When the Women we’ve longed for act like Men

3 July, 2019

There was jubilation among armchair feminists at the news that Ursula von der Leyen was new EU Commission president and Christine Lagarde would head the European Central Bank.  A bit premature, no?

While von der Leyen has made encouraging noises over immigration and the need to overhaul the absurdity that is the Dublin system obliging migrants to seek asylum at their first country of arrival, there is little else to go on.

Ursula von der Leyen elected EU Commission President, 16 July 2019

Lagarde is another story.  At the French Finance Ministry she was found to have misappropriated funds, and her unremarkable leadership of the IMF indicates she will do nothing to reform big institutions that need to manage their money more humanely.

Not least now in an increasingly unequal Europe where disparate economies creep towards recession.

Alas we not only lack visionaries, we seem to have no appetite for them.

The superficiality with which commentators welcomed these wonder women is disconcerting.  It’s as though the commentariat is now run by people too young to know – or too addled to remember – that a female named Margaret Thatcher once ruled over Great Britain, and made a point of being more manly than anyone in her cabinet, taking her country to an unnecessary war in the Falklands, crushing the unions and disembowelling the housing sector as part of an over-arching program of privatisation and liberalisation.  Any hope that she might harbour the traits one wishes to ascribe to women – from holistic thinking to caring for the more vulnerable vanished by the time she had closed the Number 10 door behind her.

Or how about Hilary Clinton? She came so close to standing for nothing in 2016 that Americans couldn’t be roused to oppose an illiterate con artist.  Then, after all the soul searching, she came to Europe to tell us all what she had learned. Which it turns out, was not a great deal.

Lecturing leaders last year via her interview with the Guardian, she said:  “I think it is fair to say Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message – ‘we are not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support’”.

The true answer to populism then, wasn’t a principled stand for humane politics but an even harder line on asylum-seekers.  Like the Blairites, French Socialists and many meek centrists, Clinton believes the way to beat the far-right is to present a diet version of their policies. She singled out Angela Merkel as being too soft, suggesting that she would have been more comfortable with reinforced borders, the crack-down on charities and expansion of concentration camp-like facilities for those who do not die first in the Mediterranean trying to get here.

Clinton, like Tony Blair and Stephen Harper, embody a reasonable, sober persona that conceals a moral indifference towards all but the wealthy and powerful. Those on either side of this meek middle ground can sometimes see through it.

The cheering crowds who celebrate political leaders for their gender are just about as dim-witted as those who excluded women from politics for the same reason. To continue to use the same tropes and the same binary value system, suggests we will continue to get the leaders we deserve.

Jihadis and Far-Right: More in common than they care to admit

15 January, 2015

There is nothing quite like turning on minorities in times of crisis.  In response to last week’s massacre of Charlie Hebdo artists and writers by murderers claiming to avenge the Prophet, simple-minded bigots here and abroad want Muslims to pay.

News Corp executive and owner of Fox News Rupert Murdoch said Muslims must “recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer,” wilfully blurring the line between moderate and radical, normal and psychopath.

Even if he has since tried to backtrack, it’s a well-worn formula adopted by National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who said if the Islamist cancer is not eradicated, it will spread.

It’s worth wondering whether the ravings of the right-wing panic brigade are batty after all, as Michael Deacon at The Telegraph writes, and examining what the right have to gain.

What if we turned on all Muslims as though they were some monolithic, homogeneous group, and  shunned them for supping with radicals.  And suppose all the while we did nothing to improve the prospects of low-income Muslim families living in areas of high unemployment.  Sparks have already flown in les banlieues in the past. What if we continued to feed this toxic mix of urban neglect and right-wing scapegoating, until more young men fell under the spell of extremist imams and their homicidal dogma?

And what if their ranks swelled, until new violence broke out, prompting a backlash so fierce that the government would be forced to act?  Well, the government would likely strengthen anti-terrorism laws, restrict civil liberties and rein in immigration.  Police profiling would not slacken any time soon.

Not only does this look like the policy platform of the National Front, it’s a snapshot of post-9/11 America – and a possible post-January 7 Europe to come. So obvious is the temptation of government over-reach that the French Prime Minister disavowed any looming Patriot Act à la Française, or indeed a French NSA.

Liberty and Civil Rights vs Fear and Militaristic Over-reach

France is at a cross-roads.  Over the past week, we’ve seen millions march in solidarity not seen since the first world war.  The government has striven to overcome fear and division and move toward national unity. But it will also deploy 10,000 troops and police across the country, increase surveillance, and is facing pressures for tougher legislation from predictable quarters.

Keep an eye on the far-right zealots, and the Islamists they claim to hate.

They have more in common than they would care to admit.

Only in America

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011

Imagine the country that triggered the 2008 financial meltdown criticizing the United Nations for “mismanagement.”  Under an emboldened Republican House, the US is threatening to cut its contributions to the UN, and may just look into corruption there, too.

Imagine a country that has been engaged in covert military activity or outright invasion almost every year in its modern history, urging Egyptians to pursue, “through non violence,” its fight for political freedom. “Violence is not the response,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said helpfully. Irate Egyptians apparently stopped mid-chant, and duly resumed their protests in a more peaceable manner. *

Out of the wealth of irony in Washington, there’s also the puzzlingly popular call to address American gun violence – with more guns. Maybe like everything else, irony itself is super-sized, to grotesque proportions.

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* Update on the Egyptian protests, Feb. 2: So much for the peaceful part. It seems a White House press conference isn’t enough to avert chaos in the Middle East after all. Now Washington “deplores” the violence, says Gibbs. “We reiterate our call for all sides in Egypt to show restraint and avoid violence.” It should calm down any time now.

