EDITORIAL One sad hermit's thoughts on the current state of the world
Our little Everly is three months old today. I'm not gonna lie: it has not been an easy three months partly due to world events, partly due to lack of sleep, and partly due to a tremendous amount of time spent at home, usually alone with my phone, my thoughts and an infant. Specifically, I spend a lot of time breastfeeding my baby girl while reading awful news stories about hate crimes and white nationalists taking over the U.S. government. The juxtaposition is almost too much to bear. Nobody really talks about what a commitment exclusive breastfeeding is. For someone who is used to being out in the community, experiencing things in person and talking to people, it is a significant lifestyle change. Yes, I am comfortable feeding her in
public, but most of the time it's easiest to just let Steve get the groceries, take Summer to gymnastics and so on. After a week or more of being a hermit, however, it becomes clear that the easiest choice isn't always the best choice. Moving only between the bed and the couch wearing the same yoga pants and t-shirt I slept in eventually takes a huge toll on my mental health and my ability to be the best mom I can to my girls - especially when current events can't help but be top of mind. So today I'm vowing to try to overcome my sadness and the inertia of do-nothingness. To get out of bed and face a world in which hate and intolerance have been unleashed to a degree I once naively assumed I'd never see so close to home. I will try to spread love in whatever way I can. It could mean picking up a few extra toys to donate to underprivileged children this holiday season. It could mean donating money and/or time to a charity that helps marginalized people. It could mean shovelling the driveway for an elderly neighbour. It
could mean working toward having more patience with my own children. Hopefully, it will mean some combination of all these things. I will also try to have the courage to call out racism, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia when they are expressed by those in my immediate circle. (Thankfully, this doesn't happen very often. In general I live in a lovely little bubble filled with good people.) There is a wonderful quote by Rumi that goes "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." One person alone cannot change the world. But many people together, helping one another and spreading love and kindness in whatever way they can - that is a force stronger than fear and hate. Those of us who believe in tolerance and equality for all must continue to have faith that one little blip - as 2016 will hopefully be remembered as - will not stop history from marching on in the right direction.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, I think that most Canadians would agree that we don’t want the kind of election that just took place in the U.S. to happen in Canada. Could someone who campaigned like Donald Trump be elected in Canada? The current system increases the chance of that happening. As in the past, less than 40 per cent of the voters could elect a government. And with 60 per cent of eligible voters casting their ballots, only 24 per cent of the electorate would choose the government. Forcing a choice as in a ranked ballot system would assure a majority vote is required. However, that would not be very different from the defacto two party system in the U.S. The government would be all powerful to enact legislation and to select supreme court justices in the long run. It could administer the state from a narrow and hateful perspective. We would like to believe that Canadian values would forestall that from happening. I don’t think that we should depend on that. Difficult times produce desperate people. We are not immune to scapegoating. The history of our relations with the indigenous people show that we are not paragons.
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Proportional representation helps avoid that development. It is possible for one party to gain an absolute majority, but that is not likely to happen. People are more likely to have a range of views that are expressed. It is true that some extreme positions might be able to be represented, but such views would be balanced by others. The nature of governance will be consideration of different points of views and building alliances. A continuum of voices will be represented. Of course, extreme conditions can arise leading to sharp divisions with reaction to the crisis giving one extreme greater moment over the situation. One sees that, in my opinion, in Israel. No system is perfect. However, we can influence the odds with how we design our system of elections. Hopefully, a proportional representation system would encourage participation. Only about 57 per cent of the voters voted in the U.S. election. Donald Trump was elected by about 28 per cent of the eligible voters. We can do better.
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Kingston Heritage - Thursday, December 1, 2016
Keep holiday revelry safe and off the roads As the Ontario Provincial Police kick off their annual Festive Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) campaign, the importance of avoiding any instance of getting behind the wheel while intoxicated is underscored – and alcohol isn’t the only inebriant that should keep you off the road. In 2015 alone, the OPP investigated 65 collisions where a drug-impaired driver was determined as the primary cause of the crash. This year, a further 59 collisions found the same factor as the root cause. And with 35 people having already died so far in 2016 due to alcohol and/or drug related collisions, the OPP is “determined to dispel the myth that driving while high on drugs cannot be detected by police,� the organization said. OPP offices receive training as ‘Drug Recognition Evaluators,’ which gives them both the tools and the authority to detect drug-impaired drivers. Through their Festive RIDE campaign, the OPP will be looking for drivers under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, and advise drivers to remember that it is not only illegal drugs that can impair one’s ability to drive – prescription medications can often have side effects that affect the ability to drive, and many medications themselves can do the same, particularly prescribed narcotics and pain-killers. And the easiest way to prevent impaired driving is to never operate a vehicle after drinking alcohol or taking drugs – prescription or otherwise. Additionally, anyone with concerns a driver may be impaired is advised to call 911 and report the driver. For those who may have celebrated with more adult beverages than they intended, the solution is equally as easy, thanks to Operation Red Nose is in full swing here in Kingston. Every Friday and Saturday until Christmas, and on December 22, 23 and 31, the service will drive clients home in their own vehicles free of charge (though they do accept donations, which admirably benefit local youth literacy programs). So now, perhaps more than any other time of year, there are no excuses for impaired driving, and the OPP will be out and active to ensure any impaired drivers on the road are properly dealt with. That’s not only good to know for all of us on the road this holiday season, but also fair warning to anyone who thinks they are above the law when it comes to impaired driving. Let’s try to make this season as safe and happy as we possibly can, Kingston! Cheers!
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