It's Time to Toughen Up

We are getting soft. I'm not sure if life has become so comfortable that too many people have no real threats to concern themselves with or if extremism is taking over but we are getting pretty soft.

In the early 80's when one kid said something mean to another kid, the receiving child would  turn and recite the old adage, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.'

These days if a kid says something mean, it's now an issue on a similar scale to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ok, not really that bad but it is not handled at the lowest level. As such, teachers are stressed to their last nerve and we are making kids who become entitled adults.

My parents made me tough, maybe too tough. Sometimes I say things that other people don't like. I get in trouble for it. However, because they made me tough, when I get called out, I genuinely thank them for helping me be better. I have the strength to not be offended when somebody says something I don't like to hear. I use this strength to learn.

I'm worried about what I'm hearing about on University Campuses. Protesters are almost routinely causing controversial speakers to have their appearances cancelled. This is scary. It looks a lot like 1930's Germany when there would be book burnings in the town square. The reason to go to University is disappearing. It used to be a place to have your ideas challenged, not to have your ideas confirmed. I took one religion class when I went to the University of Manitoba. It was Death and Concepts of the Afterlife. It was taught by a wonderful professor, Rabbi Rose. During one of his many interesting lectures, he mentioned that if you go to university and don't feel like your beliefs have been challenged you should ask for your money back. 

If the values and beliefs you hold so close are in fact the best way to run your life, you should be welcoming challenges and questions because it can stand up to scrutiny. Shouting down someone who has a different point of view only shows you do not believe in your point of view, because you will not let your ideas be challenged.

There are some real nut jobs out there. They become obvious when you consume a lot of opinion from a variety of sources. Listening to people you don't particularly agree with builds your savvy. We need more of that. We need people to see and understand why someone would agree to a different point of view.

If you want to be successful, you have to be tough. There is a difference between tough and inconsiderate. You can be tough and polite. Do not get tough and rude confused. If you are really savvy, you can be tough and people will still want to work with you.

It's time to make ourselves resistant to things that don't really matter. The opinion of an uninformed person is not something you should get worked up about. If all they can do is recite a tag line, don't get so butt-hurt. Oh, and by the way, pushing back legitimizes their argument and artificially inflates their importance.

You, The Internet, and Data

Back in the late 1990's, when the World Wide Web was in it's infancy, I was in university. Everyone was so excited about how the internet was going to bring a voice to those who have not been heard in the past. It was the democratization of information. We were going to be free and out from under the thumb of the man.

Although I could see this possibility, I also was concerned that without the editorial gatekeepers, holding writers to standards, and ensuring, to the best of their knowledge, the facts they printed were true, we would be in a world of mis-information.

Irrespective if you believe that I had that thought back in the 90's, I think we can agree that the internet has vast swaths of mis-information today.

The latest uproar is the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica use of personal data to change hearts and minds in elections. This is concerning to me but not because they used data from Facebook. I'm concerned that people are so weak-minded that they are swayed by these campaigns. 

There are a lot of factors at play. People don't seek out dissenting opinions anymore. They fall victim to confirmation bias. When they hear what they want to hear they go with it. The problem is people are lazy and are taking the comfortable way out. American voter turnout is so low the path to victory is no longer providing the most appealing platform, the path to victory is motivating the base to actually show up and vote. Politicians don't need to change minds, they need to get like minded people to actually vote.

Let me say this again.

Politicians don't need to change minds, they need to motivate like minded people to actually vote.

This reduces the requirement to develop a platform that is good for all citizens. This encourages stove-piping and not talking to the other side. The lower the voter turnout is, the bigger problem this becomes. This is something that we need to fix.

The good news is we can fix it. The number one thing every citizen can do is vote. The closer a nation gets to full voter turnout, the less a "get out the vote" campaign matters. If you go from motivating your base to talking to the entire population your story will significantly change.

The second thing every citizen can do is seek out people who are different than you and spend meaningful time with them. Don't simply find out what they believe but why they feel it is the best way to do things. It may be frustrating at times but you will grow as a person.

The third thing you can do is questions the hypothesis and source of everything you read. The editorial oversight of the days of old are gone. Nobody is fact-checking for you. Is the source reliable? What is their motivation for creating this content? What are their political leanings? What have they said about other issues? Information on the internet is like advice, it's generally free and you don't have to use it.

