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.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
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.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Canada as an island of sanity in chaos
Walter, this reminds me of “counter-factual” or “what-if” history. As Taleb argues, we play tricks on the dead (Napoleon’s definition of history) when we impost a cause-effect logic on past events that in fact were not there and only reflect the angst of our times. We select facts, which is the theme of axiology in philosophy – we seek what is of value to us.
I just finished reading The German Crisis published in 1932. An American named Knickerbocker wrote it after a year’s field study of Germany, and the last chapter includes a person interview with Hitler by the author! I read this book with the same frame of mind you suggest. Nobody in 1932 knew what was going to happen, and this is reflected in the book.
Moreover, his observations of an economy in collapse may serve as a theme, warning for us today, which also overlaps with your interest. I happened to find it by “accident” at the Canadian Bible Society thrift store in Chatham, Ontario, one of our must stops when we visit. It cost $.50, but its intellectual stimulus is worth far far more.
The seminal ideas today are Chaos Theory and Complexity, which are at the heart of Taleb. We are in effect watching the crack up of highly-centralized systems as the network logic of Internet technologies begin to reshape how things work best now. I am not saying we are going to return to a pastoral life, but we are going to Reset as Richard Florida at U of T puts it in his latest book, 2010, The Great Reset, which I highly recommend.
Here, we are watching the collapse, ongoing, of the middle class, or what is left of it. We are also moving toward institutional failure, which is a byproduct of greed and over-centralization. Dalton Camp predicted both of these trends in 1976 when I lunched with him in Kingston, Ontario after a teacher conference. He warned about the trends toward middle class collapse and institutional failure.
Thank God, in Canada, the Scottish values of hard money have prevailed to shield, buffer you from what is coming here. In fact, I keep my sanity by knowing that a place like Canada does exist. It is possible to live peacefully, productively, sanely in this world yet. Yes, it is possible. Canada is proof.
Here, we more and more have social depression on top of individual depression. We have people who cannot find work, and those who have it are more and more exploited by the system, 60’s talk there.
So, as far as your humble servant here can see, chaos and complexity are in the saddle, and what comes from this, self-organization and creative destruction, remains to be seen, but we can pick up the pieces. We will not put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Humpty Dumpty is yesterday. We can invent a saner future, tomorrow
I just finished reading The German Crisis published in 1932. An American named Knickerbocker wrote it after a year’s field study of Germany, and the last chapter includes a person interview with Hitler by the author! I read this book with the same frame of mind you suggest. Nobody in 1932 knew what was going to happen, and this is reflected in the book.
Moreover, his observations of an economy in collapse may serve as a theme, warning for us today, which also overlaps with your interest. I happened to find it by “accident” at the Canadian Bible Society thrift store in Chatham, Ontario, one of our must stops when we visit. It cost $.50, but its intellectual stimulus is worth far far more.
The seminal ideas today are Chaos Theory and Complexity, which are at the heart of Taleb. We are in effect watching the crack up of highly-centralized systems as the network logic of Internet technologies begin to reshape how things work best now. I am not saying we are going to return to a pastoral life, but we are going to Reset as Richard Florida at U of T puts it in his latest book, 2010, The Great Reset, which I highly recommend.
Here, we are watching the collapse, ongoing, of the middle class, or what is left of it. We are also moving toward institutional failure, which is a byproduct of greed and over-centralization. Dalton Camp predicted both of these trends in 1976 when I lunched with him in Kingston, Ontario after a teacher conference. He warned about the trends toward middle class collapse and institutional failure.
Thank God, in Canada, the Scottish values of hard money have prevailed to shield, buffer you from what is coming here. In fact, I keep my sanity by knowing that a place like Canada does exist. It is possible to live peacefully, productively, sanely in this world yet. Yes, it is possible. Canada is proof.
Here, we more and more have social depression on top of individual depression. We have people who cannot find work, and those who have it are more and more exploited by the system, 60’s talk there.
So, as far as your humble servant here can see, chaos and complexity are in the saddle, and what comes from this, self-organization and creative destruction, remains to be seen, but we can pick up the pieces. We will not put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Humpty Dumpty is yesterday. We can invent a saner future, tomorrow
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Future of Business in Canada
Joshua, yesterday, my lawyer and I had a short debate about the purpose of business. He gave the pat answer, "Make money." I quoted Peter F. Drucker, "Create jobs." Profits exist as a measure of efficiency and as a surplus to reinvest in operations and training to keep the business competitive - not take the money to Swiss banks and gut the business.
