I do agree that polarization is one of the big problems. Message distortion, epistemic fragmentation, and economic precarity are the top three reasons I would pick. I like the solution described under Habitat for Canadians and Disinformation Inoculation. There my be limits to what we can control on the outside but if people are informed and educated, they can better analyze what is thrown at them. I've thought it would be good to combine humanities and/or history and/or some kind of liberal arts with the trades so we all have a better understanding no matter what field we go into. The long game is education which will produce educated voters. Also, I'd like to know what guardrails Canada has with respect to separated powers and ethics rules and enforcements within our courts. We've seen what's happened in the States with legal corruption. What laws does Canada have and where can they be strengthened? Also, let's change how we discuss the word, regulations, and substitute the word, protections.
absolutely agree on all counts - what a different and better frame to ask “do we want to eliminate the protections in place for workers, safety, health, and the environment” vs “do we want to eliminate red tape or the regulatory burden on business” - two very different discussions
I do wonder if thinking about it as polarization is quite right. The real issue is the rise of right wing extremism and the threat of fascism. There’s no equivalent really on the left is there? What is called extremism on the left is about strengthening democracy rather than dismantling it. We are in an in between time - the old world dying, the new world struggling to be born (Gramsci) - we could use a bit more peaceful polarization.
At the end of the post, we just added references and links to two new documents on the descent into authoritarianism and on the knock-on impacts for US aggression against Canada. The first is the March 16 substack newsletter of Yale professor Tim Snyder, mentioned and linked to in our March 17 newsletter. The second is briefing by Professor Ron Deibert to the staff of the United States’ Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, reproduced in the Globe and Mail and also with the text reproduced at the end of the post.
I would push for a 'United Free Nations' - a sort of NATO or commonwealth for democracies of the world to pool our strengths to fight the onslaught of divisive tactics from the tyrannies of the world.
As much as the courts can slow and/or obstruct authoritarians, they are not the ultimate guarantors of the rule of law. The people are sovereign and through their choices of government either protect constitutional government or abandon it. This is, of course, the famous 'weak underbelly of democracy'. Therefore, an educated and informed population is the bedrock of any democracy. It seems this has and is declining in the USA precipitously, and don't imagine this is not the case in Canada. While the population always is subject to information asymmetry, society has been largely cohesive as long as politics was about shaping facts at the margins. Now it is about outright falsehoods, slander and emotional manipulation. It is an epistemic battle about truth, no question. In the upcoming election there will be US-MAGA meddling and probably massive disinformation campaigns by allegiant tech billionaires. Every effort by as many people possible, particularly those in positions of influence, is needed to counter it. Talk to everyone---educated or not---and raise the alarm. Central point: this is about your freedom and our sovereignty as a nation.
I hope that all province's hold fast, it's not the time to engage in differences or to try and capitalize on the fearmongering that the US is trying to do. Once we have our strength we can work to achieve a fair, prosperous and United Canada.
The only positive that I can think of is that Trump was a necessary evil that forced us to rethink everything and bring the world to attention.
I do agree that polarization is one of the big problems. Message distortion, epistemic fragmentation, and economic precarity are the top three reasons I would pick. I like the solution described under Habitat for Canadians and Disinformation Inoculation. There my be limits to what we can control on the outside but if people are informed and educated, they can better analyze what is thrown at them. I've thought it would be good to combine humanities and/or history and/or some kind of liberal arts with the trades so we all have a better understanding no matter what field we go into. The long game is education which will produce educated voters. Also, I'd like to know what guardrails Canada has with respect to separated powers and ethics rules and enforcements within our courts. We've seen what's happened in the States with legal corruption. What laws does Canada have and where can they be strengthened? Also, let's change how we discuss the word, regulations, and substitute the word, protections.
absolutely agree on all counts - what a different and better frame to ask “do we want to eliminate the protections in place for workers, safety, health, and the environment” vs “do we want to eliminate red tape or the regulatory burden on business” - two very different discussions
we need to watch and learn from the dismantling of democracy and the rampage of corruption to the south https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FAfkl2m8xGS3i_jmev7_RpZvZnZfBAbrjUdilIECCRvclGjSPYaneb8YB%2F%24%7Bf%7D%3Fo%3DAizUQxJaruNb4kZgyp9nXNVOjYdqMLgbh1JL7kXweVaf%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogm2_OtiTNLmq32Wo-SyrrjqWF7f5BlOlrlvDOol54aQsSeBCUnffc1zIYlK3ysOEyIgEAKgkC6AMA_y7Q0x1SBNmdl8FaBN5vxgFqJlZ2GzNPRvjPpzMYopxFIXHE_YW0rulZ_ThiMuu8-rIhv_Vy_DpPciZR3FsiOlNtIOQOSe9rHZYY0kE-QcKrSQ2aA0tSonacnU8eHTeZEw%26e%3D1744127694%26fl%3D%26r%3D26E50F13-7951-46B9-991C-25F7F57FFAD7-1%26k%3D%24%7Buk%7D%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3D787E3058-A7EF-46B6-BF38-C654C6C60602%26p%3D133%26s%3DgbKH1K2hML9oT-iHqpK7w9jkB9M&uk=80tidg2Fpho7NEyPjlWDwA&f=video.mp4&sz=106318246
I do wonder if thinking about it as polarization is quite right. The real issue is the rise of right wing extremism and the threat of fascism. There’s no equivalent really on the left is there? What is called extremism on the left is about strengthening democracy rather than dismantling it. We are in an in between time - the old world dying, the new world struggling to be born (Gramsci) - we could use a bit more peaceful polarization.
At the end of the post, we just added references and links to two new documents on the descent into authoritarianism and on the knock-on impacts for US aggression against Canada. The first is the March 16 substack newsletter of Yale professor Tim Snyder, mentioned and linked to in our March 17 newsletter. The second is briefing by Professor Ron Deibert to the staff of the United States’ Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, reproduced in the Globe and Mail and also with the text reproduced at the end of the post.
I would push for a 'United Free Nations' - a sort of NATO or commonwealth for democracies of the world to pool our strengths to fight the onslaught of divisive tactics from the tyrannies of the world.
As much as the courts can slow and/or obstruct authoritarians, they are not the ultimate guarantors of the rule of law. The people are sovereign and through their choices of government either protect constitutional government or abandon it. This is, of course, the famous 'weak underbelly of democracy'. Therefore, an educated and informed population is the bedrock of any democracy. It seems this has and is declining in the USA precipitously, and don't imagine this is not the case in Canada. While the population always is subject to information asymmetry, society has been largely cohesive as long as politics was about shaping facts at the margins. Now it is about outright falsehoods, slander and emotional manipulation. It is an epistemic battle about truth, no question. In the upcoming election there will be US-MAGA meddling and probably massive disinformation campaigns by allegiant tech billionaires. Every effort by as many people possible, particularly those in positions of influence, is needed to counter it. Talk to everyone---educated or not---and raise the alarm. Central point: this is about your freedom and our sovereignty as a nation.
We were at war with the US a few times in our past, we won then and we'll win again 👍
I hope that all province's hold fast, it's not the time to engage in differences or to try and capitalize on the fearmongering that the US is trying to do. Once we have our strength we can work to achieve a fair, prosperous and United Canada.
The only positive that I can think of is that Trump was a necessary evil that forced us to rethink everything and bring the world to attention.