Passion Power

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a conference held every year in Davos, Switzerland where leaders around the world meet to address global challenges, share ideas, and promote cooperation on issues such as poverty, inequality, climate change, and technological advancements. Whether the WEF is seen as good or bad depends on individual perspectives.Opinions may differ based on political ideologies, personal beliefs, and experiences.  Supporters of the WEF argue that it plays a crucial role in fostering dialogue between various stakeholders, including governments, businesses, civil society, and academia. On the other hand, the WEF’s platform has faced criticism and argue that it primarily serves the interest of the wealthy elites and multinational corporations. The annual Davos gathering is predominantly attended by wealthy business leaders, politicians, and influential individuals, creating an exclusive environment that shuts out diverse voices and perspectives. Detractors ar...

Twitter gives everyone a voice. It’s the wild west, entertaining at best and toxic at its worst. It has mobilized groups like me too and black lives matter and most recently the Iranian revolution and the war in Ukraine. It is a lazy form of activism. Twitter is not a place for a healthy debate. It is a noisy confused state where context goes to die. It never takes more than a minute or two to find something to be annoyed at and yet I’m compelled to return to the chaos and engage in some bickering with strangers online. As a free speech advocate, I applaud Elon Musk wholeheartedly for buying Twitter. Twitter employees were notoriously shadow banning and censoring one political side. These moral arbiters of truth were using the platform to push their own agenda and they got caught multiple times. Elon Musk saw what was happening and vowed to make it a more level playing field. As the famous philosopher Voltaire once said, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend ...

Politics matter because the stability of our country depends on it. Canada is changing and in an effort to remake ourselves, we want to make sure our political leaders are fighting for our rights and upholding the values we believe in. We all want a liveable world we can happily give to our children and grandchildren. In Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Haidt writes, we are divided politically because of our innate differences and that we all suffer from confirmation bias. He says that we make moral decisions intuitively then justify them with rational arguments. For example, I can see why I’m a right of center person politically. I come from a blue collar working middle class home. I was educated in the school of hard knocks. There was no coddling in my household and nurturing someone’s self-esteem was considered laughable. There were no freebies. If I wanted something I had to go out and earn it. My upbring...

The greatest charity of all is to give someone a job and there’s a million of them out there. According to Statistics Canada there are 997,000 vacant positions in the second quarter of this year, the highest quarterly number on record. The working class aren’t working but why? The working class perform essential work. They work in restaurants, cook, serve our food, clean, work as cashiers, take care of the sick and the elderly. We devalue the working class yet who will build your house or fix your steps or mow your lawn or deliver your food or look after you when you’re old? Every trade is desperate to hire workers, but nobody seems to want the job. Parents understand that getting into the trades is the way to go but good luck convincing our kids of that. They look down on their hard-working parents. They want the highest pay possible for the least amount of work. Kids listen to social media influencers and are looking for get rich quick schemes. Who hasn’t fallen for that at...

In Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Coddling of the American Mind, he writes how good intentions and bad ideas are ruining a generation of kids. He said that safetyism, trigger warnings and safe spaces are counter-productive and that stressors are a part of life. We must prepare the child for the road not the road for the child.  Over protection equals bad consequences. We must give kids the freedom to develop their anti-fragility and when we don’t challenge ourselves physically and mentally, we deteriorate.   When children are raised in a culture of safetyism, which teaches them to stay “emotionally safe” while protecting them from every imaginable danger, it may set up a feedback loop: kids become more fragile and less resilient, which signals to adults that they need more protection, which then makes them even more fragile and less resilient. My sister-in-law has parents that come in with their teenager for a job interview. Last week, a school principal sent home a letter wa...

Every year with my Ontario sticker renewa I get an application form to fill out to become a registered organ tissue donor. I’m already a donor but instead of a gold star, a thank you or a box check, I must go online and make sure that I am still registered. Perhaps The Trillium Gift of Life Network might acknowledge those who have already registered. I can think of at least a dozen ways they could do this but apparently 12 board members can’t.      My uncle and father both received covid reliefs cheques last year from the Government of Canada.   Let me just say neither one of them needed covid relief cheques.   A friend rides around on his bicycle in a small town.   He hasn’t owned a vehicle in 5 years and just received a cheque from the Ontario government for his sticker renewal refund. Although these are anecdotal stories that only exacerbate the lack of trust in our establishments, they also point out a growing problem which is government accountabilit...

I have always been interested in social issues.  However, everything is upside down. After enduring a long lasting pandemic, the war in Ukraine is now weighing heavily on people’s hearts.  Addiction and poverty are crippling so many people.  Alcohol deaths and suicide rates are up.   As my interests’ meander in the world I see many markers of a society in peril. We have lost trust in our institutions. I see a lack of appreciation for the progress that’s been made regarding bigotry and racism in Canada. I don’t think an honest person can stand before you today and debate that a gay person or a black or brown person is worse off today than they were three or even four decades ago, yet we have a media culture and government obsessed on it. The virtuous trilogy of diversity, equity and inclusion insist that meritocracy should not and cannot exist because of our racist and discriminating past.   I see a society fixated on gender and race.    May...

