chocolate. Child slaves harvest and process most of this cocoa. Children are also captured in South America and sold as slaves in Europe and elsewhere. In Asia there is widespread child sexual slavery. There is also child slavery in North America and Europe of many kinds.
In North America and Europe we have seen the emergence of a huge chocolate industry with companies like Hershey and Nestle. There is plenty of information about this child slave industry on the Internet. Check this link for lots of info.
“The $13 billion dollar chocolate industry is dominated by two firms: Hershey's and M&M's/Mars. Both of these companies use mostly Ivory Coast cocoa; their products are almost certainly produced partly by slaves.” Many of our schools use these chocolate products to raise money to help children. That's ironic in a heart wrenching way.
The most troubling aspect of this worldwide slave industry is the role we and our children play in Canada, the USA, Europe and elsewhere. Our children are used by this 'industry' to keep those child slaves in their place - in chains and cells and fields of blood and suffering where they labour under horrific conditions and die lonely and painful deaths.
Every time we buy and eat chocolate and coffee and other products of this slave trade, we are supporting those who enslave and exploit children for gain . Our children are slave consumers of these products. They are enticed by intense and effective advertising campaigns by companies who support children's television programming. In this way they are used to maintain the enslavement of children elsewhere. This is sadly ironic!
What have we in the “free" world done to help? We have increased our chocolate consumption and we have supported this 21st Century Children's Slave Trade. We have ignored the global system of slavery that causes this injustice and enables its continued profitability. Shame on us!
Bill S-209 [Protection of Children] is in Second Reading in the Canadian Parliament. It is a first step towards combating this ugly injustice on our soil and then helping those nameless little souls who labour for our pleasure.
Please help to end child slavery in our time! Our legislators will be condemned and castigated for their inaction and we will be branded as criminals for what we do without thinking every day – eating chocolate that destroys our health and enslaves children.
Stand With Us Against Child Slavery - The Moral and Economics Crisis of our Age
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Monday, March 9, 2009
Individuality
Vision is the art of seeing the invisible. - Jonathan Swift
One of the unique features of our Canadian society and culture is the level and degree of Individuality that has evolved in us socially. This trait is not immediately obvious to those who have only lived within the confines of Western culture in Canada.
I was enabled to recognize this outstanding characteristic in Canadians after
spending almost a year in China where by doctrine and tradition people are much
more regimented, alike, predictable. Whereas in Canada each person is unique,
quirky, individualistic. Each of us is a Towering Individual by Chinese social and
cultural standards.
Individualism can have its challenges and negative expressions, but it is a big
part of who we are. I expect that ways can be discovered, invented and
implemented to respect this important aspect of our culture, which is more
evolved in almost every important aspect of human life than in many societies
and cultures. Again this is due to The Universal Culture which has its axis in
Canada.
So the problem and the challenge is to systematize, organize and even
institutionalize our deeply rooted Individuality. Democracy in general seeks to
accomplish this, so democratic methods are the most likely to bring the desired
and desirable results.
Whether by Chance or Design we are each and everyone unique, from birth to
death. Our culture, politics, society and values respect this truth and reality. Our
schools can and should respect and accommodate and reflect our differences.
Ultimately the differences fit together to create a whole society. Canada still
faces challenges in the area of reconciling differences, but the prospects are
good and hopeful.
An education culture that respects and accepts this will be better suited to the needs and necessities of The Twenty-first Century. Canada was created by people of Vision, courage, diligence, creativity: Individuals. Our people have been nurtured in the bosom of a challenging wilderness amidst hostile climatic conditions and the violent swirls of history. Yet we have sought and found impossible solutions to each demand we have faced.
The Future is upon us and we are busily pulling up our bootstraps for the present challenges. We are no longer impeded by forests and great lakes and rivers and glaciers and prairies and mountain ranges and the sea. Our present impediments and mortal enemies are ecological, environmental, ethical, health related, political, scientific, issues of sustainability, technological, social, economic, doctrinal, Global. We require healthy, strong, educated, creative individuals capable of caring and sharing. Education can give us this if we reach for it carefully, intentionally and with resolve.
