"Radical Environmentalists" and Other Hyperbole

So, I did not jump into the fray when in January Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver proclaimed that opponents of the oil sands pipeline are "radicals" who "use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada’s national economic interest".

Since, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews grouped critics of a Conservative bill with child pornographers. The bill would allow law enforcement to access Canadians' electronic communications without warrant.

Anyhow, this graphic was just too on point not to share.

The Drive to Belong

Rather then being neurological wired to compete we are actually empathic. This means that we can't fall prey to the usual shrug following diagnosis of war, or selfishness, or greed because "the human condition" is not inherently a Machiavellian one.

This empathic drive is described by Jeremy Rifkin as something that allows us to extend our "families" to religious or political or national association. He goes so far as to say that empathic potential, combined with the internet and technologies that connect us to people all over the world, means we can extend our notion of "families" and rethink our human narrative to include empathic socialization. In other words, if you are familiar with the in group bias this means that we would extend our in group to all of humanity by accepting our primary nature to feel compassion for one another.



For more on cooperation instead of competition see here.

Honesty as an anecdote to political apathy?

The Public Policy Forum's Annual Gordon Osbaldeston Lecture was delivered in November 2011 by Allan R. Gregg on the topic of authenticity as a means of restoring faith in politics and government. Gregg makes his point resonate by referring to Rob Ford and Naheed Nenshi, two radically different mayors, who equally galvanized the public with their "what you see is what you get" approach.

Given that one of my earlier blog posts A Lesson in Deceit: Admit, Thank, Boast, Repent, Move On spoke to the lack of honest dialogue in Canadian federal politics, I decided to come back with a more positive piece on how naked truth can make good politics.

The entire lecture by Gregg can be read here.

Pages 21-22 hold some bluntly honest policies (excerpt below).

What if someone stood up and said:

"We must invest in new environmental technologies and alternative energy but no one should expect this to be a panacea or wholesale replacement for fossil fuels. This is the reality of our economy and a major part of a lifestyle that we have come to enjoy and expect. But if we are to take our responsibility - seriously as stewards of the planet and parents to our children - we must commit to reducing our carbon emissions. For the foreseeable future, there is only one way to do that and that is to monetize and tax carbon." 

Bottom line, honesty is not political suicide, people desire politicians they can believe. This thinking even dates back to Sun Tzu.

I'd also go a step further and say that honesty is the best catalyst for forming meaningful connections in relationships, regardless of their nature.