A Friday Evening Reflection

Hmmm. I can think of some who might resist this perspective:

“God reveals himself not as one who stands above and who dominates the universe, but as He who lowers himself. It means that to be like Him, we do not have to place ourselves above the others, but come down, come down and serve them, become small among the small, and poor among the poor.”

- Pope Francis, December 2013

Harper's New Year's Resolution?

Thanks to the Salamander for alerting me to this tweet from Stephen Lautens:

Mandatory Voting And Social Cohesion

The Toronto Star recently featured the 2013 Atkinson Series: Me, You, Us, journalist and author Michael Valpy’s investigation into social cohesion in Canada — what binds us together, what pulls us apart.

In its final installment, given the decline in voter turnout, one of the suggestions put forth to advance the cause of social cohesion was mandatory voting. It is a notion that I don't personally favour, my reasoning being perhaps reductionist and simplistic: in a mandatory system, the element of resentment would be strong, and some would blithely check off the first name on the ballot just to get out of the polling station. An uninformed vote (and yes,I know there are all ready a lot of them) is worse than no vote, in my view.

Two letters from Star readers offer some interesting perspective on the problems extant in today's democracies:


Fixing the tears in our social fabric, Dec. 22

It isn’t young people not voting that’s pushing democratic legitimacy to a crisis stage, it’s the systemic failure of the political class to address our problems.

Since the triumph of global capital after the fall of the Soviet Union, all political parties fell in line with the neoliberal narrative. Free trade (really a bill of rights for corporations), privatization, offshoring, destruction of the social safety net, ad nauseam, became the bedrock of every political party.
It’s almost funny watching the Liberals and NDP desperately trying to find an issue they disagree with the Tories on. It’s a class consensus. By its nature it excludes an increasing majority.

Michael Valpy’s “solution” of mandatory voting is a pathetic attempt to ignore the cause of this democratic crisis and shoot the messengers. We should be demanding that our political class give us something substantive to vote for.

John Williams, Toronto

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The following letter makes reference to a piece that George Monbiot wrote for The Guardian. If interested, you can read it here.

Voting is not the root cause of our crisis, but out of control corporate power may well be. George Monbiot, in the Guardian, makes this case in, “Nothing will change until we confront the real sources of power.”

Monbiot begins, “It’s the reason for the collapse of democratic choice. It’s the source of our growing disillusionment with politics. It’s the great unmentionable. Corporate Power. The media will scarcely whisper its name. It is howlingly absent from parliamentary debates.

“Until we name it and confront it, politics is a waste of time. The political role of corporation is generally interpreted as that of lobbyists, seeking to influence government policy. In reality they belong on the inside. They are part of the nexus of power that creates policy. They face no significant resistance from either the government or opposition, as their interests have been woven into the fabric of all three main parties.”

Monbiot describes the U.K. situation and supports his views with 15 listed references. He ends with, “So I don’t blame people for giving up on politics,” and “when an unreformed political funding system ensures that parties can be bought and sold, when politicians of the three main parties stand and watch as public services are divided up by a grubby cabal privateers, what is left of this system that inspires us to participate?”

The U.K. situation described by Monbiot is not unique; it is the same for most countries.

Frank Panetta, Welland

Newsana: A News Aggregator To Help Keep People Informed and Engaged

“Our mission at Newsana, our goal, is ultimately to become the world’s arbiter of high-quality news, analysis, ideas and opinions” ... The biggest problem with the online news experience right now is there is just too much content.”

- Ben Peterson, Newsana co-founder

Those of us with a passion for a better Canada know that the key to achieving it lies in having an engaged citizenry armed with information, knowledge, and some critical thinking ability, none of which occur in a vacuum. Probably the biggest deterrent for most people in acquiring those tools is time.

To be sure, there are sites that aggregate the news, but foraging through the dross can still be time-consuming. Now there is a new kid on the block that may help address this problem.

A few days ago, The Toronto Star ran a feature on people to watch in 2014. One of those people is Ben Peterson, quoted above. In April of 2013, he, his partners and backers launched Newsana, a news aggregator with a difference - the stories it carries are those suggested by its members.

Here's how it works:

Newsana ... hand-picks news from members, highlighting the top five items in topic areas from arts and entertainment to business to the future of journalism, as voted on by members themselves. The top five can change throughout the day.

Members are also ranked: and if their pitches are well-received by others, they move up in the rankings of influence in chosen categories. The goal is to have members share ideas and debate issues.

Members must apply to join the site (to date, some have been rejected) or they must be invited by an existing member.

The blogs that I read on a daily basis are written by some very knowledgeable and passionate people who frequently lead me, with their insights and links, to information and perspectives that I would likely never have acquired on my own. Those bloggers have immeasurably enriched my understanding of the world we share.

So here is what I'm thinking. Having recently joined Newsana and become a contributor, mainly in the Canadian Politics topic, it occurs to me that the kinds of quality articles the organization is seeking could be very effectively provided by engaged bloggers. While there is no provision for writing one's own pieces, contributors are given the option of writing a lead-in to create interest, as well as the opportunity to engage in dialogue with those who comment on the articles provided, not unlike what we do on our own blogs. I also suspect that a news aggregator like Newsana will attract an audience of people who may not necessarily read blogs, but still want to learn more, which takes me back to my opening observation about the need for an informed and engaged citizenry.

So I invite my fellow bloggers to take a look at the site and consider helping it grow so that together, we can continue our efforts to challenge the sad status quo that currently exists in Canada and make positive change a real possibility.

I Am Nobody

Something for all disheartened Canadians to keep in mind, eh?

Some Good Environmental News For A Change

Let's hope this is the beginning of a trend.

Happy New Year

With the dawning of 2014, may the new year see increasing numbers of Canadians who:

REJECT the Conservative Party of Canada and its efforts to excise the heart and soul of our country;

RENEW their faith in a fair, just and compassionate Canada

REENGAGE in the democratic and political process as agents of change

RECLAIM both the heritage and the potential that has made Canada unique in the world.