I have reached a point in my life where I hold out little hope for our collective future. It is one of the reasons I post less frequently these days. Writing about the word’s ills often seems futile. But that is not to say that I have lost my capacity
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Politics and its Discontents: The Fascination Of Politics
It always astounds me that more people are not interested in politics. Far too many dismiss it as an arcane pursuit that has no relevance in their lives, apparently confusing the recondite measures involved in the development of public policy with the human dynamics at the heart of pursuing and
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Encouraging Political Participation
The other day I wrote a post on John Cruickshank’s TED Talk about the low level of political participation among young citizens. His thesis was that as a society, we are losing our news-reading and news-watching habits thanks to the myriad options offered by our current technologies. Asserting that news
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Why So Much Ignorance In This Age Of Technology?
I have always thought it ironic that in this age of interconnectedness, when we have almost unlimited sources of information at our disposal, so many of us are abysmally ignorant of the things that should matter. The level of civic disengagement in North America, for example, has facilitated the devolution
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Food For Thought
I am still working on my flooring, and as someone to whom the term handyman has little application, I am working very slowly. Therefore, in lieu of a post, I offer this wisdom from George Orwell: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Voter Engagement
One of the purported panaceas for electoral disaffection, subscribed to by many, is some form of proportional representation, a subject upon which I admit to being poorly-schooled. Beyond some of the basic arguments both for and against PR, I know little. However, one of the most frequently-stated reasons for embracing
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: True On Both Sides Of The Border
Substitute parliamentary democracy for republic and Bill Maher’s words are a stinging indictment of apathetic Canadians. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: We Are All To Blame
Here is a letter from today’s Star that puts responsibility for the proliferating problem of deceitful, inept, corrupt and demagogic political leaders where it belongs: on all of our shoulders: Re: How to cover a deceiver without airing mistruth? Opinion Nov. 6 Publisher John Cruickshankâs wonderful piece addresses what should
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Citizenship on the Sidelines
Being on holiday has induced in me a certain mental torpor, so please forgive me if this post states the obvious. Those of us who write politically-oriented blogs are, of course, engaged intellectually and emotionally in the machinations of those we elect. And I suspect it is to our regular
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Cost of Political Disengagement
Thanks to LeDaro’s link, I was able to catch up on the At Issues panel that I missed on Thursday night. While the discussion revolved largely around the F-35 debacle, the point I found most discouraging was the statistic that only 30-35% of Canadians follow politics at all. It is
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