Dogmatic Revision Inertia

I wrote this twelve years ago and it is even more pertinent today than it was then:

I have been devoting some thought toward the paradigm paralysis that is infecting western society and causing us to accept two dimensional and short sighted leadership despite the overwhelming evidence that our culture is in decline. Somehow we have arrived at this point in time where our culture’s materialistic ambitions have appreciated beyond our spiritual values. If the planet is going to have a minimal chance of survival, people are going to have to adjust their definition of quality of life to include the quality of the air they breath, the water they drink, the food they eat, and the company they share.

Values can be classified into two groups: Personal Values and Cultural Values. I believe that as individuals, on a whole, our personal value system tends to be compatible with a peaceful, healthy planet. Our cultural values however, contradict our personal values and are actually systematically destroying those personal values. The crux of the matter is that cultural values tend to be doctrinal and ideological in nature and rooted in political and religious dogma making them very difficult to change. Where does one begin?

If, as individuals, we begin demanding our leadership represent our personal values, cultural values would shift to reflect this ideology. The problem with dogma is that it is taught and passed down from teacher to student. Very little creative thought is applied to qualify learned dogma and it tends to be accepted without question. In order to deconstruct accepted dogma, one must be motivated to consider alternative tenets.

Part of the problem with trying to initiate change is obtaining access to the people who need to listen. Typically lectures and dissertations are only attended and read by others who already have an interest in the subject or issue being presented. These people are already convinced and therefore not our primary target. This is why post secondary institutions are a hot bed of activism. Many students have a veil lifted from their eyes when they are forced to read and research assignments on subjects chosen by their programs, not themselves. Anyone in a teaching position has the power and responsibility to lift that veil of indifference from each and every one of their students. Dogma must become rooted in empirical experience and a priori deduction as opposed to the acceptance of indiscriminate convictions.

The bottom line again is accountability. If we become accountable as teachers for eliminating mindless indifference and if we become accountable as individuals for demanding representation of our personal values by our leaders, our society will begin to adopt cultural values that are more in harmony with our planet’s needs.

“No country or people who are slaves to dogma and the dogmatic mentality can progress, and unhappily our country and people have become extraordinarily dogmatic and little-minded” - Jawahairal Nehru (1889 - 1964)

Election

So I participated in the Climate March yesterday. Full confession - it wasn’t my first and it won’t be my last.

I’m not a big fan of protests but we are running out of options to get some ideas through to those in charge. The scientists have spoken and it is pretty much unanimous - we’ve screwed up our environment and we are about to pay the price. The time for change is long past and so it is now or never. Yet the people with the power and responsibility to guide us in the right direction seem reluctant to change the destructive course we are currently on.

Whenever I hear a politician utter the propaganda that we need to temper any positive change for the environment with caution so that we do not affect the economy, I am dumbfounded. Do they think the science cares about the economy? You can’t eat the money in your wallet and you can’t buy food that is not available. We need to think about what is truly important and when I do that, I do not see anything more important than Mother Earth. Everything we have is due to her - INCLUDING OUR PRECIOUS ECONOMY! Destroy her and we destroy ourselves.

Vote for your future, our children are depending on you.

“The general population doesn’t know what’s happening, and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know.” – Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)

It Is Time

The past provincial election ramped up the divisive rhetoric about the provincial economy and the climate change disaster. The current federal election is proving to be just as divisive along the same issues.

I don’t understand the “Alberta First” attitude when it comes to the oil industry. Our economy is in the mess it is in because we have no other industry in this province. If a politician really wants to put Alberta first, you would think they would be running on a platform of economic diversification, not doubling down on coal and petroleum. For a province that is traditionally conservative, you would think there would be more people speaking out about the over-subsidization of the oil industry. As lawyer Eugene Kung famously said: “The idea of building this [Trans Mountain pipeline] expansion, which essentially locks in production and expansion of the oil sands for the next several decades, is the exact wrong direction we need to go. It'd be like building a Blockbuster Video franchise in 2012."

The point is, oil is past its prime. Holding out for just one more boom is basically the low hanging fruit that gets gobbled up by politicians with no plan or ethics. That strategy only serves to get them elected, it does not serve the future of the population they supposedly represent.

My livelihood has always depended upon the petroleum industry. I have lived through many booms and busts and my family benefited and suffered accordingly. I don’t understand why we continue to allow our politicians to lock us into an economy that is dependent upon a dying industry. Yes jobs are on the line but we don’t see blacksmiths lining up for subsidies to keep their industry alive. It is tough but we need to adapt. Economies must evolve.