Excerpt from Our Most Precious Treasures: The Rights Of Children
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One of the unique features of our Canadian society and culture is the level and degree of Individuality that has evolved in us socially. This trait is not immediately obvious to those who have only lived within the confines of Western culture in Canada.
I was enabled to recognize this outstanding characteristic in Canadians after
spending almost a year in China where by doctrine and tradition people are much
more regimented, alike, predictable. Whereas in Canada each person is unique,
quirky, individualistic. Each of us is a Towering Individual by Chinese social and
cultural standards.
Individualism can have its challenges and negative expressions, but it is a big
part of who we are. I expect that ways can be discovered, invented and
implemented to respect this important aspect of our culture, which is more
evolved in almost every important aspect of human life than in many societies
and cultures. Again this is due to The Universal Culture which has its axis in
Canada.
So the problem and the challenge is to systematize, organize and even
institutionalize our deeply rooted Individuality. Democracy in general seeks to
accomplish this, so democratic methods are the most likely to bring the desired
and desirable results.
Whether by Chance or Design we are each and everyone unique, from birth to
death. Our culture, politics, society and values respect this truth and reality. Our
schools can and should respect and accommodate and reflect our differences.
Ultimately the differences fit together to create a whole society. Canada still
faces challenges in the area of reconciling differences, but the prospects are
good and hopeful.
An education culture that respects and accepts this will be better suited to the needs and necessities of The Twenty-first Century. Canada was created by people of Vision, courage, diligence, creativity: Individuals. Our people have been nurtured in the bosom of a challenging wilderness amidst hostile climatic conditions and the violent swirls of history. Yet we have sought and found impossible solutions to each demand we have faced.
The Future is upon us and we are busily pulling up our bootstraps for the present challenges. We are no longer impeded by forests and great lakes and rivers and glaciers and prairies and mountain ranges and the sea. Our present impediments and mortal enemies are ecological, environmental, ethical, health related, political, scientific, issues of sustainability, technological, social, economic, doctrinal, Global. We require healthy, strong, educated, creative individuals capable of caring and sharing. Education can give us this if we reach for it carefully, intentionally and with resolve.
Excerpt from Our Most Precious Treasures: The Rights Of Children
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Saturday, February 21, 2009
Your Canada
The vision of Canada that I have absorbed from Canadians looks like this:
- a place where there is justice with compassion for all
- a place of progress, opportunity, options and optimism
- a safe and secure place for people of all ages, conditions and origins
- a healthy population in a healthy environment
- a place that welcomes and embraces ideas, discussion, debate and innovation within the bounds of our democratic Values, Principles, Processes, Institutions, Laws and Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- a community that reaches out to the world to cultivate peace, justice, compassion, tolerance, respect, progress, prosperity and stability
- a place where citizens are democratically engaged and involved at all levels of society
- a place where economy means being careful with resources
- a place that shares in the life of the global community while cherishing ALL of our people of all backgrounds and languages and origins
- a world leader in education, the environment, global security, and the nurture of peace
- a multicultural society
- a place with a strong, diverse and sustainable economy that has and makes cutting edge technological tools and exports innovations to the world
- a creative community
This is the Canada that Canadians seem to hold in their hearts and live out in their time and place. This is the place that we have imagined together and built. This is your Canada.
If we can Dream it, we can make it!
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- a place where there is justice with compassion for all
- a place of progress, opportunity, options and optimism
- a safe and secure place for people of all ages, conditions and origins
- a healthy population in a healthy environment
- a place that welcomes and embraces ideas, discussion, debate and innovation within the bounds of our democratic Values, Principles, Processes, Institutions, Laws and Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- a community that reaches out to the world to cultivate peace, justice, compassion, tolerance, respect, progress, prosperity and stability
- a place where citizens are democratically engaged and involved at all levels of society
- a place where economy means being careful with resources
- a place that shares in the life of the global community while cherishing ALL of our people of all backgrounds and languages and origins
- a world leader in education, the environment, global security, and the nurture of peace
- a multicultural society
- a place with a strong, diverse and sustainable economy that has and makes cutting edge technological tools and exports innovations to the world
- a creative community
This is the Canada that Canadians seem to hold in their hearts and live out in their time and place. This is the place that we have imagined together and built. This is your Canada.
