Walden Cabin: Observations typed on an old Underwood

Thursday, February 21, 2002

Groundswell
I'm getting lots of great mail about my political rant, posted yesterday (below). One person suggested I pack up my family and flee Ottawa, forgetting politics for a while -- "paint, meditate, farm". It does sound good! Another reader wrote about my call for an alternative energy solution: "Set an example, and get rid of your car." Great idea, but you first, buddy. As soon as there's an affordable, mid-sized hybrid car, I'm buying it. Incidentally, the technology to make one widely available has been around for over a decade. Why we don't have them on our streets has less to do with technological hurdles than lack of demand. Thanks to saturation advertising, the public is more interested in Web-enabled cell phones and other superfluous communications junk. (And billions of dollars has been spent introducing them into the market -- think about that the next time you see cell towers winking across the skyline at night). For more information along these lines, see a fantastic article, "Why Technology is Failing Us: and How We Can Fix It" in Shift Magazine.

I love this discussion: Keep sending mail. What's most fun, but least surprising, is that no one is jumping to the defence of the Prime Minister, our "leader". Last time I met him in person (for a client photo shoot) he asked me, "So, you for your company, you spend lots of time skating on the Internet?"

'Nuff said.

posted by Stuart Hickox | 12:49 PM

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

Storm the Peace Tower
Something in me yearns for a knock-em-down, clear-the-decks political revolution in Canada. But a revolution will never happen here. We Canadians like to be told what to do, what to believe. Our Prime Minister lies, twists, denies, shrugs, and we let him get away with it. I'm not a big fan of Pierre Trudeau, but he had something right when he said he'd rather see Canada go out with a bang, not a whimper. Who's crying now? Anyone who still believes we can be more than a backwater nation of wannabes.

I'm a hopeless idealist. I know it because people tell me (frankly, I don't take it as an insult). They roll their eyes in their heads when I get exasperated and start to wave my hands and talk about "what we should do as a country". I still believe we need a Prime Minister that takes a stand and that tries to engage the collective imagination. And what's wrong with that? Why do people groan when I say this? Canadians have had great ideas before!

- Someone once had the nerve to declare that we would connect Atlantic to Pacific by rail. Across the Rockies? Never! Impossible!
- Someone once said that women in this country should be recognized as "people", and be accorded the rights and responsibilities of such status. Heavens, no! Imagine!!
- Another person dared to suggest that the state could provide universal, comprehensive health coverage.
- Yet another recognized that while we would never dominate the world, but we could police it, and work for peace where there is war. Good Lord, how could that be!?

Those things were all achieved, we take them for granted. And now many of our greatest achievements are being stripped away. Still we do nothing.

What are our leaders saying today? Nothing. Squat. Diddle.

Are there pressing global issues for which Canada could provide leadership? Hell, yes: Children are starving to death at 35,000 per day around the world. While the US makes war, we could broker peace. The world needs pioneering research in alternative energy to avert an ecological disaster. International trade discussions lack a mediating voice between social unrest and corporate domination. Players in millenia-old religious wars could use the patient perspective of a mature, multi-ethnic, panentheistic nation.

Are we meeting any of these needs, or any others? No. None. Is anyone even suggesting we do? Nope. We're cowed by cheap gas, SUVs and box retailers. And, meanwhile, Mr. Chrétien can do whatever the hell he wants.

History will be his judge. And ours.

posted by Stuart Hickox | 9:00 PM



	Thursday, February 21, 2002 Groundswell I'm getting lots of great mail about my political rant, posted yesterday (below). One person suggested I pack up my family and flee Ottawa, forgetting politics for a while -- "paint, meditate, farm". It does sound good! Another reader wrote about my call for an alternative energy solution: "Set an example, and get rid of your car." Great idea, but you first, buddy. As soon as there's an affordable, mid-sized hybrid car, I'm buying it. Incidentally, the technology to make one widely available has been around for over a decade. Why we don't have them on our streets has less to do with technological hurdles than lack of demand. Thanks to saturation advertising, the public is more interested in Web-enabled cell phones and other superfluous communications junk. (And billions of dollars has been spent introducing them into the market -- think about that the next time you see cell towers winking across the skyline at night). For more information along these lines, see a fantastic article, "Why Technology is Failing Us: and How We Can Fix It" in Shift Magazine. I love this discussion: Keep sending mail. What's most fun, but least surprising, is that no one is jumping to the defence of the Prime Minister, our "leader". Last time I met him in person (for a client photo shoot) he asked me, "So, you for your company, you spend lots of time skating on the Internet?" 'Nuff said. posted by Stuart Hickox \| 12:49 PM Tuesday, February 19, 2002 Storm the Peace Tower Something in me yearns for a knock-em-down, clear-the-decks political revolution in Canada. But a revolution will never happen here. We Canadians like to be told what to do, what to believe. Our Prime Minister lies, twists, denies, shrugs, and we let him get away with it. I'm not a big fan of Pierre Trudeau, but he had something right when he said he'd rather see Canada go out with a bang, not a whimper. Who's crying now? Anyone who still believes we can be more than a backwater nation of wannabes. I'm a hopeless idealist. I know it because people tell me (frankly, I don't take it as an insult). They roll their eyes in their heads when I get exasperated and start to wave my hands and talk about "what we should do as a country". I still believe we need a Prime Minister that takes a stand and that tries to engage the collective imagination. And what's wrong with that? Why do people groan when I say this? Canadians have had great ideas before! - Someone once had the nerve to declare that we would connect Atlantic to Pacific by rail. Across the Rockies? Never! Impossible! - Someone once said that women in this country should be recognized as "people", and be accorded the rights and responsibilities of such status. Heavens, no! Imagine!! - Another person dared to suggest that the state could provide universal, comprehensive health coverage. - Yet another recognized that while we would never dominate the world, but we could police it, and work for peace where there is war. Good Lord, how could that be!? Those things were all achieved, we take them for granted. And now many of our greatest achievements are being stripped away. Still we do nothing. What are our leaders saying today? Nothing. Squat. Diddle. Are there pressing global issues for which Canada could provide leadership? Hell, yes: Children are starving to death at 35,000 per day around the world. While the US makes war, we could broker peace. The world needs pioneering research in alternative energy to avert an ecological disaster. International trade discussions lack a mediating voice between social unrest and corporate domination. Players in millenia-old religious wars could use the patient perspective of a mature, multi-ethnic, panentheistic nation. Are we meeting any of these needs, or any others? No. None. Is anyone even suggesting we do? Nope. We're cowed by cheap gas, SUVs and box retailers. And, meanwhile, Mr. Chrétien can do whatever the hell he wants. History will be his judge. And ours. posted by Stuart Hickox \| 9:00 PM				(02.21.2002) Turning 20 was a gas. In 1987, Canada mingled in Nice, to mixed effect. >> See the Revealing full photo. >> See the cover photo archive. (01.15.2002) Digging in. Walden tree day 1995 Chestnuts and crazy volunteers at the top of the hill. See the Walden Tree Day Photo Album. (01.07.2002) Jasper: Don't label me. None required, son. Critical observations of early '02. (11.19.2001) Walden Cabin 1996 See the photos. Updated - September 12, 2001 Head for the Hills of Prince Edward Island Walden Cabin >> "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front the essential facts of life and to see if I could learn what they had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Walden; Or Life in the Woods (08.21) Walden Cabin is a publishing creation of Accolade Intermedia, an Ottawa-based communications company that specializes in content-rich Web products. www.accolade.ca >>
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