Recently former prime minister Stephen Harper tweeted about the “importance of centre-right parties strengthening their collaboration” The tweet was accompanied by a photo of Harper shaking hands with the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, The “centre-right” party Harper was referring to was Orbán’s Fidesz. Think about that for a moment.
Continue readingTag: Timothy Snyder
A Puff of Absurdity: Politics of Hopelessness
I started posting other people’s twitter threads in part because twitter was (is) threatening to self-destruct, but also because there are some incredible gems that could disappear into the ether even if twitter remains. It’s not set up to easily find that one post you read weeks ago – ever
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Reign of Misinformation
The last six months have been hell and the next six months will be worse. By election day, May 29, 2023, we’ll have transitioned from Jason Kenney, the politician who went to great lengths to convince ‘the people of destiny” that their sense of victimhood was justified to Danielle Smith,
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Personal Troubles and Public Issues
“People do not usually define the troubles they endure in terms of historical change and institutional contradiction.” Developing a sociological imagination is necessary so that, “By such means the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics is transformed into involvement with public issues….To
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Timothy Snyder’s Talk on The Road to Unfreedom
I haven’t read the book yet, but I stumbled on Timothy Snyder’s talk about it from four years ago. Unfortunately, it’s all still very relevant! “The things that are happening to us are not just bad but there’s something weird, something unsettling going on.” He speaks of the politics of inevitability,
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Jason Kenney’s “Breaking Bad” Press Release
Last week, the feds granted BC a 3-year exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act decriminalizing the possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain illegal drugs for personal use. Judging by Jason Kenney’s response, you’d think Breaking Bad had set up shop next door. Leaving aside Kenney’s hypocritical
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Poisoning Democracy: Jason Nixon’s Outburst
“Unfortunately, our politicians are not only contaminating the minds of the public but poisoning our democracy at the same time.” Gary Mason, Globe & Mail columnist commenting on the two Conservative MPs who accused Prime Minister Trudeau of running a jackboot dictatorship. A quick check of Hansard this week demonstrates
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Timothy Snyder on the War on History
In “The War on History was a War on Democracy,” Snyder compares Russian memory laws, which we’re quick to recognize as propaganda, to American under Trump: By March 1932, hundreds of thousands of people were already starving to death in Soviet Ukraine, the breadbasket of the country. Rapid industrialization was
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney and the Autocrat’s Handbook
The Alberta Legislature ended the 2021 Spring Session on a particularly disturbing note. Members of the Opposition asked Jason Kenney to apologize for his role in pushing the niqab ban, a policy that contributed to growing Islamophobia, while he was a federal cabinet minister. Instead of an apology, Kenney stood
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Book List
The year 2020 is almost upon us. We know there are tough times ahead. But we need to remember we’re not alone. Others much smarter than us have traveled this path and documented what they’ve learned. They can offer insights to help us understand what we’re experiencing and if we’re
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Is This a Time for Hope?
It’s hard to find hope when so many Albertans are hurting. It’s even more difficult when you realize Alberta’s own government is the source of their pain. Nevertheless, there is cause for hope. I saw that eye-roll. Let me tell you why I’m hopeful. The Notley opposition
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Bill 22: An Attack on Democracy
Someone once said, “The only thing worse than knowing where the bodies are buried, is watching your enemies dig them up.” In order to ensure the Elections Commissioner’s investigation into the UCP leadership race didn’t dig up any more bodies—heaven forbid, he’d find a trail of breadcrumbs leading directly to
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Mr Kenney’s Fair Deal Panel
They just keep coming, fast and furious, like water gushing from a firehose. Yesterday Mr Kenney announced the formation of the Fair Deal Panel, the latest in a suite of things Mr Kenney says we need to protect ourselves from those who prey on us. So far, he’s created:
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: The Anti-Alberta Energy Inquiry (Thank God for Lawyers)
In his book On Tyranny historian Timothy Snyder sets out twenty lessons from the 20th century to help democracies resist the “the usurpation of power by a single individual or group, or the circumvention of law by rulers for their own benefit.” These lessons are as relevant for Alberta as
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Blinded by the Brand
Why are people loyal to a brand that guarantees austerity today in return for the promise of prosperity tomorrow with no plan setting out how and when austerity will morph into prosperity and despite overwhelming evidence that similar promises failed to deliver prosperity in the past? It’s a mystery, but
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Now That…that is a Catch-22 – Belarus 1942
If you have not picked up or borrowed Blood Lands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder yet, I suggest you do so. It is a shockingly candid dissertation on what happened to the people on the Eastern Front between Stalin and Hitler. I quote from that text:
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Now That…that is a Catch-22 – Belarus 1942
If you have not picked up or borrowed Blood Lands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder yet, I suggest you do so. It is a shockingly candid dissertation on what happened to the people on the Eastern Front between Stalin and Hitler. I quote from that text:
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