Companies are doing a great job rebranding corporate greed as “inflation”.   Take Starbucks for example that says they are forced to raise prices due to inflation and supply chain issues and yet profits went up 31% and they gave their CEO a 39% raise to $20.4 million. A corporation’s sole purpose today is to make money. Never has that fact been more evident than in the grocery business.   I don’t have a problem with the Loblaw executive chairman Galen G. Weston making $4 million dollars a year, but I do have a problem with food going green on my counter and being forced to purchase multiple food items to get a sale price. The same Loblaws that has total assets amounting to $36 Billion and cancelled it’s $2-per-hour pandemic bonuses for frontline staff in stores and warehouses. When I asked the local store owner about these nefarious “multi-sales” he says they are profitable but not popular. He could lose his franchise if he doesn’t follow the rules.   So now we h...

I’m old enough to remember when it was considered impolite to discuss religion, politics, or money outside your home.  Then social media came along and gave everyone a voice.  It’s a new era to navigate.  As my mother-in-law would say, this is not our world anymore.  And while there are trolls being paid to create chaos and discourse on the internet by gaslighting people that take social media seriously not all internet storms are bad.  Twitter has brought public awareness and scrutiny on the ruling class and all their questionable ethics. Take the Ontario conservative long term care minister, Merrilee Fullerton, who dropped the ball in long term care homes is now working with vulnerable children and families as the Ontario minister of family and children services. See what I mean.  The former Canadian conservative Health minister Rona Ambrose now sits on the board of Juul owned by a tobacco corporation, an industry that floods our healthcare system with ch...

With genuine curiosity I had to google why the Bloc Quebecois leader, Yves-Francois Blanchet was at the federate debate on September 10 th .  He has no intention or desire to be Prime Minister of Canada. I doubt Mr. Blanchet has any interest in unifying Canada and said as much in the debate. I found information on the Meech Lake Accord agreement and understand how and why the Bloc got official party status in 1991. It’s an insult to our democracy to have Mr. Blanchet at the federal debate as he represents one province.   We really don’t need more of what’s good for Quebec.   We need more of what’s good for Canada. Am I the only one?   We must work together across all regions to restore our democracy and unify the country. Candidates at a federal debate should presumably be willing to represent all Canadians.   The last thing Canada needs is self-serving federal leaders speaking on behalf of one province.     Why were people apologetic to Mr. Bl...

I’m happy to be vaccinated.   Vaccines are the best approach for preventing the spread of Covid and significantly lower your risk of death, so they say.  Vaccines downgrade the infection to a mild seasonal virus.   96% of the hospitalizations were the unvaccinated population according to the Centre for Disease Control, so they say.  Avoid vaccine but do so at your own risk. There is a certain percentage of people with vaccine hesitancy and the rest of us will just have to deal with that.   Instead, the Covid thought police are out in full force.   Don’t speak out or question anything.   Trust the pharmaceutical industry wholeheartedly.   Block anyone that goes against the current narrative-be afraid.   Nothing has disturbed the order, arrangement, or function of a free society like Covid has. People are suffering from covid derangement syndrome. Wearing a mask to your table but not at your table is comical. Wearing a mask outdoors is dumb too...

Progressivism claims to be a movement that aims to represent the interests of ordinary people.  I’m not so sure about that. We are living in an era with more fences and security, more protests, and clashes.  The media separates us into different camps.  The working class versus elites, left versus right, black versus white. It’s a profitable strategy to have us pitted against each other where we hate and blame each other for things the ‘ordinary’ person has not participated in like systemic racism, indigenous residential schools, or islamophobia. If you disagree with the mainstream narrative, you’re a bigot. If you call it out, you’re a racist.  They shut down voices of reason that are contrary to what they subscribe to. Where is the open-mindedness and tolerance in that?  These virtue signallers have a hidden agenda. To prop up “group think” and clusters of mobs like Black Lives Matter and the LBGTQ communities to sell discourse and create division. They like t...

 How is a person with disabilities, mental health issues and addictions supposed to improve their lot in life when the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits get clawed back whenever they go out and work for extra income.  We discriminate because we don’t understand the struggle is real for so many Canadians trying to live on $1100 per month or less. Under this benefit, they can earn an extra $200 per month before the government starts clawing back the benefits. With no incentives, no encouragement, job coaching or family support such as transportation or childcare for example, how is it possible that someone can lift that boot off their neck?   It takes a toll on someone’s health trying to get basic needs met, trying to reach out to people who do not listen, trying to do the right thing and make good decisions.  Throw in some addiction, depression and violence and you have yourself a taste of what it is like living hand to mouth year after year afte...