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Clinging to the Escalator

January 23, 2011

Filing into Pearson airport in Toronto, more than 80% of the passengers stop dead on the escalators, waiting to be carried the rest of the way – after sitting in a plane for Seven Hours.

You can almost hear the nature show narrator whisper:  “Once known as Homo Sapien, he is the Biped Sloth, capable only of sitting, lying down and staring vacantly into illuminated screens…”

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“I’m terribly sorry, but that’s going to cost you.”

December 13, 2010

This seems to be the ethos of no-frills airline Air Transat where, even if you arrive well before take-off, staff won’t hesitate in telling you to turn around, get on another flight – and pay again for the privilege.

During the London tube strike in September, the movement of an entire city was slowed to a crawl. Trains stopped and the subways fell silent. Above ground, there was chaos: Londoners and bewildered travellers ran into the streets vainly trying to hail cabs that were already full. People were running late or missing appointments altogether.

Some would understand – after all, this is London, and the hegemony of the Tube is known to have a heavy impact beyond its tracks and platforms.

Not everyone would, however.  The noise of urban life cannot be heard inside Gatwick Airport. And Air Transat staff within, were deaf to news that commuters who normally arrive two hours before flight time would on this day, be later. Arriving just under an hour before take-off was somehow too late.

“I’m sorry,” said the attendant curtly. “They’re not processing any more passengers now.”

When I pointed out the time, she pointed down the hall to a colleague selling tickets for later flights.

“Surely they’ll provide discounts for people caught up in a transit strike,” I hoped. “…Or at least at a reasonable rate,” as I approached the counter.

No such luck. It cost another $1,000 to get home.

The attendants’ tight smiles suggested that far from not doing their job, they were doing it quite well indeed. They had made money from me and the others lining up to buy tickets, all over again.

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Email your stories about Air Transat – and any other companies doing well when their customers are not.

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French weathermen held to a high standard

December 9, 2010

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon accuses France Meteo of failing to anticipate the massive snowfall which caused chaos in much of central France.  Now either the standard of meteorology in France is so exacting that any slip in forecasting must be punished with the utmost severity, or we have a politician groping about rather shamelessly to excuse the government’s lack of preparedness.

It may be worth asking Fillon if he wants to blame anyone else for any mishaps under his watch, or  if his dog has ever dined on the odd dossier.

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It’s Not a Mosque. It’s Not at Ground Zero.

December 4, 2010

I’m sure it’s not just right-wing cranks and crazed cable news panellists who harbour a deep disdain for facts, or for anyone having the audacity to cite them. But at the risk of adding to their ire, let’s clear this much up: The “Ground-Zero Mosque” is neither a mosque, nor to be built at Ground Zero.

* It’s a multi-faith cultural centre housing a mosque and a prayer room for people of other faiths

* The multi-story building will include a swimming pool, childcare and exhibition facilities, a library, auditorium, restaurant and more

* It is more than two blocks away from the aptly named Ground Zero – where nothing has been built in the nearly 10 years since the Twin Towers were destroyed

This information is easy enough to find. So why is it still necessary to repeat such basic truths in the bizarre storm of relentless propaganda?

My fledgling theory begins with a few observations:
1.  Politicians and pundits – particularly the venal and more intellectually languid among them –  appeal to people’s most basic instincts of tribalism and resentment of the Other – whether Muslim, foreign or liberal

2.  These people harbour an insatiable appetite for power, political gain, and popularity, and know to offer scapegoats and simple solutions

3.  A badly educated nation, largely dependent on cable news for the bulk of their information about the world, has suffered a steady erosion of their critical faculties, and they are less capable of providing – or even  digesting – a cool analysis of complex issues. They instead fall prey to the doggerel pushed by people like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly – and a host of other snake-oil salesmen who would have difficulty getting a job in any other country.

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Royal Posse Goes Street

December 2, 2010

As hard as colonies around the world once fought for independence, millions continue to harbour a bizarre fascination with the royal family. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s announcement that they would marry in 2011 graced the news pages and TV screens all over a planet on which the sun of empire once never set.

The Colonial Mentality of which Fela Kuti sang decades ago, remains pathologically entrenched, but the royals for their part, are modernising. Prince Charles has long been an eco-advocate, and wifey Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall has been studying street lingo, saying news of the wedding is “wicked.”

To which the head of the Windsor Massive – aka Queenie – bawled out: “Lick a shot!”  Thus began a celebration where royal rudies bust pure lead all over Buckingham, and a merry time was had by all, with minimal casualties.

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Toronto a Hick Town in Sheep’s Clothing

November 14, 2010

An otherwise excellent columnist for the Toronto Star recently penned a veritable ode to recent road works on Bloor Street,  in one of Toronto’s ritzy districts. It also happens to be one of the main roads that carries people from the suburbs into the city, where cyclists have been lobbying for bike lanes to make travel safer, for years. To no avail.  Here’s my missive:

Dear Chris:

I’m surprised and saddened by the omission of any reference to the absence of bike lanes on Bloor. It remains a glaring insult to people who live sustainably that in the vast majority of Toronto’s streets, there is nowhere for people to ride safely. You write of the poor pedestrians, who finally have room to move freely in Bloor’s ritzy strip. Well, for Toronto’s 5,000 kms of roads, there are as many kms of sidewalk – and but 100kms of bike lanes.

Refining the borders of our clogged streets with potted plants while refusing to paint a stripe on either side is yet another reminder that Toronto is a red-neck town that changes its shirt without ever abandoning its backwardness.

You normally take the time to produce a thoughtful, holistic appraisal of city planning. But this ode to cosmetics leaves readers with the impression that what is being built on Bloor is progressive. It is not. It’s retrograde pandering to Toronto’s nauseating brew of base and superficial instincts.