Canadian Bread and Circuses

This is my response, to a brilliantly written piece on the Olympics by my good friend Irkar Beljaars, radio host and activist for Native Rights. You can find the piece at http://www.irkarbeljaars.com

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You bring up a number of really interesting points. While I enjoyed watching the Olympics, there was a disturbing undercurrent to them, which seemed to be hushed up. Protests in Vancouver were mentioned on the first day, but thereafter there was little to no mention of them, despite the need to fence in the olympic flame to keep them out. It seemed that CTV was under orders to keep that kind of information Out of the news. In fact, on day 2 there was a twitter post about the protests, linked to a story on their website... which was pulled down less than an hour later.

Another theme that was repeated throughout the games was that of "patriotism". Sure, there were lots of Canadians dressed in red and white showing up to cheer on the athletes... but can you really call that Patriotism? I mean, the Canadian fans weren't Just cheering for the Canadian athletes, they cheered almost as loud for most of the other deserving athletes (much to the consternation of the Americans). And yet, the press kept bringing up patriotism in every interview; Asking athletes from Canada or abroad what they thought of the Canadian Patriotism being displayed at the games.

And then there were the shots of Harper. Harper hugging medalists, Harper at the big races, big hockey games... Harper chatting with Gretzski... and always in the fancy HBC jackets, and decked out in Canadian colours. This same Harper that had lost his few points advantage over the Liberals before the start of the games, due to the questioning of his ethics (the torture allegations), and who somehow managed to regain his lead by doing Nothing during the prorogation... Short of going to the Olympics, taking a quick trip to Haiti, going on vacation, then getting back to the Olympics. Whatever happened to his taking time to consult the Canadian People about the economy?

And did anyone else notice the repetitive ad played every other commercial break by the Canadian Govt? The one that started: "Canada... our economy is starting to show signs of recovery..." (The one I yelled at each and every time - no we're NOT!). It was an ad aimed Directly at the unions, to get their votes in an upcoming election. Disgusting.

The capitalism - more specifically neoliberalism - that the conservatives represent is precisely what got us into this mess in the first place. They introduced disposable consumerism (aka the throw-away economy... don't fix it, buy a new one!), as a temporary measure to band-aid the economy in the 80s, and loved the way it lined their pockets so much they kept it around. They have been slowly taking apart the regulation of the markets, introduced After the great crash in 1929, and flouting the term "free markets", claiming they "regulate themselves"... where what they actually do, is you guessed it, lines Their pockets, while leading to the market collapses of the last several years. Oh, and BTW... the kind of trading that LED to our current problems.. Hasn't Actually Stopped! Under the neoliberal regime, we've had a rapidly expanding population of the underemployed. Not the unemployed - those still looking for work - the Underemployed are the ones on Welfare, or can't get welfare. Essentially, the population of the poorest of the poor has been expanding rapidly over the last 30 years, while the richest 2% have gone from owning 8% of the worlds' wealth to owning 24% of the world's wealth.

What am I saying? That the world should take a close look at the Romans and compare them to us. The Romans convinced the poorest classes that they had a "vote"... (i.e. All the poor had ONE vote), and then the new leaders would gain the support of the masses by throwing gladiatorial games. They called them "Bread and Circuses". The poor would gather at the coliseums to receive bread, and then would spend the day watching gladiators fighting amongst themselves, with the emperor presiding. Anyone notice the format of the Leader's box in the opening ceremonies? Could have doubled for the Emperor's box in the coliseum.

We've been treated to seventeen days of Bread and Circuses, and a very carefully designed set of games it was, full of repetitive themes (economic recovery, patriotism, Canadian unity, small-town pride) carefully designed to increase the backing of our current government. Harper is now sitting pretty for an election... one that every other political party SHOULD want, when they see the content (or lack of) in the federal budget. But the problem is, our economy is NOT recovering. There are too many weaknesses... Nothing has been done to correct the bad trading, and there are still pensions and individual credit (i.e. credit cards) which have yet to collapse. And there certainly aren't any measures in this budget to take care of those weaknesses. We need a complete overhaul of the current system to shore it up. The tax cuts to the richest 2% have Got to go (no conservative will do that), Green jobs and a green economy need to be encouraged (climate-denying Harper isn't gonna do that), and there needs to be serious rehauls of both the pension system AND credit card regulation (again, the conservatives, taking money away from big business? Never!).

A new economy, based on sustainability, could take several lessons from the native people. They more or less invented sustainability, and so could take a leading stance in the movement for change which needs to come. Moreover, there may be a way to help the poorest of the poor natives to find their own way to contribute to a sustainable economy, and bring themselves out of poverty. But in order to do that, they need to receive better educations, and better living conditions. Again, not something a conservative government, led by a man raised in Alberta (and its anti-native prejudices), who believes that Jesus will come back in a few years and save only the people that follow his religion.

Maybe all this Canadian Unity, discovered during the Olympics, could be tapped. Perhaps, after seeing us get together and cheer for our olympians, we may be convinced to get together and cheer for a candidate that gets rid of Harper and brings in some real change. But maybe I'm a pessimist, and see only the opposing parties getting weaker, while Harper and his band of media-controlling cronies control more and more of what we see and what we think, until we're living in 1984. I can say however, that the time for change is rapidly approaching, and that whatever battles are fought here in Canada for True Democracy, liberty, fraternity and equality, will be mirrored across the world. The results of which will determine whether we as a race continue to survive... or face the worst extinction this planet has seen, caused by us, and denied by us. Its not the planet that needs saving from us... its us that will need saving from the rapidly changing planet!