Harper's Wager: Casualties for Global Influence
“The mounting Canadian death toll in Afghanistan is the price of leadership that comes with playing a significant role in global affairs”: Stephen Harper.
Note the statement. And think about the mind set of the Canadian leader who made it.
The statement is crass and vulgar. It is utilitarian in its willingness to trade blood for influence. It measures the worth of Canada and Canadians in quantitative terms---more casualties, more influence.
The statement sweeps to one side the moral worth of the Canada that has achieved greatness and respect throughout the world as a nation that values human life and embraces diversity. It dismisses the Canada that has lent its energies to peacekeeping.
Power grows out of the barrel of a gun this prime minister believes.
Above all, his statement betrays how envious Stephen Harper is of the big guys in Washington. In awe of military power, how tiny he must feel next to those whose hundreds of bases encircle the globe and whose naval task forces can sail into any sea and blast any country off the face of the earth.
And yet, the empire that presides over all that weaponry and death dealing power is stumbling in the Middle East, in Latin America, in the rise of its indebtedness, and even in the trust and respect the American people have for its leaders.
Canada has not survived and flourished over all the decades it has lived next door to the United States because of its military might. It has flourished because of the society we have constructed, with all its limitations, and the values we cherish.
The ability to deal death is only one form of power. The creative power to establish a better society, country and world far surpasses it.
Keep Harper’s statement in the back of your mind. And when the next election is called, it will be reason enough to show this prime minister the door.
Note the statement. And think about the mind set of the Canadian leader who made it.
The statement is crass and vulgar. It is utilitarian in its willingness to trade blood for influence. It measures the worth of Canada and Canadians in quantitative terms---more casualties, more influence.
The statement sweeps to one side the moral worth of the Canada that has achieved greatness and respect throughout the world as a nation that values human life and embraces diversity. It dismisses the Canada that has lent its energies to peacekeeping.
Power grows out of the barrel of a gun this prime minister believes.
Above all, his statement betrays how envious Stephen Harper is of the big guys in Washington. In awe of military power, how tiny he must feel next to those whose hundreds of bases encircle the globe and whose naval task forces can sail into any sea and blast any country off the face of the earth.
And yet, the empire that presides over all that weaponry and death dealing power is stumbling in the Middle East, in Latin America, in the rise of its indebtedness, and even in the trust and respect the American people have for its leaders.
Canada has not survived and flourished over all the decades it has lived next door to the United States because of its military might. It has flourished because of the society we have constructed, with all its limitations, and the values we cherish.
The ability to deal death is only one form of power. The creative power to establish a better society, country and world far surpasses it.
Keep Harper’s statement in the back of your mind. And when the next election is called, it will be reason enough to show this prime minister the door.
7 Comments:
Y'know, James, it is important, I do believe, that we hammer home the crassness and vulgarity, as you say, of Harper's statement -- I mean, it was shocking, and it needs comment.
At the same time, that is not enough, and flopping back on to sentimentalities about Canadian traditions as alternatives to current government policy is not good enough either.
If we want to convince Canadians that we have been sucked into a war much bigger and more complicated than the sentimental lies now being retailed by the msm, then we have to start to describe in careful detail what the much bigger and more complicated reality is, don't we?
I was waiting for a long time for somebody to raise this issue. When Harper first talked about it in an interview with Peter Mansbridge, I really was shocked why Peter is not challenging him?!
I hope we get rid of Harper soon -- the road he's taking Canada down - economically and militarily - is scary.
A little bit of good news though, New Brunswick's new Education Minister, Kelly Lamrock, has said he and the new Liberal government will fight Harper's cuts to adult literacy "tooth and nail."
I wanted to get your take on the new New Brunswick government. For that, I'll visit your blog.
I totally agree with you James, I can see where your son gets his intelligence from, any plans to come teach at U of T? the political department sure could use some different views, we got some pretty dry profs here. TO me its disapointing that in less than a week Harper was able to do so much damage to the reputation Canada spent decades buildling.
I think that employees of the CBC are clearly worried about their jobs under the Conservative government. While they have not switched to a pro-tory agenda, they seem to be treading a bit more carefully.
In the 1970s The Liberal government (with some relevant help from economic nationalists) made an effort to demonstrate that Canada was a nation with its own value systems and beliefs. The longer this government remains in power, the more quickly governments in Europe will begin to regard Canada as nothing more than America's sattelite.
Supporting the mission in Afghanistan is important, but not a mission for the sake of a mission.
""in a shrinking, changing, dangerous world, our government must play a role in the world." (Stephen Harper).
While indeed this may be true, the Conservatives have very little in the way of a plan to address the root causes of "danger in the world". Sifting out and solving root causes of problems is supposed to key in the business world.
For a business-focused government to do little to address the root causes of violence, political unrest, shows they are not capable of leading this nation in the long term.
Yes, folks! We are witnessing the dumbing down of Canadian Politics. Might is now right, and instead of focusing on issues, this government continues to focus on personal and partisan attacks.
Look for more "sacrifices" to be made domestically in the fight against crime.
To James Laxer,
Hope my blog answers your questions, but if you have any additional questions please feel free to ask :)
So far I like the new government and Graham's leadership style - he's open to input from his Cabinet Ministers and the public. The NB Liberals have some progressive stances too (such as resisting Harper's plans to cut adult literacy funding).
The NB NDP has a long way to go to even gain representation in the Legislature, I didn't think they'd do as badly as they did. In 2005, the NDP had Weir in the Legislature and was polling around 15% province-wide, and they had difficulty finding a credible leader... I can imagine it'll be much harder now that they stand at 5% and have no representation in the Legislature. People may want Brewer to resign, but I'm not sure who'll want to take the helm.
I think the New Brunswick Tories could be in more trouble than I earlier thought because there is no leader-in-waiting and Lord's not likely to want to stay on as Official Opposition leader.
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