The mechanistic materialist world view, which the West, beginning with Europe, adopted a mere 400 years ago, and then exported through economic, financial, military and cultural colonialism and neocolonialism to the rest of the world, has been nothing short of a cultural, sociological, political, economic, ecological, spiritual, public health and
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THE FIFTH COLUMN: How Should We Judge Historical Figures
Should historical figures be judged by the best things they have done or the worst. Should they be judged by the standards of today or of their time. Should some things like slavery or genocide be considered evil no matter when they may have occurred. These are legitimate questions to
Continue readingwmtc: a childhood book and a dream for humanity: in henry’s backyard (1948)
When I was a child, my family had a book called In Henry’s Backyard. My siblings and I read it repeatedly. The book tells the story of a man who learns that all the “races of man” are equal. Over many years and decades, my brother has mentioned this book,
Continue readingScripturient: Montaigne on Ice Cream
No, Michel de Montaigne did not write about ice cream. I just used his name to entice you into this musing. But given the wide variety of topics he did write about, you’d think he might have at least penned a few words on it. Had it been available in his
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the heartbeat of wounded knee: native america from 1890 to the present
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee is a fascinating nonfiction. Part hidden history, part contemporary journalism, plus a dash of personal memoir, this ambitious book offers a new perspective on the Indigenous peoples of North America, in both the past and the present. Historian and journalist David Treuer, who is Ojibwe,
Continue readingwmtc: "at your library" in the north island eagle: the library celebrates national indigenous people’s month
Still catching up on posting my columns. The recent horrific discovery in Kamloops of the remains of 215 Indigenous children, buried in an unmarked mass grave, brought home the horrors of the Residential School system. Many people in North Island communities may be retraumatized by this news, and those who
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Who To Trust: The Short Answer
Who to trust? That is always a perennial question, and particularly now, when not only government, corporations, politicians and corporate and state media have repeatedly been shown to have lied, grossly distorted or concealed the truth, and engaged in deceitful PR and propaganda; but also, alternative and progressive media, along
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Tearing down colonial statues is making history, not erasing it
While confederate statues get bashed down in the south, Canada’s own architects of genocide and apartheid have also come to a crumbling demise. Statues of John A MacDonald and Egerton Ryerson have been defaced and torn down across Canada. My opinion on this is very clear: this is a good
Continue readingwmtc: thoughts on not celebrating canada day #cancelcanadaday
If it wasn’t clear why we should not be celebrating Canada Day this year, by now it should be. Three days after the discovery of 215 skeletons of children were found at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, the remains of approximately 750 adults and children in
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Discussing Canada Day – What we should be celebrating.
Now that school is almost over (got called into a full-time temporary contract for June), I should have more time to write on the blog. I apologize for the sporadic scheduling for the last month or so, hopefully over the summer months we can get back into a regular publishing
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the cold millions by jess walter
There is an accepted wisdom that socialism and communism failed, and capitalism prevailed, because the former is bad, and the latter is good. That humankind rejected socialism and embraced capitalism, because socialism is unnatural and unsustainable, and capitalism reflects the natural human condition. This accepted wisdom, like so many others,
Continue readingmark a rayner: Greed is . . . not-so-good
On Tumblr, the kids are calling it “late-stage capitalism.”* Unlike other late-stage diseases – syphilis springs to mind — there is still hope for saving… Continue ReadingGreed is . . . not-so-good The post Greed is . . . not-so-good appeared first on mark a rayner.
Continue readingwmtc: bearing witness: 215 tiny skeletons speak to us. canadians must listen.
The discovery, last week, of the remains of 215 children on the site of a former Indian Residential School has sent shock waves through Canada, especially through this province, where the gruesome evidence was found. The unmarked mass grave contained the skeletons of children, some seemingly as young as three
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Pride
June is Pride month, a time when we recognise some of the glorious human diversity in the world. We celebrate being able to be openly who we are, and specifically, Pride is about remembering the riots in Stonewall in 1969, when LGBTQ+ folks fought police brutality against our community. There
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The New Renaissance
There is a renaissance emerging now across humanity, as well as a paradigm shift in science; and a spiritual awakening is occurring, along with a political and cultural awakening. How do we best understand this historically pivotal shift? The trends are toward: 1. a non-dualist view of the interconnectedness, interdependence,
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the skin we’re in by desmond cole
Alternative title: It Happens in Canada, Too. Desmond Cole’s book, The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power may be a difficult book for white Canadians to read. That’s exactly why they should read it. Cole documents events most Canadians would call “US-style” racism — except they all take
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: sometimes you have to lie: the life and times of louise fitzhugh, renegade author of harriet the spy
Until very recently, I didn’t know anything about Louise Fitzhugh and had not thought about her at all. Of course, as a child I read and loved Harriet the Spy, Fitzhugh’s iconic and groundbreaking children’s book. For a good portion of my life, I dreamed of writing a similar book.
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the sword and the shield: the revolutionary lives of malcolm x and martin luther king jr.
When I read a review of The Sword and The Shield: the Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., I knew it was a book I’d been waiting for someone to write. I despise the way Martin Luther King, Jr. has been sanitized and diluted for public
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Conspiracy Theory Revisited
We should remember that the cult of authority, the cult of obedience, and the cult of conformity, are profoundly anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-empirical, and anti-democratic, as well as extremely dangerous. And these three cults now reign supreme across the Western world, as Western societies close down, having imported the authoritarian model
Continue readingwmtc: roots and icebergs: decolonizing community spaces: a workshop
I recently attended a six-hour workshop called Decolonizing Community Spaces. The workshop was led by two facilitators, one a Native American speaking to us from her traditional territories in Montana, and the other a Filipina-Canadian. About 30 people attended; I believe all were health and service providers in the province
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