Grieving for an Old Dictator?

So Castro is dead. In spite of the media headlines, I wonder how many people actually care or for that matter have any sense of who or what he was. I have to wonder in light of the mini tempest that was caused by Trudeau's ( the younger) comments upon Castro's death, why anyone bothers to  pretend they are interested.

For those of us who belong to a certain spectrum of the Baby boom generation, Castro and Cuba might evoke a specific set of memories. I can remember, when I was quite young in elementary school, being taught how to hide under my desk if and when the nuclear bombs started to fall (one would think that adults who had seen pictures of Hiroshima or Nagasaki would have had more sense than to waste time teaching us such silly manoeuvres). I can remember somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind my father talking about him trying to get home if there was such an attack. When the Cuban missile crisis occurred - I can remember being scared and wondering if those lessons would be needed. The news was full of dark comments and the adults I knew seemed to be worried. At that time the geo-political complications were beyond me. I know I took the danger as being real and that my world as I knew it was at risk. I had no understanding that it was all a game of political chicken that had gotten a bit out of control.

Five years later, some people of my generation were in university - and starting to incorporate into our conversation the parts they had "cherry picked" from Marxism that they were comfortable with. Then we liked Cuba and Castro. Or rather it was not that we liked Castro (or in fact understood very much at all about the revolution) but we knew that anyone who was anti the USA must be good (the enemy of my enemy must be my friend). We railed against the corporate/capitalist elite and cheered on the long suffering Cubans who were struggling against them. We somewhat smugly hung posters of Castro and of Che Guevara in the safety of our warm and comfortable bedrooms. It was "in" to quote how well Cuba was doing after the revolution. Noticeably we did not talk about the low standard of living, or the oppression that must come with any type of dictatorship no matter how benevolent or that the revolution was only possible because the Soviet union was financing it for its own political machinations.

When our hip and somewhat anti-establishment prime minister (the elder Trudeau) visited Cuba in 1976. I suspect that most Canadians were proud. It was one more desperately needed proof that Canada was different than the USA.

However, in the next 40 or so years, with the exception of Canadians who flew to Cuba for cheaper winter holidays, most of us spent very little time thinking about Cuba or their revolutionary leader. Cuba was a destination to escape the cold weather. It was a place for the slightly more adventurous traveller who wanted the opportunity to experience visiting a developing country without any real danger. We admired their free medical help ( and their way of providing it), we were perhaps envious of their technically free education (their literacy rate according to UNICEF is 100%) and we could admire how they coped with a world that, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union, provided little assistance.

It has long stopped being fashionable to cheer on Castro and his revolution. Perhaps because Canadians have grown up a little, we no longer look to support countries that are different from the USA. There have been countless revolutions since - most of them far less successful than Cuba's. We have perhaps become too at ease with the concept that larger, more powerful countries chronically, perhaps somewhat obsessively, meddle in other country's affairs. We have given up trying to understand why who is doing what to whom. We seem incapable of either understanding the causes of inequality, of poverty or of political oppression or looking for long term solutions to those issues. Those political powers will continue to support revolutions because they are incapable of finding other solutions.  

I suspect that Castro and his long ago revolution is not relevant to the vast majority of Canadians. Those who care beyond a tourist level are well into their 60s if not older. For the rest - there are, rightly or wrongly, far more pressing issues than to revisit the heroes and villains of half a century ago. We didn't learn anything from that revolution and the characters it spawned. Not surprisingly, we have a new pantheon of minor gods and devils to worry about.

Let Us Not Get too Smug

Our perception of our relationship with the USA is complex. On one hand we feel like the poor country mouse who cannot compete with the big, rich and multi talented older sibling - Pierre Trudeau once mentioned that being a Canadian living so close to a giant powerful country such as the USA was like sleeping with an elephant. On the other hand we delight in bragging about our acceptance of diverse cultures and our semi-socialist way of doing things including of course, our health care system. The recent US election has, for at least some Canadians, given us a reason to feel more than a little bit smug about our politics and our capacity to think critically when needed. We may not be as rich as the USA and we may not be as big - but we clearly are smarter.

While it is fun and good for our collective egos to feel occasionally superior to the USA, we need to be careful that we are not seduced by these feelings of superiority into becoming complacent about our own politicians. We are all not quite as nice or as bright as we would like to think - there are a number of Canadians who would like to see us devolve into a more racist, sexist and forgive me for saying this but a more "Christian" country. One only has to follow the Conservative party's leadership campaign/competition  to note that there are some who are running to be potentially the next prime minister of Canada who emulate some of Trump's stated values and objectives.

There is one candidate who clearly states  “I don’t believe climate change is a real threat”. Interestingly another candidate was booed at the same meeting when he suggested that there might be a need for some form of carbon tax. A third candidate has clearly been supportive of some the policies that Trump espoused in his campaign including recommending specific policies that would be blatant discrimination against some immigrants - a discrimination based on religion and/or ethnicity. This candidate has said that she just because she supports some of Trump's values - it does not make her a racist. That particular candidate did not attend one of the debates as her home was apparently broken into..... people on her team have, while discussing the alleged incident, suggested that is  "how the left operates".

