Finally, Some Passion!

Watching the American news this week in the leadup to their mid-terms, I was struck by the dichotomy between Democratic leaders and candidates and their Republican counterparts. On the one hand, you have people like Joe Biden and Barrack Obama trying to appeal to reason in their stumping, and on the other hand you have the Republicans blowing loudly and incessantly into their dog whistles (Crime! Immigration! Inflation!!!), appealing to the prejudices and passions of their people. 

It is two polarities appealing to two different planets. Platonic ideals are not exactly vehicles of galvanization.

Fortunately, Politics Girl has the antidote: some 'reasoned passion'. Be advised, however, that her language in this video may not be to everyone's taste.

Stop saying the Democrats are going to lose. It’s lazy, defeatist bullshit not at all based in truth.

UPDATED: Brittlestar Understands

 ... what the Ford government is either too arrogant or too stupid to get:

H/t Brittlestar

I imagine only those who favour government by a cadre of contemptible clowns are content right now.

UPDATE: Here's another expression of disdain for our diminished-capacity politicos:

"I'm angry."

@sid_seixeiro shares his thoughts as thousands of CUPE education workers prepare to walk off the job today.

Mr. Musk Unmasked

Once more, Unlearn16 reveals something important, and her observations I could not disagree with. Yesterday, she pierced the facade perpetrated by the Ford government about the soon-to-be striking school support staff in Ontario. This time, she turns her laser-focus on Elon Musk and his purchase of Twitter. 

Well-worth the three-minute listen.

 

The Simple Amongst Us.

The older I get, the less satisfied I am with life. Probably because I have a lifetime of context, events bother me a lot more now than they did earlier in my life. Indeed, my bleaker moments see me almost envying the simple-minded who view the world through a bifurcated lens: black is black, and white is white.

Those with life experience and a functioning brain know that things are almost never binary. Yet, to believe the idealogues amongst us, things really are that simple, even if they have to disguise that conviction, as, for example, governments are wont to do.

Take the Doug Ford 'Progressive' Conservative government in Ontario. Quite willing to use the notwithstanding clause to abrogate education workers bargaining rights, they are prepared, as of this Friday, to impose a four-year contract that offers wage increases well below the rate of inflation and amounts to a massive slap in the face of those who dare assert their rights under our Constitution.

The Progressive Conservative government's final offer was a 2.5 per cent annual raise to workers making less than $43,000, and 1.5 per cent for those earning more, either of which would mean a raise of about $1,000 per year.

One can rightly ask why these and other essential workers (nurses come readily to mind) are being treated with such disdain. My thought, for what it's worth, is that this government consists of rabid ideologues (a form of simple-mindedness, to be sure) who see the world through a specific and very narrow lens: public sector (and its attendant costs) bad: private sector good. 

One very small example of this is the $200-$250 per child the government is giving to Ontario students for tutoring, books or computer programs to help students catch up after the learning disruptions imposed by Covid. Such a gimmicky and populist ploy does little good, but it is money, of course, that will be directed to the private sector should parents choose to use it for its stated purpose. 

One wonders how those many millions of dollars could have been better used were they directed toward schools and education workers to pay the latter a living wage. But remember: public sector bad; private sector good.

I leave you with another suggestion made by Unlearn16: deem those working in education essential workers:

UPDATED: Just Wondering

I've got a busy day ahead of me, but I do have a question: Now that Team Ford in Ontario has brought down the notwithstanding clause hammer to thousands of education workers seeking relief from low wages, thereby making a mockery of collective bargaining rights, do you regret not voting in the last provincial election? And if you did vote for Ford, are you sorry now?

Or should we all just go back to sleep?

UPDATE: This is the latest from Moudakis:

It's All So Simple

 ... if you are a devotee of Fox News and its ilk.

I talked to this lady who says drugs will be handed out tonight for Halloween by “illegals” because she saw it on an “episode” of Fox News. Happy Halloween and stay safe out there.

H/t Davram

Cool And Rational

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and I suggested to him that people like us (we who strive to be rational, critical thinkers) are an endangered species and becoming largely irrelevant in the world today.

It is good to know, however, that there are passionate and articulate people who refuse to go down without a magnificent fight. Politics Girl, an American voice of sanity, is one of those people. And, by the way, her observations are relevant to our country as well, especially given that many simple-minded people blame #justinflation for all of our economic woes.