controversies
It seems every time one racially-charged incident ends, a gender or religious controversy takes its place; Ruminate on the issues dividing our nation and world.
Disunity of the Highest Order
I watched President Biden’s speech on additional COVID measures on September 9th and boy do I have thoughts. It’s like somebody in the White House back in July received a cheat code for how to lose the House and probably the Senate in 2022 and then the Presidency in 2024. Between Afghanistan and this speech, I find it very hard to see a 2022 election where Democrats are not hammered. If you didn’t catch the speech or see the outrage, then here are the six main points at this link.
Farah ThompsonPublished 3 years ago in The SwampWhy we'll never agree about abortion in America
People living together within a milieu will eventually come to understand the world in more or less the same way -- the universality of human feelings and the basic mechanics of belief formation promote ideological homogeneity on such things as the importance of the right to self-determination, the dangers of abuse and prejudice, the reprehensibility of sadism anywhere outside of the bedroom of consenting adults, and the morality of a well-developed empathic capability. As a front-line physician my observation has been that if they live long enough, all persons happen upon a time when they awaken to the sensibility of enduring maxims, going on to hear everything with a new ear. On their deathbeds, the evolutionary biologist and the priest find that they agree on all substantive things, though they may use different language to describe them. Often we disagree only in a very technical way that amounts to nothing -- we agree that 'heaven' is the reward for a moral life, but you posit heaven at a time after death, while I imagine it here on Earth; at the level of linguistic idea construction, the differences in the way we state the belief don't amount to a change in the way we behave socially, though you may do something different with your time on Sundays. As beings who absorb data from everyday-life, we inevitably arrive at agreement on much that matters, our behavior agrees. And for our behavior to agree, so must our unconscious learning.
If the Beast Had a Brain
From the Occupy Handbook, edited by Janet Byrne. [1] "One of the complicating factors in the Occupy movement was that so many of the thrown-away people of our society--the homeless, the marginal, the mentally ill, the addicted--came to Occupy encampments for safe sleeping space, food, and medical care. These economic refugees were generously taken in by the new civil society, having been thrown out by the old uncivil one. Complicating everything further was that the politicians and the mainstream media were more than happy to blame the Occupiers for taking in what society as a whole created and for the further complications that ensued. "Civil society contains all kinds of people, and all kinds showed up at the Occupy encampments. The inclusiveness of such places was one of the great achievements of this movement."
Can Capitalism Bring Inclusive Growth?
The recent Oxfam Report, 2016 has once again brought forth the debate on global inequality in light of its findings that the richest 1 per cent of the world’s population now own more than the rest of us combined. This debate on global inequality in contemporary times also raises a question mark on the ability of capitalism – the economic system predominantly being followed all over the world, barring a few exceptions, to deliver inclusive growth. Capitalism is an economic system believed to have been born in the aftermath of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth-century Europe. It is based on private enterprise and private ownership of means of production like land, labor, capital etc. as compared to the economic system of Socialism, on the other end of the spectrum, which encourages public or state ownership of means of production. The producers belonging to the elite capitalist class are driven by the sole motive of profit. However, the system of capitalism has been criticized since its inception due to the exploitation of working class under horrible working conditions and low wages and for the very fact that it divides societies into classes of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Its proponents have pointed towards ills of other economic systems and freedom of choice to encourage a laissez faire system. However, in light of the growing global economic inequality and poor standards of living even among sections of citizens in first world countries that have been following capitalism in spirit and law for centuries, certainly does raise a question on capitalism’s flaws and its ability to deliver inclusive growth.
Tushar NandanwarPublished 3 years ago in The SwampThe Apathy of the West
Afghanistan is a horrible situation and it’s not going to get better. Outside of Kabul, the Taliban have already started to show their true colors: Killing a woman for not wearing a burqa. Shooting into a protest in Jalalabad. Making lists of people who helped Americans. Supposedly, the Taliban are moderate now. Sure. I’ll believe it if a year from now little girls can still attend school.
Farah ThompsonPublished 3 years ago in The SwampWhat If We Take to the Streets for the Security of the Afghan People?
We Shouldn't Just Watch the Fall of the Afghan People These are human beings who need the world's utmost attention in this time of chaos.
Casimiro FilipePublished 3 years ago in The SwampJack Profumo and the Profumo Affair
Jack Profumo will long be remembered as the British Cabinet Minister whose personal life made a major contribution to bringing down a government, but less well known is the important work he did in the years following the “Profumo Affair” in the area of social and charity work.
John WelfordPublished 3 years ago in The SwampExcuse Me, Your Dog Whistle Is Broken
Bear with me, Americans. This one takes some ‘splaining. Yesterday, the latest shot in Canada’s culture wars, a relatively recent, and so far, less virulent cousin of the American variety, was fired.