The campaign is already about which values will Canada adhere to and how to pander to the lowest common denominator. It has already, on the part of at least one candidate, started to use innuendo to smear the another party. Canadians are contributing money to these campaigns. There are Canadians who are cheering these candidates on. There is clearly enough support - else they would not be running.

There have been numerous comments and opinions expressed as to when Trump should have be stopped. Did the press celebrate his newsworthiness and therefore enhance his popularity; should they have been more critical of his policies earlier? I do not know. But I do know that all Canadians (perhaps conservatives most of all) need to watch the candidates and hold them accountable for their comments. We are long past the point where we can let politicians get away platitudes, allegations and poorly defined plans and promises.

Tough Few Weeks

The last few days of October and the first twelve or so days of November have been tough. Perhaps I am not as resilient as I thought I was - or maybe I am just getting older but some days it feels harder than it used to be to find a reason to smile.

A few weeks a good friend of mine died. I spent some time with Sally the day or two before she passed and another few hours sitting with her after she had passed. We were good friends. For the last perhaps fifteen years I had spent a few weeks every summer with her, arguing about politics, working in her garden and doing odd jobs around her house that she was not able to do. Twice we drove down to a National Rainbow Gathering in the States - my master's thesis was greatly enriched by the contacts she shared with me. We also hung out at a few regional gatherings. I also visited her a couple of times at Christmas when I came out here to visit my son. Since moving out here almost a year ago, I tried to visit her for a few days at least once a month. She always had a chair that needed fixing or a lamp that needed wiring. I think she looked for things for me to do so that I could feel busy when I was there. Perhaps the best times were when we went on a road trip - she in her power wheel chair and me trying to keep up with her as she showed me the parts of her much loved Salt Spring Island. I find myself still arguing with her - I will miss her.

Then there was the USA election. Just a week ago - I sat in front of my computer monitor and watched Peter Mansbridge from the CBC along with assorted commentators and correspondents try to explain how everyone could have been so wrong about Trump's chances. It is not clear as to why I, along with so many other Canadians, felt Trump's victory so viscerally in the pit of our stomachs. While there is no doubt that some of his policies will affect how the Canadian government deals with such things as climate change, and, as it has become apparent, Trump's victory appears to have given permission to some Canadians to be as racists and obnoxious as he is - it felt as if my reaction was unwarranted or at least over-stated. Perhaps we just don't like to acknowledge that it is possible that someone who is at best not very bright, lacks the capacity to think critically and has opinions that come from a different era could get to be a leader of our neighbour. For whatever the reason - I felt more than a little bit numb on Wednesday.   

Hearing about Leonard Cohen's passing just felt like one more kick when I was already down. I have been a fan of Cohen for almost 50 years. I first heard about him in a North American Literature course in high school. Our teacher who knew Cohen (the gossip was that he came back to school late one September because he had spent the summer in Greece with Cohen) was upset because the one poem of Cohen's that was in the assigned text had a misprint. We didn't believe him so the next week he brought in the original manuscript and showed us where the comma was suppose to be. Cohen's book of Poetry - Flowers for Hitler was the first book I ever bought for myself and if Suzanne was not the first song I learnt to play it was certainly in the top two or three. Thanks to my daughter I got to see him perform twice. Both shows were magical. But my favourite memory of Cohen is watching my friend Liz's smile as she listen to one of his CDs and as we "danced" in her room - oblivious to the staff or the other residents that were walking by.

And finally Leon Russell died. I wasn't a big fan and in fact I probably had not heard any of his music for years. But in 1970-71 I was working at a group home in Toronto. The eight teenage boys who lived there, along with the live-in couple and two live-in staff, were a handful. Most of them had a chronic glue/solvent sniffing addiction, had had run-ins with the law and in general did not want to be there. One evening we all went to the movies and saw Mad Dogs and Englishmen with Joe Crocker and Leon Russell. I don't remember much about the movie but I do remember the music. Even more importantly I remember how great we all felt leaving the movie theatre. For the first time it felt as if we were, if not a family, at least some sort of cooperative unit that could work together. I think it was that night that I decided that I had found a career that I could believe in.

Tough few weeks - but I went out today and bought some crocus and tulip bulbs to plant so that in the spring I will have flowers - partly because Sally loved flowers but also because I believe that the light does shine through the cracks. We just need to both remember that, and to make sure that when the light does shine through - there is something ready to grow.

Analysis of An American Election

I feel sad....that sort of sadness one feels when someone - someone you don't know very well but who you have known for your whole life, dies. There is a general sense of something lost, of something that may never ever be the same again - although you can't exactly explain what it is.

In reading the various bits and pieces on my traditional media sites as well as the social media sites, it seems as if many observers are blaming Trump's election on misogynistic and racist voters. There is a general sense that somehow Trump just barely got in by some sleight of hand, some trick that he used to fool easily mislead voters. Others argue that Clinton just did not have what was needed to mobilize the opposition. One Facebook posting even suggested that if the Democrats had allowed Bernie to run - this would never have happened. But such comments avoid the truth of the election.