If we can Dream it, we can make it!
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Peace-based Economy
Peace is not sign of weakness, just as violence is not a sign of strength. Peace
requires strength, self-restraint, discipline, and a pursuit of genuine self-interest.
Canada has successfully achieved a peaceful, free and Just Society where
Compassion is a governing principle.
A simple decision to strategically and intentionally move towards a Peace-based economy would be a strong statement to the world and an assertion of our Core Values.
The energetic pursuit of a select group of economic bases could bring
rapid economic growth while providing the means for sharing our Methods,
Values and Culture through the mechanisms of a new futuristic economy that
excludes the need for bloodshed from the pursuit of large-scale economic gain.
We can prove that Peace Pays more [and better] than war.
Canada is a world leader in a number of critical areas: education; alternative
energy technologies and research; environmental and ecological solutions;
scientific research and applications that are peaceful; diplomacy and
jurisprudence; legislative responsibility; high-tech communications and media;
policing and law enforcement; the Arts and entertainment; agriculture;
management and administration; Human Relations.
Policies could be easily introduced that are Global in magnitude that support and reward the development and worldwide distribution of these things that characterize us as a People and unify us as a Nation. Consider the following...
NOTE - This is an excerpt from the essay The Future: Peace Pays [Exploring The Canadian Identity] on this site.
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requires strength, self-restraint, discipline, and a pursuit of genuine self-interest.
Canada has successfully achieved a peaceful, free and Just Society where
Compassion is a governing principle.
A simple decision to strategically and intentionally move towards a Peace-based economy would be a strong statement to the world and an assertion of our Core Values.
The energetic pursuit of a select group of economic bases could bring
rapid economic growth while providing the means for sharing our Methods,
Values and Culture through the mechanisms of a new futuristic economy that
excludes the need for bloodshed from the pursuit of large-scale economic gain.
We can prove that Peace Pays more [and better] than war.
Canada is a world leader in a number of critical areas: education; alternative
energy technologies and research; environmental and ecological solutions;
scientific research and applications that are peaceful; diplomacy and
jurisprudence; legislative responsibility; high-tech communications and media;
policing and law enforcement; the Arts and entertainment; agriculture;
management and administration; Human Relations.
Policies could be easily introduced that are Global in magnitude that support and reward the development and worldwide distribution of these things that characterize us as a People and unify us as a Nation. Consider the following...
NOTE - This is an excerpt from the essay The Future: Peace Pays [Exploring The Canadian Identity] on this site.
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Sunday, February 8, 2009
Economic Recession has a Silver Lining
If we think of the Earth as a living organism and the global ecosystem as a single system, then we can begin to understand the kind of damage that has been done to this integrated system in recent history. Humanity has been rapidly degrading the health and resiliency of this ecosystem. We have been abusing our home in ways that we would not consider acceptable for any individual.
To put it in personal terms, the Earth has been smoking far too much, drinking far too much, and she has been frantically tearing at her own flesh like some disconsolate teenager with an emotional disorder. The faster that the global economy grew in force and magnitude and rapidity of expansion, the more quickly has the environment become injured and altered and compromised.
However this careless and shameful destruction of the Earth has suffered a serious setback with the downturn in the economies of all nations and the global economic system which binds them together intimately. In one fleeting year we have witnessed a shift from nations squabbling over levels of reduction in acceptable pollution emissions levels, to a situation where these levels have been suddenly reduced far below anything Kyoto would have ventured to recommend.
Bureaucracies and bureaucrats like the Kyoto participants, discussants and signees generally lack boldness, imagination and courage. Their hands are tied by a variety of knotted issues, pressures and constituents to whom they are accountable.
We have been handed a reprieve and the Earth has been given a much deserved and needed moment to breathe and stretch and rest and recover some of its strength and vitality. It is being given an opportunity to heal and revitalize itself.
