Canada Compared with US Institutional Failure Risk

Walter, Dick Morris, President Clinton’s political strategist, until Morris got caught with a hooker, wrote a book called eVote. In it he talks about information (true), misinformation (half-true through ignorance, oversight), and disinformation (purposely false, misleading). He points out that survival today depends in large part on our ability to distinguish among them, for we base our decisions, actions on what we know, or think we know. He restates your point here, and vice versa.

I just finished Mark Steyn’s After America (2011). In it he argues, that decline is one thing; fall is another. Societies go into declines, as did Rome, but its fall was rather abrupt when barbarians stormed the city. He predicts something like that is at work right now, a decline, and suddenly, an abrupt, surprise fall. What your humble servant here sees is the crack up of the now overly-centralized industrial approach to systems, e.g. education, economics, politics, etc. Steyn makes the same argument.

Morris by the way argues that the Internet, as it is now, allows us to bypass these co-opted, centralized systems.

In other words, decentralization will replace the present outmoded, dysfunctional centralization – Joseph Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” here – get the old off the road to make way for the new. We cannot save these centralized systems from themselves; we are best engaged with nurturing our own peace of mind, encouraging entrepreneurship to plant new decentralized seeds, and preserving the best traditions given to us for tomorrow, cf. the medieval monks.

I look at people around me, and on the whole, I see good people. They do not deserve to be abused. I am simply doing what I can to soften, remove the abuse.

I am now reading a fab study of the Copperheads, the anti-war Northerners. What is striking is how many of them anticipate the same arguments today, here, e.g. the preservation of some semblance of constitutional government. They also opposed over-centralization; they even proposed a third country – US, Confederates, and the Northwest Confederation of the Great Lakes States.

We are going to experience, at least here, the same stresses, as Celente argues, toward secession that once drove the agenda here. Call it secession, call it local control, call it decentralization, but it will be resistance to the over-centralized systems that in the US are bleeding us to death on many levels.

Thank God every day you are in Canada. You are not at war. You do not have vampires in charge of your economy. You do not have a parasitic under-class. Your economy is robust. You do not have people carrying concealed weapons all over the place. You are not polarized as are people here, more and more, which is frightening, for it recalls the Copperheads and the dynamics of the US Civil War. We do not need to repeat some variation on that sad story; at the present rate, we are risking institutional failure; what flows from it could be ugly.

However, God is good. We shall always be disappointed if we put our trust in men, human institutions, in the final analysis. We are off to Amish / Mennonite country in Eastern Ohio next week for several days en route to Florida. They offer a model, which we have discussed before, about how to be in but not of the world. Amen. Amen. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

Chopping Canadian Historical Wood

David, your lack of research literature has both an upside and downside. You drive home the downside clearly for the reader. The upside, however, is you have the chance to contribute original research. You are not going to footnote the seminal research of another person. This is exciting; you ought to be able to find enough research literature in related fields to help you set the stage for your original research.

This happened to your humble servant at the University of Toronto. He originally intended to study British history there for his M.A., but when he got there, thank God, faculty members pointed out that in effect British history had been written, but Canadian history was barely written in comparison with British and American histories.

The result was, thank God, I switched from British to Canadian history, where, believe it or not, I am an expert on a principal, leading "Father of Confederation," T.D. McGee, who was a Founder of the Dominion as a united country, not a series of royal colonies.

You are in the same situation. You are "chopping wood" in a totally new "forest"! Lucky you!

Immigrants save Canada for now from America's fate.

Ursula, bingo, you "hit the nail on the head."

Too many Americans have a lousy work ethic, or none at all.

As you observe, often they do not bother to show up to work.

Why should we blame business then for outsourcing production to countries with strong work ethics?

Some of the economic damage in this country has been by this country to itself because it has become lazy, undisciplined, entitlement-minded on too many levels.

The coming economic crash is going to provide a huge reality check for lots of Americans. They are not worth what they think they are.

