Discover, Damnit!
Whenever I get going enthusiastically about science, and especially about space exploration, giggles are a pretty common reaction. The reasons for derision vary, of course.
Some of us think that money spent on exploring and understanding the universe would be better spent solving problems here on Earth. Aside from being a red herring of an argument – since there will always be problems on Earth of some kind – this argument presents an incredibly depressing contention about the state of human life: that things have gotten so bad, we can’t afford big dreams anymore.
Lighten Up, Nudnik!
I’m glad I’m a Jew – and I’m a pretty shitty one. I haven’t been bar mitzvah’d, I eat shrimp rings in two seconds flat, hell, I don’t even believe in God. Thanks to the wonderful world of the Torah, though, my one Jewish grandparent is my pass into the chosen people.
Childish Things
Perhaps it’s a symptom of the perverse materialism of our culture, or the rigidly logical behaviour that we are taught to expect and demand from our world. Perhaps we simply have too much else to do with our mental time. Whatever the reason, the result is quite clear: the legends in our lives step much more lightly today than they once did.
Beautiful Chaos
My relationship with conflict has always been, for lack of a better word, conflicted. Like most of us, I think, I want to change the world. I recognize that to do that, conflict is inevitable. Indeed, I think we must seek out conflict with the ideas, structures, and preconceptions that walk all over so many innocent people.
Wine, Words & Wisdom
As I sit down to write this, I’m staring down the couch at a half empty bottle of cheap French merlot. It’ll be empty by the time I shut my laptop, and my head will be full of memories of four long years of wine-drenched academic effort. It’s not like me to be maudlin about it, but these bottles sometimes have a heart of their own.
Keep Looking
It is wise to be skeptical of the term “community,” especially at Laurier. Too often, “community-building” translates into the squashing and forming of individuality into some sort of bland and bound groupthink. It doesn’t particularly matter where this happens – it could be while yelling color-coded chants during O-week or while signing onto a cause just for the sake of being involved in something.
Cheer Up
In this information-heavy age, we spend our days surrounded by statistics. Many of them aren’t particularly cheerful. We hear about the hundreds of thousands dying in this war or that one, the millions suffering from AIDS, malnutrition, or bad water. For every cause, there is a sheaf of numbers attached, columns of zeroes screaming for attention. You’d be forgiven for thinking that quality life on Earth is on a downward path. This is certainly a commonplace perception. It is also, thankfully, wrong.
Global Citizen? I Think Not
At the recent “Global Citizenship Conference,” held here at Laurier a few weeks ago, there were hundreds of motivated people, countless great ideas, and endless discussions. It was phenomenal. One common theme, though, was how the wrongs of the world could be righted if only we re-arranged our identities and began to think of ourselves as citizens not of Canada, but of the world. Very nice, very warm, and very misguided.
The Real Afghanistan
For the first time in two generations, Canada is at war. The 2500-odd pairs of Canadian boots pounding the dust in Afghanistan aren’t there to separate old enemies or protect a fragile peace. Canada is in Afghanistan to fight a long, dirty, and brutal counterinsurgency campaign against a diverse group of factions, men only united under the label of “Taliban” when they are too dead to argue the point.
A Starting Point
If there’s one thing the Environmental movement has in abundance, it’s moral certitude. It’s accepted that educating people is the way forward, that if we dissolute and decadent Westerners realize the destructive impact our lifestyles have on the Earth, we will change. We swim in a sea of platitudes. Even those campaigning against the environmental movement pay lip service to the value of a healthy earth.
Democracy, Cowardice and Commodification
Welcome to the wonderful free world, my friends. We can all count ourselves lucky to be among the chosen few. We’re rich, fat, and happy. We have more control over our destinies, both individual and collective, than at any other time in human history. Let’s check cynicism at the door for the moment and remember that we live in a state that is law-bound to act according to our wishes, and in a global climate where that type of state is seen as the be-all and end-all of human development.
Worshipping the Automobile: Car Culture as Civic Religion
Sixty years ago, this city was a haven for pedestrians. There were well-developed streetcar lines, a bus system and frequent train connections to every city and town in the area. Life without a car was not only possible, it was commonplace. So, what the hell happened? How did Kitchener-Waterloo become a concrete wasteland, a place where the car-less life has become an odyssey? What fed the cancerous growth of suburban development, of big-box stores and streets without sidewalks?
On Being a Little Kid
I remember, quite clearly, what it was like to be small. And by small, I mean really small. Knee-high, out-of-sight, toddler small. Maybe it’s the clarity of the memories, or maybe their sheer distance from my clumsy and inconveniently large current self, but I’ve been reflecting quite often recently on what it was like to be two, or four, discovering the world anew.
Escaping the Everyday Drudgery of Canada
Spending a summer abroad in Europe, even working, has a whiff of romance about it. Museums, cathedrals, and train journeys all seem quite exotic, especially from your desk during April exam time. I jumped at the chance to spend the summer in England, paid in pounds sterling and British culture. Having the opportunity to settle down for a few months in another country is wonderful; I’ve always been a bit of a frenetic traveler, never spending more than a few weeks or a month in any one place.
Underworld
when the sun is gone
the light flows like
so much water