The problem we are faced with is not a data analytics company using data about you to figure out how to talk to you. The problem is too many people are being mindless and not questioning what they are consuming.

America Would Be in Better Shape if John McCain Won the 2008 Election

First, I have to apologize for the blatant click-bait title.

Second, I have to admit that I don't know if what I am proposing would have played out, but I see it as a very plausible outcome.

On the first anniversary of the inauguration of Donald J Trump as President of the United States of America, I am taking some time to think about an alternate possibility.

If John McCain would have beat Barack Obama in 2008, I think he would have been a pretty good President of the United States of America. He is well liked, and you can see that he genuinely cares about advancing the national interest. He has a vision of how he believes his nation should operate. In that vein, it is reasonable that he would have run again in 2012. 

In 2012, if Obama had lost to McCain in 2008, I think Hillary Clinton would have secured the nomination. I also think that McCain would have done a good enough job that would have been re-elected.

Moving forward to 2016. John McCain would have served his two terms and would not be eligible for re-election. Secondly, a Republican will have been President for sixteen years, it would have been time for change, no matter how good a job McCain had done. So, after taking a cycle off, and after a loss by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama would have won the nomination for a second attempt and would be President of the United States today, likely to be re-elected in 2020 and serve until January 2025.

I also have a second course of action which I believe is possible and is much better than the current situation in The White House.

After four years, being an older gentleman, John McCain doesn't run for a second term, and the Democratic Party gives Barack Obama a second chance against, what most likely would be, Mitt Romney. Barack Obama wins in 2012 and wins re-election in 2016, and would be President today.

I'm not saying America made a mistake in 2008. Nine years ago, nobody could have predicted the pickle America has put itself in. This is simply an alternate scenario that I think would have been a much better reality that what we are enduring today.

Gord

This morning I received a notification from the CBC News app on my phone that Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip had passed away. Yes, I was notified by the CBC that a man who wrote lyrics about news breaking on the CBC had died.

I'm not usually significantly impacted by celebrity deaths. Even if I enjoy their work usually I'll take a very brief moment to reflect then I carry on with my day. The passing of Gord Downie has made me feel a lot of things. 

I listen to Rebel 101.7 a lot. Weekdays between 10 and 12 they always have two hours of commercial free music. Today they played Tragically Hip music. In fact they played the setlist from their last concert. They didn't play the actual concert but they played the studio recordings of the songs in the order that they were played at that show. A few songs they played the version off Live Between Us. As I listened, I thought about how these songs were  not just a soundtrack to much of my life but also seemed to help explain it.

I grew up near the Hundredth Meridian. The Great Plains start a bit further east but not much. The imagery in the song fit my childhood. I remember buffalo. Their songs were about a lot of different parts of Canada. Their experiences were vast and many can relate to what they said.

The bold imagery of Wheat Kings also sticks out in my head, I can see a room "Hung with pictures of our parents' Prime Ministers," and if you are of a certain age we have all received  a "Late breaking story on the CBC." It's amazing to think these lyrics came from a man who grew up in Eastern Ontario, very different in topography and feel than the Prairies but for me, he captures it.

I've seen The Tragically Hip at a variety of venues from a variety of vantage points. I have been in the last row in the house of an NHL size arena and in front of the front row because I donated a can to the food bank that night. The last time I saw them it was on a rainy night at Ottawa Blues Fest. I've had the chance to watch the band up close and watch the crowd.

The lyrics of The Tragically Hip were varied. He sang about a lot. Some of it was darker and deep and some of it was cheeky and fun.  I remember the sly grin that came across his face as he sang Poets. He had fun when he performed. 

I love to listen to music while I work. It helps the day go by and helps me focus. There was a period that I shared work space with someone who insisted we don't have music in the office. Eventually he moved onto a different position, at a different unit, in a different city. After his last day I started listening to music at work, the first song I played on my portable iPod speakers was Music @ Work. I feel like a jerk, my music at work.

I did a lot of road trips across the prairies. Before the days of iPods, I always grabbed at least one Hip CD for the trip. The music would permeate you as you drove into the sunset.

