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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Saturday, February 21, 2009
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
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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