Grant PattersonPublished 3 years ago in The SwampSeeking a Difference Of Opinion
I don’t know when it happened or what set it in motion. It feels as though it happened all at once, but I suspect it was a slow burn. So slow that no one noticed until it was too late. For many, they probably don’t remember a time when it wasn’t this way. But I do. I remember when neighbors cared about neighbors and friends and family were the people we could count on. It was a time when conversations could be had with others in our circles and communities who had differing opinions and relationships didn’t dangle in the balance because those opinions could not be swayed.
Breanne HarbisonPublished 3 years ago in The SwampA with an E
I'm really furious. I want so badly to be empathetic and understanding as she’s clearly in pain but if I'm being honest with myself I truly just feel burning rage. Where is her compassion? Where is her selflessness? I was worried about being ill after it and worried about throwing up all night and I still went. Where is her compassion for all those who die of this illness? For all her friends and family who want to be around her but might start to rethink this due to fear of being infected or infecting others in their lives - despite their own sacrifice and efforts - due to her selfishness. She’s been the most compassionate and understanding of how I feel and my disappointment at missing out on my first year of university along with everything that's come along with that and yet she won’t do the one fucking thing that would help everyone be able to return to their schools, workplaces and lives with some semblance of safety. I've been so fucking depressed and lonely. I've missed out on so many moments of my life I thought I'd have. No end of senior year, no graduation, no class trip, no first year of university, no dorms, no friends in Montreal, none of it. And still, I am incredibly blessed. These moments missed are extremely minor inconveniences when compared to the devastation and loss families around the world have faced due to this pandemic, losses I’ve been so grateful not to have experienced firsthand within my own circle of loved ones. It is a privilege that I can write this. It's a fucking privilege that we have access to life saving medicine that so many other people wish they had access to and don't. It is an unfair fucking privilege and it's unfathomable that more people aren't enraged at how unfair it truly is. But what's more enraging is that people that are given this insane amount of privilege to help protect their loved ones - and the strangers they interact with alike - and they choose not to. Not based on science or any other credible indication of threat but based of internet spewed delusion. We've got fucking infectious disease specialists who are worked day in and day out to develop such effective vaccines in groundbreaking time and who continue to work twice as hard to provide accurate, updating information to counteract misinformation and quell misguided vaccine anxiety and STILL people refuse to get vaccinated and walk out of a fucking appointment they have scheduled due to complete misinformation provided to them by their own fucking self-conceived and entirely unsubstantiated conspiracies. Anxiety is irrational. I understand that, probably better than most. Anxiety is irrational and does not respond well to logic. But when the most intelligent and well educated people within a certain area - in this case, infectious disease - who have been studying the subject for decades, tell you that having a five minute vaccination appointment can help save lives and you still allow your own selfishness and misinformation get in the way, it is infuriating. Fucking enraging. I don't want to hear you say one more fucking time that you feel badly I missed out on a "normal" first year. That's time I will never ever get back, it's just gone. Your year was probably extremely difficult too but, as you've yourself mentioned, you didn't miss any major milestones. Still it's time gone and that can be lonely and depressing and still despite this, the fact that both of us are still here, healthy and breathing without any devastating losses to bear is incredible. This past year and a half is not your fault, it isn't anyone's fault. But if you can't look at the past year and a half and bring yourself to make such a minor sacrifice to help prevent another year and a half of the same, I never want to hear any sympathy or complaints from your mouth again. It's so fucking enraging. You so badly, probably more than most people I know, want to go eat at restaurants again and "go back to normal". You break restrictions and constantly complain about restrictions and feeling lonely and sad at the current state of the world. SO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. You have this fucking privilege to actually do something to change it and instead you don't and it's so hard to be sympathetic about that, as much as i try. And trust me, I'm trying. I've been on so many anti-vaxx websites trying to understand your perspective, trying to really understand so I can be supportive and hopefully quell some of your misguided fears and still, no matter my efforts to be patient, kind and informative, it amounts to nothing. You don't go through with your vaccination appointment, you put those around you and yourself at risk and you still insist on going to a different province despite a potential risk of an outbreak at a local preschool even though you're entirely unvaccinated. God, it's frustrating.
Harley RowePublished 3 years ago in The SwampCOVID Anti-Vaxxers Aren’t a MAGA Death Cult — It’s Worse Than That
Last year, as the initial round of COVID raged and much of MAGA nation refused to mask or socially distance, it was common to hear folks refer to the Trumpian right as a suicidal death cult.
Omar AlramamanehPublished 3 years ago in The Swamphistory of the akhilesh yadav
Decades ago, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the great Hindutva revolutionary, opined that should Hindus come to unite, then Congress leaders will be forced to wear their Janeu over their coats. That is, the Congress leaders will be forced to display their Hindu credentials overtly in order to retain their Hindu voters. Veer Savarkar said that for Congress but it largely holds true for every other non-Islamic political party as well, such as the Samajwadi Party and others.
kamal yadavPublished 3 years ago in The Swamp