“My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil.” - J. Paul Getty (1892 - 1976)

Respect

Respect can be a difficult concept to truly understand. Everyone, even psychopaths, eventually will figure out how to show respect. It is one of those things we learn to do to get what we want. Just because you can show it doesn’t mean you know it.

Respect is something either you have or you don’t. There are not degrees of respect. When you know respect it permeates into all your actions, not just some of them.

The planet needs less selfishness. We don’t even have enough people showing respect let alone knowing respect. Everything doesn’t have to include the “what’s in it for me” proposition. The best way to help yourself is to put others first. Think before you act and make sure your actions reflect your values not your wants and for everyone’s sake, please learn to recognize the difference.

“If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die.” - Maya Angelou (1928- 2014)

Lost

The first time she touched me, she was using me for a demonstration for her class. She had me throw a punch and hold it up in the air while she simply blocked it with a knife hand and kept the blade of her hand touching my forearm as she explained the technique to her class. This is the most vivid memory I have of her. The power I could feel emanating off of her hand was the most intimidating thing I have ever felt. I stood there and felt like a fool as I lost control and started to giggle. It was not a “this is funny” type of giggle. More like a “I am about to die” nervous giggle. I may have towered over her and was triple her weight, but there was no doubt as to who was in control. I have never felt more helpless.

On December 27th, it will be three years since Master Margitte Hilbig left us. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t mourn the loss. I owe a lot to her generosity and kindness while the experience and knowledge that left with her is unfathomable. I would give anything to have another hour with her.

“Every one of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive.” - Haruki Murakami (b. 1949)

Greta Thunberg

“I have not come to offer prepared remarks at this hearing, I am submitting this report as my testimony because I don’t want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists. And I want you to unite behind the science. And then I want you to take action.”

While the rest of us argue about the obvious climate crisis, a teenager is showing the world how it should be done with her simple 8 sentence letter to the US Congress. The time for hearings and committees is long past. It is time for action.

“You don’t listen to the science because you are only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before. Like now. And those answers don’t exist any more. Because you did not act in time.” - Greta Thunberg (b. 2003)

Politics

We have another federal election coming up in a few weeks. I know I have vented a lot in the past on issues that could be interpreted as being political in nature but I have never seen myself as political. However, I am definitely opinionated when it comes to what the job of representing me in the House of Commons entails.

What I hate about elections and how our government is run is the fact that my personal representative in the House of Commons represents a political party and only a political party. I have no representation at all. This frustrates me to no end. Why the heck are we paying the salaries of 338 MPs if they are all just going to vote their party line? Why not give the party leaders x amount of votes and leave it at that? It would save a heck of a lot of money and end the charade that we somehow have individual representation. Before you tow the party line and tell me that my MP is my access to the party leader, stop being so naive. People who tell me that have never taken the time to meet their MP about their concerns. I have. They barely have better access to their party leader than you do. Unless your MP is a minister or better yet, the Prime Minister, you have no access period.

So if you are running for a political party that has a known liar as its leader, I am not going to vote for you. If you are running for a political party that is claiming to be “fiscally conservative” but have run up the biggest deficit in Canadian history when you ran the country - see my first sentence in this paragraph.

I plan on voting for a party that stands on its platform and promotes positive engagement. I’m not going to vote for you if all you do is complain about the other guys. Tell me what you are going to do to fix the problem, how you are going to pay for it, and the timeline until completion. If your party has made those same promises in the past and failed to deliver when they were given power, stop wasting my time with your lies.

If you want my vote, convince me that you are going to govern for the welfare of all your people. I am not going to vote for you if your only focus is going to be on those of us who voted for you. This is not a you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours situation. You have a job to do that is important and a lot of people without a voice are depending upon you to be theirs.

Lastly, if you depend on big business to support your election, you are not fit for office. You are there to represent the little guy. The big guys already have a seat at the table and they have enough privileges and breaks. Stop selling the lie of trickledown economics.

“There are more than three million young eligible voters in this country and as far as any of the political parties are concerned, you might as well all be dead. In fact in some elections, in Quebec for example, the dead have a higher voter turn out.  It is the conventional wisdom of all political parties that young people will not vote. And the parties, they like it that way. It's why your tuition keeps going up.  So please, if you're between the age of 18 and 25 and you want to scare the hell out of the people that run this country, this time around do the unexpected. Take 20 minutes out of your day and do what young people all around the world are dying to do.  - Vote.” - Rick Mercer (b.1969)