Big picture politics...

I am an optimist at heart, probably because I believe that when we start from positive expectations we are more likely to recognize and act on opportunities to make good things happen. Sometimes though it is not possible to see the good. Back in 2003 I was appalled by the US led invasion of Iraq. I had lived through the Vietnam era, and though comparisons made in the early days between the two conflicts were largely rejected, I could not help but see one critical similarity.

The US was acting from a position that left them blinded by their apparent military superiority and their deep ignorance of the people of Iraq. Now four years later we are all painfully aware of the debacle in the Middle East. Rather than stabilizing the region the Americans and their allies have generated a bloodbath that is not likely to diminish for decades.

Canada is not doing a great deal better in Afghanistan. We resist criticizing our efforts out of a sense of solidarity with our you men and women who are risking their lives. But the time has long past when we should be reconsidering our position. It seems that we have created a Catch-22 for ourselves. This idea first put forward by author Joseph Heller underscores the paradox we live in and our soldier die in.

Because we feel constrained by our desire to be loyal to our military we condemn more of them to be wounded or killed. The few brave souls who dare speak out are shouted down with cries of "Shame!" It is an ugly strategy carefully exploited for political gains by the more conservative elements in this country. They seem prepared to let our young women and men bleed and die so that their ideological vision for Canada can be advanced.

Stephen Harper wants a Conservative majority so that he can drag Canada to the right. I only hope my faith in the Canadian electorate is proven correct and we are not lulled into a tragic complacency. Perhaps all of Mr. Harper's efforts to demean and expose our political system will blow up in his face. There is an enormous irony that we are seeing our neighbours to the south shifting to the left (such as it is in the US) while Harper et al try marching into territory strewn with the wounded and maimed of their conservative counterparts in the US.

Despite all of these negative prognostications I am still optimistic that better days are ahead. I will only grieve for those who have to suffer the horrors of our mistakes, our arrogance that allows us to assume the stance of superiority whereby we invade their nations and kill their people so that they can be free.

Power may come from the barrel of a gun. Peace rarely does.

Anticipation...

Did you ever have a sense of anticipation growing in you when you don't know exactly what is going to happen but you just know that something new, something really different is coming your way? I'm getting that more and more everyday. I have been working hard to create as many opportunities and options for myself these past couple of months and it is starting to all come together.

I added a new option just last week after I discovered that (1) York University in Toronto has an interdisciplinary PhD in Humanities and (2) the application deadline for a September 2007 start is April 15th. So right now I have a host of options that may ripen into opportunities when I complete my Master of Philosophy in Humanities here at MUN. If all goes well I should be done here by mid-August but the big decision time will come before that.

By the end of April I will know whether I have been granted a SSHRC scholarship for doctoral studies. If that happens then I will start on my PhD in September. If that does not happen but I get a reasonable offer of funding I will also begin my studies.

The other direction is into teaching, probably ESL in South Korea. No matter what happens there are some really big changes coming and the anticipation is growing. I cannot remember a more exciting time in my life.