Category: Politics

All posts on what Bismarck called “the art of the possible”

Supreme Court supportive of InSite

The Supreme Court of Canada’s unanimous decision to support Vancouver’s safe injection site is very encouraging, particularly in the present political context. Overall, the direction of Canada’s policy toward illegal drugs is depressing and frustrating. We are choosing the emulate the country with the worst drug policy in the developed world – the United States. We are pursuing a hopeless policy of prohibition, while trying to shut down options with a better chance of success, such as those that seek to reduce the harm associated with addiction.

Politicians often choose to cater to the irrational fears and biases of the general population. Judges are a bit freer to consider the ethics and evidence that bear upon a situation. That seems to be what the Supreme Court has done in this case:

During its eight years of operation, Insite has been proven to save lives with no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada. The effect of denying the services of Insite to the population it serves and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of narcotics.

Hopefully, this ruling will prompt a broader rethink of how Canada deals with drugs that are currently prohibited.

Related:

‘Living with very accommodating family members’ not a recognized option

Voting in a provincial election seems to be a tricky thing, if you have no fixed address.

In a federal election, someone can vouch for you as a being a resident in a particular riding. In a provincial election in Ontario, you need paperwork showing an address – something I do not have yet, as my apartment search continues.

The election authority suggested trying to get a letter from the human resources people at work, but I doubt that will be possible before Thursday’s election.

Consider a career in butlering

For those struggling in today’s super competitive job market, The Economist suggests becoming a butler:

 The time-poor new rich are generating demand for household staff, and this sort of work can be very well paid. A private secretary and general factotum can earn up to $150,000 a year nowadays. Salaries for standard butlers range from $60,000 to $125,000 and a head butler can make as much as $250,000, according to the website of the Butler Bureau.

You already help out the rich by absorbing their pollution, giving sweetheart loans to their companies, and bailing out their high-risk schemes when they fail. Why not make them breakfast Bloody Marys to combat post-party hangovers as well?

Stockholm’s Dialogue Police

This seems quite interesting:

Protests in Europe against Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 2009 quickly turned violent—but not in Sweden. A special unit in Stockholm, known as the Dialogue Police, is credited with this success. “They have legitimacy in the eyes of the community,” says Clifford Stott, an expert in crowd behaviour at the University of Liverpool, “because they facilitate peaceful protest, they don’t carry guns and they can’t arrest people.”

Has anyone read anything more about this organization?

Alternative ways to pay the rent

Previously, I wrote about why photography may make a better hobby than a career. I still think the points made there are valid, but I have been finding myself thinking about my options for the future and trying my hand at commercial photography and photojournalism is an option that is not entirely lacking in appeal.

It seems plausible that there will be a demand for photographers for the foreseeable future, even if the world becomes significantly poorer and less stable for whatever reason. Even as high-definition video capabilities proliferate, photos continue to have relevance and importance.

Indeed, the ability of photography to contribute to the social and political evolution of society is one of the more intriguing and appealing things about it. Photographs have power, in that they change how people think about things. Standing in the media pen in Washington DC, surrounded by police officers with guns, I made a mental note about how the still and video cameras in the hands of the journalists present were actually the more powerful tools that day – they actually had some effect on what happened, and the consequences that arose from it.

As a photographer, it would be necessary to hustle and market myself quite a bit in order to get enough work to live tolerably. There is also the requirement that you satisfy the preferences of clients rather than your own aesthetic preferences. Still, it is a possibility that could allow for significant personal freedom, which would be welcome.

Climate Reality Project

All day tomorrow, September 14th 2011, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project will be broadcasting a multinational, multilingual attempt to inform people about climate change and what ought to be done about it.

Hopefully, this will help to recapture the attention of the public and policy-makers. It has drifted a lot in the last few years, partly because those opposed to acting on climate change have been so effective at confusing people and shifting the terms of the public debate in their favour.

Loyalty

Tristan recently wrote a post on loyalty, arguing that there are a lot of ‘loyal’ behaviours that are positive and socially important. That’s fair enough, but I still think loyalty is seriously over-valued as a virtue, and that it is always at risk of becoming unethical. Loyalty blends easily into nepotism, corruption, cover-ups, and conspiracies.

The kind of people who really need die-hard supporters are those whose private actions would not be supported by many members of the population at large or by the authorities in power. Occasionally, that is not a sign that those behaviours are unethical. For example, the French resistance during WWII was undertaken by a small part of the total population. In situations where you are waging a noble fight under conditions of oppression, loyalty may be both admirable and necessary.

More often, though, activities that need to be kept secret are dubious or damaging. Loyal little bands can get ahead together largely because they conspire to flatter one another, cover up their mistakes, and general put the collective interests of their inner circle ahead of the interests of humanity as a whole. Politicians who favour loyalty over competence within their staff seem to end up making the most egregious and dramatic mistakes.

People need die-hard supporters when they lack the respect of people who disagree with them. Perhaps that is the definition of being a political moderate: having the respect of intelligent people who hold very different views.

Pedaler’s Wager photos

Thanks to the generosity of a fellow photographer, I had access to a MacBook Pro for a few hours tonight and I was able to process and upload my photos from the Clay and Paper Theatre Company’s 2011 summer show: The Pedaler’s Wager.

The show was very colourfully and professionally put on, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. At the same time, I think it may have glossed over some of the hardships of pre-industrial life and some of the benefits of the current global economy. While there are certainly many critical problems with it, and much that needs to be done to make it sustainable, I do think it serves important human needs and that those who are most critical of it are often those who benefit from constant access to its nicest features. That includes things like modern medicine, communication technology, and transport. It seems a misrepresentation to say that the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath have transported the average person from a blissful pastoral state into a situation of agonizing bondage.

Of course, the purpose of art is not to carefully express both sides of every argument. By provoking us to think in new ways, art can give us a better overall sense of context and an appreciation for important facts that were previously concealed.