Joseph F. Schumpeter, an economist at Harvard at the start of the 20th century made this argument. Profits exist to reinvest to create more jobs and profits. People needs jobs to live; society has the absolute right to devise any rules it wants to make sure its members live. Drucker recyles Schumpeter.
Germany today in fact follows Schumpeter, and it has the second highest export business in the world - after China. Moreover, its workers receive some of the highest pay and benefits in the world. It is because Germany reinvests the profits into improved operations(equipment, techniques, processes) and training of the workforce and management.
Germany is proof that we need not to be a Third World country to be competitive today and have jobs enough for our people. See the website of David McWilliams, an Irish busineess analyst, writer, for an excellent article on this by him.
Without a profit, you have nor surplus. Without a surplus, you cannot innovate to remain competitive. This writer is totally for profits if we reinvest those profits to stay in business and to create more business. Business is about jobs in the final analysis. The sooner American digest this the sooner we will know how to "set our house in order."
It is not take the money and run.l It is take the money and recycle it into competitive equipment and training.
Thus ends the sermon for today.
Amen.
Dr. Rux
Joseph F. Schumpeter, an economist at Harvard at the start of the 20th century made this argument. Profits exist to reinvest to create more jobs and profits. People needs jobs to live; society has the absolute right to devise any rules it wants to make sure its members live. Drucker recyles Schumpeter.
Germany today in fact follows Schumpeter, and it has the second highest export business in the world - after China. Moreover, its workers receive some of the highest pay and benefits in the world. It is because Germany reinvests the profits into improved operations(equipment, techniques, processes) and training of the workforce and management.
Germany is proof that we need not to be a Third World country to be competitive today and have jobs enough for our people. See the website of David McWilliams, an Irish busineess analyst, writer, for an excellent article on this by him.
Without a profit, you have nor surplus. Without a surplus, you cannot innovate to remain competitive. This writer is totally for profits if we reinvest those profits to stay in business and to create more business. Business is about jobs in the final analysis. The sooner American digest this the sooner we will know how to "set our house in order."
It is not take the money and run.l It is take the money and recycle it into competitive equipment and training.
Thus ends the sermon for today.
Amen.
Dr. Rux
Canada and the Future of Food Prices
As a food-rich country, Canada can profit from the coming jump in world food prices.
The Future of Food
The low cost of food in the history of America, which has shaped its economy, is probably coming to an end. Here is why.
Wanda, yes, look for food prices to rise, not fall. Therefore, commodities could be a smart investment, field of work. I am not a financial advisor; however, it is logical. China wants more food. India wants more food. Both China and India are gaining purchasing power. They, and others, will begin to raise the bidding for food. The same process will happen to oil and other commodities.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the fabulous book The Black Swan, the 2007 classic on how chaos theory and complexity theory impact economic behavior, and one of my intellectual heroes, last week that two fields will be growth fields in the coming economic collapse: health care (demographics) and food (commodities).
Yesterday, I told this to an old friend who is now manager of a new health food store here. He is on trend with Taleb. People will eat better to better manage health care costs.
In short, for Americans, the era of low food prices is going to come to an end. More and more of our paychecks, if we have one, will go to purchase necessities.
This is why trend forecasters like Gerald Celente advise their clients to invest in farm land, start their own gardens, and pay close attention to supply and demand dynamics for food.
The Future of Food
The low cost of food in the history of America, which has shaped its economy, is probably coming to an end. Here is why.
Wanda, yes, look for food prices to rise, not fall. Therefore, commodities could be a smart investment, field of work. I am not a financial advisor; however, it is logical. China wants more food. India wants more food. Both China and India are gaining purchasing power. They, and others, will begin to raise the bidding for food. The same process will happen to oil and other commodities.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the fabulous book The Black Swan, the 2007 classic on how chaos theory and complexity theory impact economic behavior, and one of my intellectual heroes, last week that two fields will be growth fields in the coming economic collapse: health care (demographics) and food (commodities).
Yesterday, I told this to an old friend who is now manager of a new health food store here. He is on trend with Taleb. People will eat better to better manage health care costs.
In short, for Americans, the era of low food prices is going to come to an end. More and more of our paychecks, if we have one, will go to purchase necessities.
This is why trend forecasters like Gerald Celente advise their clients to invest in farm land, start their own gardens, and pay close attention to supply and demand dynamics for food.
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