It is no doubt true that a  number of Trump's most ardent and vocal supports were white males who were poorly educated and under employed. It is equally as true that a number of them are racists, misogynists and angry that they have lost their elite status in their world. It is true that Trump spoke directly to them and promised them a promised land just beyond the next election. BUT not only did Trump earn almost 50% of all votes (in Canada any party getting 50% of the popular vote would be deemed to have won by a landside), the Republicans won the majority of seats in Congress and in the open seats in the Senate. They even won seats in ridings where the Republican candidate denounced Trump. The Republicans won the presidential race as well as in both houses in spite of the fact that the leadership of that party were less than enthusiastic about their presidential candidate.

Almost half of the American people who voted, voted for a political ideology that argues that those that have - should keep it; that if corporate America becomes untaxed and unfettered by regulation - then all will prosper; that a specific group of voters have the right to prosper and to be considered elite, and if they lose that status then it is someone else's fault; that the very people who are marginalized by class, ability, religion, ethnic origin, gender or race are somehow responsible for their own marginalization and that failure is always the fault of the person except when it happens to them; that more guns will mean that communities are safer; that only the self designated elite should have access to services and that their version of the Christian God is always on their side. Trump may have played out that hand in a particularly virulent manner, but half of the American public were just waiting for someone to publically head off in that direction.

Trump is the personification of the "me first" philosophy. But he did not invent it - he just said what approximately half of the public who wanted to vote were already feeling. While we should be concerned and even alarmed at all of the dangerous possibilities that may confront us as neighbours and as world citizens, we need to be careful that we do not vilify Trump while absolving those who elected him. Trump is the President-Elect perhaps in part because there was not a more palatable  alternative but primarily because nearly half of the population who voted agree with him and what he said. And while we should be deeply concerned as to what Trump may do, we should be even more concerned about the values of the American voters. When Trump does not deliver on what he promised- who will they chose next?

Another Election - What Have We Learned?

As I write, citizens of the USA (it would be so much easier to just say "Americans" but in fact all of us who live in the Americas are Americans..... those of the USA  have inappropriately assumed that label) are in the process of electing their next President as well as their Congress and some senators. I, for one, am glad that the damn election is over. Perhaps Canadian news services will now have more space/time to discuss some news that is relevant to Canadians. I am always surprised at how much interest Canadians are suppose to have over American elections. In this particular election cycle I have been even more surprised at the number of Canadians who have come out on various social media sites condemning one of the presidential candidates and begging US citizens to vote.

I am surprised mainly because it would appear that some Canadians who are posting on those sites actually believe that those to the south of us give a damn as to what we think. Really? In the fifty or so years that I have spent following political stuff - I can never remember a time when the USA created a policy or responded substantively to a Canadian issue that was not to their benefit. And why would they? Our neighbours seldom listen to the what the rest of the world thinks they should do. As a matter of fact it seems quite obvious that most of them don't even listen to each other - in part because they are bombarded with too much irrelevant information and even more irrelevant opinions.

There is a large, powerful and financially lucrative industry whose only function is to convince voters to vote for a particular person or party. In every election cycle millions ( in the USA it is billions) of dollars are spent on distributing/propagating information designed to sway the voters. I am not sure that those billions of dollars are well spent if for no other reason that I am not sure if anyone really understands why people vote. For example. in Canada there have been a number times when there have been large swings in the popular vote such as when the Mulroney Conservatives or the Martin Liberals lost power. But I suspect that people who switched their vote from Liberal to Conservative or vice versa would have done so anyways as they were tired of the previous government. Voters had already decided that there was a need for a change (under the guise that change is a good thing every decade or so). It took almost nothing to push enough voters over that line. I suspect that most of us, most of the time vote generally the way we always have. It is perhaps only those at the very centre who switch their votes slightly to the left or to the right.

Those of us at the extreme left or right of the political spectrum do not, very often, change our position. My guess is that those of us who voted for a socialist-like-platform when we were 20 - still do so; those who, as they were coming of age, believed in a social and economic conservative platform - will not have changed their minds thirty or forty years later. While platforms of a particular political party may disappoint us - we are committed voters. Any attempt to change our minds is probably a waste of money. It is only at the centre where people do not have a clear political/economic values that there is room for movement. It is there that that the sellers of influence focus their energies.

While it is less of a problem in Canada than is the USA, we are still afflicted with uninformed and irrelevant people providing information that can shape that soft middle core of voters. I am always surprised that singers or actors  in the USA are allowed so much influence but then this a culture that validates a barely famous actress's tirade against vaccinations.

If we are to have elections that contain useful debate and at least interesting policies proposals, then we need, not just during an election cycle, but all of the time participate/create a dialogue about what is important and how we can invest in change. We need to stop seeing politics as a blood sport for us to watch from the side lines. We need to learn to engage both our neighbours and our politicians in conversation. If there is anything to be learned from the election to the south - it is that when people stop listening to those who think differently - then chaos can and will evolve.