I think it is a fabulous idea to write your own personal political manifesto. Am I the only one that gets annoyed when leaders speak,” on behalf of all Canadians or Ontarians.” How is that even possible? What I learned through the US election is that mass media is tilting society towards ‘crazy town’ and trying to throw us into separate camps. The best way to avoid group polarization is to march to the beat of your own drum, have your own set of values and a political manifesto to adhere to. Now I can focus on the issues I care about without getting lost in the weeds?  I can lay all my cards on the table because I am irrelevant. I am an ordinary, unseen member of society with the right to cast my vote and voice my quibbles. I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose. I cannot get cancelled. Just a regular schmo. I am not going to get elected or hired or fired. I will not lose my job or position. I have no coworkers to posture around. I have no power or authority. I have no group or...

How long must we be punished for the horrible injustices done by our ancestors? Perhaps the answer is ‘as long as it takes’. Throughout history even women had to claw their way to relevance in a world that favoured men not to mention the gay community. The word for that is progress and we must fight the good fight. Right? Watching the United States implode does not feel like progress. Am I the only one? It looks like leaderless country and the start of a civil war with no solution in sight. All over one bad cop. Progress. People are fed up. There is evidence to suggest that racism never really went away although for a time I thought we were getting better. As I watch how mainstream media and social media polarize the issue, I sit and listen to what my heart feels about discrimination and racism. It is naïve to ignore the journey of the people who have lived on the margins of our society. You cannot opt out just because society works for you. I can’t assume to know what ...

I work in a little store and people come in and want to talk about the president. Donald Trump does not care about political correctness and uses twitter as his playground. People are obsessed with him and he loves all the attention. His provocative leadership style has turned civil society on its head. What is happening online with Trump reminds me of a time I worked in a sales office managing a group of people. I had zero tolerance for troublemakers. There is always one. A toxic person allowed to run rampant can completely disrupt the flow of a business. I understand why people feel compelled to react. Don’t we all have a little anti-establishment in us? But have we gone too far? Some people think so. This cancel culture online is like the wild west. You will be attacked by a swarm of bees if your opinions are different. To make matters even worse, media groups are profiting from division and discourse and people are being paid online to stir the pot. Did you know that h...

So now what? After this pandemic does what it does how will things change? What is the new economy going to look like? What is our new handshake going to be? Is buy the shoes take the trip and eat the cake still good advice? What felt like a reset button has become a nightmare. All this uncertainty has created a lot of fear and stress which creates panic and chaos. We see this playing out in the news and on social media every day. Although the storm has hit the entire globe, we are all in different boats. I am so happy to be living in Canada right now. Am I the only one? Our new normal has just begun and with our heads-up paying attention to where we are going, we might get it right. Jack Dorsey the CEO of Twitter donated one billion dollars to pandemic relief. Oh, what a wonderful world it would be if all billionaires shared their wealth or even better, we had a world where accumulating that kind of wealth was not allowed to exist in the first place. What happened to the laws ...

The green rush is on while Ontario is busy reinventing the wheel. Alberta has 400 Cannabis stores while Ontario loses $42 Million setting up a website and making stickers. A short drive down the road you can purchase cannabis in creams, soaps, gels and bath balms. They sell cookies, chocolate, candy and tea. The CBD oil is priced competitively in a range of different products and strengths. You can purchase a plant if you like gardening. They have a points card. Mondays and Wednesday are senior discount days. The store collects cans of food for the community and offer discounts for donations. The store is heated with solar panels. They have fish and chips right on site with umbrella picnic tables to enjoy a nice lunch. People come from all over to explore the novelty of a pot shop while product experts happily answer questions to help you choose the right product. Customers are lined up out the door almost every day. The longer hours on Fridays and Saturdays accommodate the ...

March Madness is a long-observed phenomenon in Ottawa which sees federal departments quickly spend all their remaining annual budgets in the last month of the fiscal year to avoid losing the cash altogether in the following budget - This has been going on for decades. Why? I also wonder why we must pay for people’s sick days when nobody pays for ours? If I’m really brainstorming, I’d say we charge a flat fee of $5 for a Doctor’s visit which would deter needless appointments and save millions if not billions. This money can be moved around into areas like healthcare. Spending cuts and economic prosperity measures go over like a lead balloon especially during an election campaign. There’s always a hullabaloo from opposition parties and special interest groups. They would find one person’s heart melting story and put it on the news, and you would be a buffoon committing political suicide if you tried to ignore it. Welcome to democracy. I agree that a universal daycare soun...

It’s hard not to be cynical when you see what’s happening in the world and the way mainstream media divides and demoralizes our society with its 24/7 so-called, ‘breaking news’. We have China holding people hostage, cabinet ministers using private jets for personal business, billionaires on trial for child abuse, a President who spreads hate and masquerades it as patriotism. I guess if we don’t like we can leave. We’ve watched high ranking officers being dragged through the mud and politicians being demoted to lesser positions for standing up to ‘the club’. There are more cover ups, pay-outs, bail outs and lay-offs and political leaders can’t manage to stay out of hot water for more than a couple of weeks before another scandal breaks. In America, 1% of the wealthy have more money than 90% of the population. Trickle-down economics isn’t trickling down. Big corporations like Apple or Amazon could erase world hunger with the stroke of a pen. Prisons are the largest mental heal...