He sang about love. Bobcaygeon is a love song that speaks to me. It's about a mature love, one where you think about changing it all for someone. I always hoped to find that kind of love in my life and now I have. His lyrics explain the romance with my fiancée even though it was written long before we ever met.

I remember back in my university days when Trouble in the Henhouse was about to come out and the first single was released to radio. I got up early (at least for those days) to hear it. It was worth it. It's the only band I've ever forced myself to get get up early to hear.

He sang about hockey. It showed up in several songs. He sang about a girl "loosening my grip on Bobby Orr." It doesn't get much more Canadian than that.

Some Hip songs rocked. Some were soft. Some were fun and some talked about serious ideas. Grace Too was just really intense. However, they were all distinctly from The Tragically Hip. They were more about poetry over music. Gord Downie wasn't a great singer. When you heard him your jaw didn't drop like it would if you hear Bruce Dickinson. However, his passion rang though. You could hear him project his feelings to audience.

Then there were the rants. He's the only singer I know of that would shoot off into an unscripted stream of consciousness spoken word rant in the middle of a song. He often did it during New Orleans in Sinking but it could strike anytime. I think my favourite rant is the Killer Whale Tank, they had lots of money from the government so, it was huge.

I feel sadness that he's gone. There will never be another performance or rant. He won't be dancing with the mike stand. As I went about my day and listened to a lot of The Tragically Hip's music I found myself smiling a lot and at other times I was very sad. However, we can't cry because it's over, we have to smile because it happened. 

Gord Downie was armed with will and determination, and grace, too.

America and Guns

Last weekend America suffered through the worst mass shooting in their violent history. The second amendment to their constitution provides the right to bear arms and as such a lot of Americans own guns.

Guns are not the problem.

I am not going to whip into the guns don't kill people, people kill people argument. Although this is true it really isn't the problem.

America has a perverse understanding of firearms.

There are a lot of reasons to own a gun. You can use a gun to hunt and help feed your family. You can shoot guns for sport, in fact it is an Olympic sport. However, owning a gun for protection is not what a gun is designed for.

Firearms were designed to project the users force beyond his or her arm's length and inflict harm on the someone else. Guns do not stop bullets or knives. Guns do not prevent bombs from exploding. Guns are an offensive not a defensive tool.

Very often gun advocates say that they own a gun for protection. They talk about how they have to keep a loaded weapon under their pillow to protect their home. Keeping a loaded weapon under your pillow is not going to protect you, it may get your kid shot when they are unsupervised in you your room or a bullet to the head while you sleep.

Now, I'm not anti-gun. I've shot guns. I may shoot a gun again in the future. However, I do not live in a delusional world where guns protect people and the shooting in Las Vegas is an example of this.

It is often stated that if I have a gun, I will brandish my weapon if threatened and shoot first if necessary to protect myself. That's all well and good, as long as you know someone is about to shoot you. A gun in your ankle holster won't help you if you don't know you are in the crosshairs of an assault rifle 100 yards away.

America needs to change it's attitude about guns. It needs to understand what they do and what they can't do.

Guns don't kill people but guns don't protect people either.

The Sensitivity Olympics

We are in the middle of the Sensitivity Olympics. I heard this term a couple of weeks ago on Real Time with Bill Mahr and it has been sticking with me.

If you are not the most outraged, sensitive human on the earth, you must be a piece of scum. If you don't declare all white men as racist and sexist, you are letting them off the hook because they have the power and they set the system up for their success.

Here's the thing, within every classification of people there are good people and bad people. That is a fact. 

There are horrible white men who have done horrible things. However, being white and a man does not make you horrible by default. There are also many who are extremely generous with their time and other resources and like every group of people there are a lot in the middle.

I cannot comment on what it is like to be a minority. The closest I can come is being an anglophone working in a primarily francophone organization. Let's be honest, that's not too bad, I was effective and got my job done. However, I can appreciate that there are a lot of people in the world who have faced unreasonable barriers because of their gender or colour of their skin amongst other qualities that have no indication on how well you can do something. The evidence is overwhelming. 