The Wisdom of Wiarton, Ontario, Canada

Dear Sheila, there is in fact a 2005 sociological study from UC-Berkley entitled Tony Soprano’s America. The basic theme is the system is “fixed,” which threatens institutional failure as people withdraw their confidence in the so-called democratic processes. I heard Dalton Camps in person, at lunch in fact in Kingston, when I lived there, talk about this danger, institutional failure! Barbara Tuchman, the late US historian (died 1984) warned this was greatest risk for US today. Your cartoon aligns with this. I often think of you, Bob Rix, Doug Nickel, Vera and Jack Byers, V.C. Last, John Johnson. Wiarton was formative big time for your humble servant here. I want to write a series of essays entitled “The Wisdom of Wiarton.” Bob’s passing has been hard for me, for he and I worked together, walked to school together, and, like you, remained loyal friends over many years. It seems life is pulling me in other directions now, but Wiarton, you, your family, are not forgotten. You will be in my proposed book of essays! Jane and I are off to New York City in May for a week. I just joined the UEL association of Canada! It is time! We are hoping a Liberal government will replace Harper. Do not follow the US into wars in the Middle East to preserve oil company profits. We are fighting here to preserve what little social security and medicare we have. However, I am now getting serious. I do not want the problems of the world to detract from my appreciation, value of your friendship over these many years. Jane and I will probably head for Ontario later in 2011. Hopefully we can visit then. Meanwhile, God bless. Paul

Canada resembles the European, not American, approach to business.

Jose, for many years, governments in Europe lived with the very real threat of Communism. If capitalism, or business, became too greedy, too barbaric, well-organized Communist parties were present to exploit abuses and take over.

As a result, European governments developed what we call the "welfare" state. They made sure that people got proper healthcare, wages, pensions, etc.

In short, they protected capitalism from destroying itself through provoking a bloody Communist revolution.

In America, we have never had, yet, such an organized force like the Communists in Europe to "put the fear of God" into the vampires on Wall Street for destroying our economy and millions of lives in the process as poverty increases.

Your humble servant here is not a Communist. He visited East Germany and Berlin - by motorcycle - when they were under Communist control, and he knows first-hand the fear under which people live under Communism. We do not want this.

We also do not want the banksters doing whatever they want in pursuit of greed. How we curb the current economic terrorism in the US remains to be discovered. The future is going to be very interesting, and, yes, scary yet.

Elora, Ontario, Canada

Walter, in our local bookstore last week, I found a reader on the philosophy of Albert Schweitzer in his own words, writings. It was a surprise, or an act of grace, a gift from God, again. It came at the right time moment.

In effect, Schweitzer decided not to waste his time on this planet trying to save people from themselves, e.g. Western civilization. Instead, he went where he felt his gifts, values were received with a minimum of resistance. In effect, he went into exile. Yet, he did not waste his time on lost causes, e.g. World War I and World War II. Both of them loom as colossal human disasters with time and distance from the wartime propaganda generated to motivate people to engage in killing each other.

He is offering me a model. Go where your values, skills, talents are welcome. In other words, As/Is. This is how it is, and if the society, civilization is intent on destroying itself, which the American society is, we, you, I cannot stop it.

Rather, live as best we can in situations where what we can offer, share is welcome.

I often think of the Mennonites that I saw living around Elora, Ontario. In a sense they are practicing a form of Schweitzer. They are in but not of the world’s god-awful agendas. I am not a primitive here. Rather, this setting calls to me, the Elora Gorge, the scale of the village, the art, antiques, out-of-time (nobody likes the 20th and 2lst centuries if they are sane) 19th and 18th century ambience in which hope for better days still lived.

Schweitzer taught “Reverence for Life,” not Death. Life is a gift of God, and as the Bible teaches, God is not, like the Egyptian idols, a God of death. He is the God of life, and we align with this basic reality when we “Reverence Life.” This may lead us, as it did Schweitzer, to disengage from futile efforts to save people from the consequences of their follies, for as the Bibles teaches, “the wages of sin (to deny, oppose God’s design) is death” not life.

Our dialog is an expression of Schweitzer’s insight. We share with each other, because we value what each other has to share, offer. This does not waste our time, which is short enough in this world in any case.

Yes, the meditation here is Albert Schweitzer, and I plan to read his writing with great care as a guide to what comes next, God willing.

Do not despair. It is easy to do. Rather, as Schweitzer managed, be in but not of the world. So ends the sermon of the day. Paul

Religious Traditions in America and Canada

Madeline, your comments about underdogs are insightful. Here is why. In America, we encourage entrepreneurship, risk taking. The reason we do this is because in our culture to sin and to be saved from sin provides a cultural matrix in which failure does not permanently doom us. This is part of our religious revivalism that has spilled over into our secular culture. In fact, we admire the "sinner" (underdog) who has been "saved" (successful).

America and Canada share a common history of religious revivalism. However, in Canada, the estalishment churches have been Anglican and Catholic, which are not given to revival meetings. Therefore, it could be argued that Canada lacks a cultural matrix for vibrant or virulent entrepreneurship in comparison with America. However, the dominant church in Canada is the United Church of Canada in terms of numbers, and it has its roots in mainline Protestant traditions.