One year ago the cost of renting a large dry container ship was about $120,000.00/day. In less than a year, due to lack of market demand, that price plummeted to about $1200.00/day. The number of ocean transits has dropped off the charts as has the extraction of crude oil and use of petroleum products. Airline flights have dropped by almost 50% in some sectors. People are driving less, raping the Earth for plastics and metals and woods products less, poisoning the air less, blindly and irresponsibly spending [consuming] less. Everyone is quickly rethinking everything. Many are thinking about the "Re-Greening of the Earth."
We are now in a position where we can choose our future rather than blindly accepting that bleak and brutal and poisoned future that was being pushed down our throats by the corporate and political giants who have acted with impunity and without consultation. As Premier McGuinty of Ontario has recently observed, this economic 'downturn' is a grand opportunity for us to embrace a green economics model and build a clean and hopeful and successful and lasting future.
The Invisible Hand in the Market seems to have acted decisively to provide humanity...and Canada...with a much needed Opportunity. Now we must reach out and take it, embrace it and make it our Vision for the future we can and will build.
Environmental recovery and rejuvenation are part of the silver lining in the economic “disaster”.
To put it in personal terms, the Earth has been smoking far too much, drinking far too much, and she has been frantically tearing at her own flesh like some disconsolate teenager with an emotional disorder. The faster that the global economy grew in force and magnitude and rapidity of expansion, the more quickly has the environment become injured and altered and compromised.
However this careless and shameful destruction of the Earth has suffered a serious setback with the downturn in the economies of all nations and the global economic system which binds them together intimately. In one fleeting year we have witnessed a shift from nations squabbling over levels of reduction in acceptable pollution emissions levels, to a situation where these levels have been suddenly reduced far below anything Kyoto would have ventured to recommend.
Bureaucracies and bureaucrats like the Kyoto participants, discussants and signees generally lack boldness, imagination and courage. Their hands are tied by a variety of knotted issues, pressures and constituents to whom they are accountable.
We have been handed a reprieve and the Earth has been given a much deserved and needed moment to breathe and stretch and rest and recover some of its strength and vitality. It is being given an opportunity to heal and revitalize itself.
One year ago the cost of renting a large dry container ship was about $120,000.00/day. In less than a year, due to lack of market demand, that price plummeted to about $1200.00/day. The number of ocean transits has dropped off the charts as has the extraction of crude oil and use of petroleum products. Airline flights have dropped by almost 50% in some sectors. People are driving less, raping the Earth for plastics and metals and woods products less, poisoning the air less, blindly and irresponsibly spending [consuming] less. Everyone is quickly rethinking everything. Many are thinking about the "Re-Greening of the Earth."
We are now in a position where we can choose our future rather than blindly accepting that bleak and brutal and poisoned future that was being pushed down our throats by the corporate and political giants who have acted with impunity and without consultation. As Premier McGuinty of Ontario has recently observed, this economic 'downturn' is a grand opportunity for us to embrace a green economics model and build a clean and hopeful and successful and lasting future.
The Invisible Hand in the Market seems to have acted decisively to provide humanity...and Canada...with a much needed Opportunity. Now we must reach out and take it, embrace it and make it our Vision for the future we can and will build.
Environmental recovery and rejuvenation are part of the silver lining in the economic “disaster”.
Friday, February 6, 2009
A Vision for Canada
Canadians want and deserve a great Vision. They have worked hard and sacrificed much in order to build a nation and a society that is democratic, peaceful, just, compassionate, fair, supportive, prosperous, inclusive, multicultural, environmentally conscious, creative, productive and much more. We have overcome great odds in order to knit together widely separated regions in ways that help us all.
We don't only seek to help ourselves in Canada. We remember where our families are from [everywhere], whether we are First Nations or All Nations. The great migration has brought us together and we have created something wonderful in the face of hardship, obstacles, enemies, climate, terrain, and so on.
This nation was conceived as a Dream. It was never enough for Canada to simply exist and survive. We had to become something more than we were and perhaps more than seemed possible. In spite of the tensions and rifts in our internal relations, we have managed to work together for the good of all.
In the global age “all” has become much more. We reach out in creative ways to help those who are disadvantaged everywhere on the face of the planet. Look just about anywhere and you will find at least one Canadian fussing over the difficulties of others and pitching in with Canadian advantages to help those who struggle.
