It's My Birthday

While almost all of my blogs are about how I feel - most of the blogs are about my feeling in terms of politics or the silliness or the selfishness of people. I seldom write about how I am feeling about my life and almost never about my family. But today I turned 70. In the previous few weeks, I have thought about that milestone and the world's reaction to it. I have, I think, uncovered a relatively new phenomenon that at the very least has surprised me.

First of all - I am rather pleased with myself that I have made it to 70. I quite frankly did not think I would last this long. If I thought about it at all, when I was in my mid-fifties I assumed that I would be dead by 65. As it is I have lived the better part of a decade longer than my father. So I feel pretty good about it all and when I get the chance I want to brag just a little bit. It turns out, however, that turning 70, at least amongst my peers is no big deal - it is certainly something not worth talking about.

I live in a mobile home park for those over the age of 55. Most of the people that I volunteer with are also seniors. A good proportion of the people that I work with, as well as my neighbours, are in their mid-to-late seventies or even older. To them, I am but a spring chicken who knows little about life. There is a subtle competition that goes on amongst some of the seniors that I know. They seem to want to brag about how well they are doing -which is fine - but there is an implied put-down of anyone younger than them who are not doing as well. There is little support for those who are physically not as healthy, who have conditions that mean that they can do less than their older peers. It is as if I should be as healthy as them. If I am not as active as them because of my health- then that is my fault. Furthermore, they certainly do not want to hear me complain about my body occasionally falling apart. Any time I mention my age, the response is either - "wait until you get to be my age" or "you are still young yet".

I am not sure if it is some sort of ageism, or perhaps some sort of protective mechanism that allows them not to worry about their own health. I am not sure if this "I-am-better-than-you-because-I-am-older" type of thinking is because we live in this part of Canada where we are supposed to be all healthy and to discuss any failures is a betrayal of the land or if it just the naturally competitive nature of humans. Most of us have few arenas left to compete in other than how long we have managed to survive.

I am not convinced that this focus on how long we have lived is a healthy one. It separates out those who are not doing as well, isolates them, perhaps makes them feel less than others. As we age - we need the support of our peers, being told that some of us may be less equal than others because our bodies are falling apart is not much of a support.

It is never useful when we are told that we only have value when we are like everyone else, and when some people set the standard of perfection.

Colorado Shooting - Boring News

Yesterday at least two young people went to their high school in Colorado, pulled out their guns and started shooting. Eight of their fellow students were injured and one student (who was trying to stop the shooters) was killed. In Canada, this story was not front page news for very long. And it should have been, it would have been not that long ago. But we hear about so many shooting-at-school reports, so many stories of children hurting other children with guns that both those who report the news and those of us who read it, no longer pay attention to the stories.

Last week, the UN published a report stating that the world's environment was in far worst condition than we thought, that there are far more animals at risk of becoming extinct and that Canada is not doing any better than any other country and in fact may be doing worst. Again, while there was some discussion of the report and some minor hand wringing, it quickly became, for most people, a topic not worthy of much interest.

Finally, there were reports last week that in Canada's far north, the permafrost is melting at an alarming rate. Communities that are built on what I was always told is land that would be frozen forever are shifting and the entire infrastructure is at risk. No one is talking about how to slow down the thawing - it is accepted that it is happening and will continue to happen. There was some minor interest in the story, but certainly, in southern Canada, no one is raising flags of any colour to suggest that this may either be or at least lead to a significant crisis in the north.

All three of the above stories were important, all three of the stories should have been front page news for days. Certainly two of the stories should have led to calls for emergency discussions in the House of Commons and in most of the Provincial Legislatures. Nothing will happen in part because no one knows what to do about each of the problems, we tire of the countless discussion similar stories have generated in the past and we are exhausted by the myriad of problems that we are forced to confront on a weekly basis.

Never before in human history have citizens been so bombarded with so many issues, all labelled a crisis, all defined as something that needs to be resolved before our species disappears from the planet. Humans are not hardwired to live in crises mod all of the time. We lack the emotional or intellectual stamina to constantly be on high alert for the next problem. It would appear that the best that we can do is think about one or two problems and ignore the rest. This coping strategy means that some topics of critical concern receive some attention but others get totally ignored. It also leads to people wasting energy arguing about what issues are more important.

It is also true, however, that most of us -even if we agreed that climate change is the most important issue, (or for that matter social inequity was) - we could not agree on where to start. And so we waste time protesting this or that, imagining small victories while the corporations negotiate the big wins elsewhere. How depressing!

It is not surprising that some days, some of us just ignore the news entirely. We just cannot cope with the seemingly relentless bombardment of pleads/demands to care about and to solve the problem(s).

Green Party - Relax, Take a Deep Breath and Don't Start to Celebrate

There are now two Green Party members sitting in the House of Commons. Oh goody!!

Yesterday in a federal by-election in the riding of Nanaimo/Ladysmith the Green candidate was elected. I cannot imagine that anyone was greatly surprised although I assume that a number of people are disappointed and perhaps even alarmed. They too should relax. The Greens are not on the path to become the next ruling party of Canada; the world as those who are disappointed know it, has not come to an end.

It was almost predictable that at least some of the people of southern Vancouver Island would vote green, they did so in the most recent provincial election. The real test for the Greens is not collecting the votes of the pleasant, relaxed, hyper environmentally vigilant residents of the frequently balmy southern portions of the island, but rather how the residents of the northern parts of the island whose economy is focused on resource extraction will vote. The singular focus on saving the environment with little attention paid to any sort of transition period for those who depend on oil either for income or heat is not an attractive selling point. Trying to imagine the voters of Alberta voting Green simple boggles the imagination.

With the Green Party now the official opposition in Prince Edward Island and this most recent win, there may be some who will predict a significant gain in federal Green seats in the upcoming election. There may be some who, remembering the orange wave led by Jack Layton that came close to forming an NDP government as an example, will argue that the Green Party are now poised to do the same thing. As much as I like Elizabeth May, she is no Jack Layton. Even more importantly, for many Canadians, the Green Party's only track record is being a single person preaching to a generally disinterested public. I personally do not think that is enough to convince me that the Green Party has the capacity to do the work that is required to run the country.

However, there will be lots of Canadians who see this recent Green win as a sign that their time has come. They will pat themselves on the back and ride the coattails of Green euphoria. The will do so in spite of the fact three or four provinces are refusing to agree to any plan to reduce our collective carbon output, that there is little sign that the average Canadian is prepared to reduce their consumption of the planet's natural resources or that we are prepared to depose of any politician who does not make the environment a priority.

It is exciting that the Green Party got another seat. But do not celebrate. Nothing has changed. People will need to work even harder, in the areas of Canada that do not naturally gravitate to a Green perspective if the Green Party has a hope of winning a significant number of seats. It might take another two or three election cycles before the party can have an effect on government policies.

I do not think we have 10 or 12 years left to change the world.

The real winners in the federal election in Nanaimo/Ladysmith may be the Conservatives. They did not lose any of their core supporters and the centre/near left voter group was fragmented. If that happened consistently across the country, the Conservatives could pick up a few seats.