This writer in fact has attended open-air tent revival meetings in Ontario, Canada when he lived there. In this tradition, being a sinner and being saved mirrors the classic revivalism in America. Although the establishment churches have dominated the history of Canada, and helped to shape its culture, of course, there is ample evidence to suggest that Canada, like America, has also benefited from religious revivalism that gives failures another chance to succeed - to be entrepreneurs again.

Once upon a time in Ontario, Canada

Zeneido, when you humble servant here taught in the Ontario, Canada public school system, our management insisted that the outcomes of every class grading for a course must be a bell curve. We were under pressure to meet a "bell curve quota." Therefore, this writer would say at the start of the course, because of this bell curve requirement, some of you must fail, and you must figure out who it will be. It is sad to have to do this.

Can Americans escape to, go into exile in Canada?

Michael, I have been mulling how to describe, define “internal exile.” Here it is.

Exile means to leave behind.

External exile means to geographically leave something behind, but too often the exiles carry their emotional “baggage” and issues with them from their place of geographic exile. As a result, the causes, discomforts for exile continue.

Internal exile means to mentally, emotionally leave something behind without having to change geography. Internal exile means we do not change geographic location to drop what “eats away” at us.
Of course geographic exile in time can help with internal exile, but it does not automatically cause us to drop the emotional “baggage” that triggered the geographic exile in the first place.

In fact, 16th-century French essayist Michael Montaigne observed that without internal exile first external exile was a waste of effort. We cannot run away from emotional baggage. We must set it down good and hard when and where we are.
More and more your humble servant here is moving toward a posture of internal exile, for it is a cost-effective, realistic way to gain peace of mind in the middle of the chaotic muddle swirling around us today. He retreated to a stone tower in the countryside of France, where he lived, a form of geographic exile but on a modest scale, not immigrating to Quebec, North America.

Moreover, internal exile, parallels the four stages of life in Hindu teaching. Each stage represents twenty-five years in a human life span, 0-100:
Stage one is student.
Stage two is household.
Stage three is withdrawal – setting “thing down” to become selfish with our remaining time, energy.
Stage four is preparation – becoming spiritually centered to face our physical demise and spiritual transition to the world beyond this one.

Your humble servant here is now preparing for stage three of his life, which results in getting ready for “internal” exile. Others will do what they want, and we ought not to wear ourselves with a futile idealism about being able to change the rest.

There, old friend, you have my promised definition of internal exile.

College, Costs, and Common Sense in Canada

This recent email came from an old, dear friend in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. He and I started our teaching careers together, and we have remained loyal friends ever since.

Hi Paul,

I concur with the idea that College is not the best way to prepare people for life. The participation rate among young people in 'higher' education is greater the than % that can benefit from the notion of a 'rounded' education. Both my experience in education and knowledge of society in general supports this view. The underlieing assumption appears flawed, namely that a few years of diversion in an institution will prepare people for life when all it does is postpone reality for many young people while placing unnecessarry burden on their parents.

I think that a university education and less so a 'college' education in Ontario inculcates a sense of entitlement to a 'good' life. It also delays adulthood especially in young males at a time when there is a shortage of skilled labour. By the time we are in our teens we need to feel we are useful to society or we become self-indulgent consumers of trivia. And we need to connect to society so that we have a real stake in political outcomes. Working while training does these things.

One of my brothers taught school while doing his 'teachers college' during summers and then his degree over a ten year period. I did my teachers training in summers as well, and believe it is more useful that way since you bring questions from the classroom to class. It also seems to me that education is not served well by having teachers who have never experienced anything but school. We should actively recruit business people, tradespeople, entrepreneurs ....to become teachers so that the schools more effectively reflect the options in society and change the culture of school. Remember Illich and 'deschooling' society?

In Canada we should make university at all levels more rigorous and focus on primary research. There are many ways that people who are curious can educate themselves in our connected world.

Are you planning to go to the world futures conference? Have you attended recently? I went to one in DC years ago and was rather disappointed so am wondering about what they are like now.

I've been delving into the Enlightenment for several months- I did major work on Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution- and am finding the likes of Adam Smith, Hume, Diderot and some Germanic types much clearer in their thinking than our contemporaries. The originating ideas of modernity are all there. In our present confusion we need to go back to some first principles.

Cheers,
walter