A true Vision for Canada must portray and enable us to see ourselves reaching out to the world to share our extraordinary culture, which is unlike any in human history. Here people live in peace, which enables so much more in in terms of productivity, investigation, research, invention, education, implementation, production of ideas, along with a sense of safety and security that is real.
Canada has resources that can quickly bring relief and hope to the world. A large number, likely a significant majority, are already doing this work. Some go abroad to be on the ground with those in need or in danger. Some contribute in their places of worship or work or where they receive their education. But almost all do it, regardless of age or status. This is who we are.
My proposal is that we do this more effectively, efficiently, economically, energetically and intentionally...and that we do it together. The world can be changed to be like us [peaceful] if we share what we have. This proposal is more about ideas and methods and values, which I call Human Software, than it is about money and minerals and wood and oil.
Imagine a Canada that systematically exports our peaceful ways to the world. This will bring stability and hope to the whole world and the suffering throngs who inhabit the countries from which many of our families have come...and it will make us better, bigger, richer, more self-respecting. The whole world has invested in Canada and Canada should invest in the whole world. We will garner much respect and goodwill if we take this route towards a peaceful and hopeful future.
If we do not do this and soon, there will be consequences. We could see a foreign army on our soil, blown out buildings and more dead than can be tallied. We could see Canada disappear altogether, crowded out of existence by the belligerent and the greedy. This is not what we want.
To have peace we must Dream BIG and work hard. We must do it together or we cannot succeed. A project of this magnitude and weight requires all democratically minded Canadians to help shoulder the work and responsibility. This is the cause that can unite us and carry us to a safe, happy and peaceful future.
If we rise up together as in times of war and devote ourselves to peace we might be able to prevent the fire that lays ahead. We can help save the world...and we should.
...
..
.
We don't only seek to help ourselves in Canada. We remember where our families are from [everywhere], whether we are First Nations or All Nations. The great migration has brought us together and we have created something wonderful in the face of hardship, obstacles, enemies, climate, terrain, and so on.
This nation was conceived as a Dream. It was never enough for Canada to simply exist and survive. We had to become something more than we were and perhaps more than seemed possible. In spite of the tensions and rifts in our internal relations, we have managed to work together for the good of all.
In the global age “all” has become much more. We reach out in creative ways to help those who are disadvantaged everywhere on the face of the planet. Look just about anywhere and you will find at least one Canadian fussing over the difficulties of others and pitching in with Canadian advantages to help those who struggle.
A true Vision for Canada must portray and enable us to see ourselves reaching out to the world to share our extraordinary culture, which is unlike any in human history. Here people live in peace, which enables so much more in in terms of productivity, investigation, research, invention, education, implementation, production of ideas, along with a sense of safety and security that is real.
Canada has resources that can quickly bring relief and hope to the world. A large number, likely a significant majority, are already doing this work. Some go abroad to be on the ground with those in need or in danger. Some contribute in their places of worship or work or where they receive their education. But almost all do it, regardless of age or status. This is who we are.
My proposal is that we do this more effectively, efficiently, economically, energetically and intentionally...and that we do it together. The world can be changed to be like us [peaceful] if we share what we have. This proposal is more about ideas and methods and values, which I call Human Software, than it is about money and minerals and wood and oil.
Imagine a Canada that systematically exports our peaceful ways to the world. This will bring stability and hope to the whole world and the suffering throngs who inhabit the countries from which many of our families have come...and it will make us better, bigger, richer, more self-respecting. The whole world has invested in Canada and Canada should invest in the whole world. We will garner much respect and goodwill if we take this route towards a peaceful and hopeful future.
If we do not do this and soon, there will be consequences. We could see a foreign army on our soil, blown out buildings and more dead than can be tallied. We could see Canada disappear altogether, crowded out of existence by the belligerent and the greedy. This is not what we want.
To have peace we must Dream BIG and work hard. We must do it together or we cannot succeed. A project of this magnitude and weight requires all democratically minded Canadians to help shoulder the work and responsibility. This is the cause that can unite us and carry us to a safe, happy and peaceful future.
If we rise up together as in times of war and devote ourselves to peace we might be able to prevent the fire that lays ahead. We can help save the world...and we should.
...
..
.
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