For the last few months I have been spending a lot of time driving with the Uber platform. It has afforded me the opportunity to interact with a lot of different people. The platform continues to grow in popularity and the diversity of riders grows with it. Through observation, I have a few ideas that will help everyone.

First, learn to use the primary language of the land. Now, if it is your second, third, or fourth language, that becomes very obvious very quickly and nobody expects perfection. These are not the people I'm referring to. If you only use one language, learn to read and write it properly. All languages are systems used for communication. All systems work better when they are used properly. Proper sentence structure goes a long way to improving clarity and clarity goes a long way to getting what you want.

Second, be polite. Honestly, it doesn't take any more effort to be a pleasant person. If you have a question ask it in a respectful way. If a question is asked of you, answer it it promptly and respectfully.

Third, don't behave in a manner that perpetuates negative stereotypes. This doesn't help anyone. It will only draw negative attention to yourself and your group. Stereotypes can be quite harmful but when someone behaves in a manner that is consistent with a negative stereotype, it only acts to reaffirm the stereotype, which is divisive. We need inclusive behaviour, not acts that drive us apart.

There is one more thing we need to do. We need to toughen up a bit. Just because someone doesn't accept your argument, like what you have to say, or share your view on the world, it doesn't mean that they are a horrible person. When someone expresses a differing but fact based opinion you don't need to retreat to a safe space. Yes, words can make you feel uncomfortable, they can make you question what you believe, they can incite rage or hate. However, if you don't listen to words you don't like and try to understand how someone can come to that position you are setting yourself up to an impact from hot projectile lead or a fist to the nose, and those things hurt a lot more. Deep listening and understanding does not and has never incited violence. Your idea may change the world but it won't do much if you can't share it and have people understand it.

When I was in university, one of my professors told the class that if you don't question your beliefs at some point during a university education, you should ask for your money back because the institution didn't do it's job. University campuses used to be a bit scary. You headed off for higher education and you would meet people with what seemed like crazy ideas. If you took the time to listen to some of them you would find some are crazy but some might be onto something. Universities are there to change you, retreating to safe spaces doesn't change you, it only provides confirmation bias.

The rifts in the world are getting deeper and wider. We need to change this trend. We have to judge people on their individual behaviours. For the people who are marginalized, calling the majority racist is not going to advance your cause. For the majority, not being inclusive is only going to make things worse. Everyone needs to open their ears and be willing to hear the other side while behaving in a positive manner. There is too much at stake to not try and do things better.

Chill Out

The world is headed in the wrong direction. It's getting really scary. I don't know if North Korea has the capability to launch nuclear missiles. I hope they don't but let's be honest, we really don't know what capabilities are in their arsenal. 

North Korea is not an open player in the global community. They spew out a lot of propaganda which is so blatantly over the top, it's hard to know what actual technologies are at the North Korean regime's disposal.

Here's the thing, I don't think that North Korea is the biggest wild card.

Donald Trump is not doing a very good job of being President of the United States of America. He cannot seem to get any of his legislative agenda moving. He is losing the faith of the Republicans in the House of Representatives. It has be making him question himself. However, just because it's going poorly, you don't try to pick a fight with North Korea. 

The 'Fire and Fury' rhetoric has got to go. It does not make President Trump or his nation look strong. In fact it makes them look weak. President Trump looks like the kid who was bullied and all of a sudden his parents won the lottery. Now he feels like he can say and do what he wants.

Blunt force democracy can work in some situations. When you are dealing with simple people on simple issues, you can simply force things through. The world of geo-political posturing is much too complex and much too important to be handled with blunt Trump diplomacy.

Donald Trump won the general election by using a very simple message to a very specific audience. That's what the Trump Organization is good at. They know a lot about branding. Most of the products with the Trump name on them are licensing deals. They come from the world of hype. They really don't spend a lot of time operating entities. I'm not saying they don't run anything but they put their name on a lot more than they operate themselves. 

The world needs President Trump to dial it back, take a measured approach, listen to the experts and most importantly, delete his Twitter account. He can't be spewing any more garbage. Everything coming out the White House needs to be reviewed and vetted. It needs to go through all the experts.

That's the first step.

Next, America needs a new President before the next election. That's all I can really say about that.

The world needs to chill out, especially Mr Trump. If we are not careful, we are all going to pay dearly.