Ship of Shame, and a union to be proud of

Published Monday April 28th, 2008

I was born in Nova Scotia - which means I have a pro union streak that runs blood deep. Or perhaps I better say pro co-op movement.

The Antigonish Movement evolved from the pioneering work of Rev. Dr. Moses Coady and Rev. Jimmy Tompkins in the 1920s. The local community development movement originated as a response to the poverty afflicting farmers, fishers, miners and other disadvantaged groups in Eastern Canada. They wanted to offer practical education and empowerment to allow individuals to make a difference in their world.

Coady once wrote: "you are poor enough to want it and smart enough to do it."

If you think about it, unions, in one form or another, are directly responsible for the Social Credit movement, for Caisse Populaires and the Credit Union, even for welfare and medicare. One of the great advocates of unions in his day was Dr. Norman Bethune, controversial though his political opinions were; he pretty much founded the Red Cross and blood transfusion services that have kept someone related to anyone who reads this alive.

I am just trying to declare a bias right up front -- I have always believed in unions; while maintaining a fair dose of realism around the fact that no system works all of the time. There have certainly been union abuses, and Jimmy Hoffa might argue against them if he showed up. . . Dockworkers unions seem especially fraught with fear -- especially in their Hollywoodized version in which the dockyards are a front for the seedy underbelly of organized crime.

The news this last week, however, redeems the idea of the dockworkers union completely. There is this ship, and the African press has dubbed it the "Ship of Shame" which is essentially a freighter from China trying to deliver weapons to Africa -- specifically weapons ordered by Robert Mugabe before the election results were tabulated in Zimbabwe; or the cynic might claim after he realized it would take force to reclaim the throne.

For the record the actual ship in question is the An Yue Jiang -- registered in China and one of 600 vessels owned by the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO); and here is what happened: The ship was denied entrance to Durban, South Africa by the collective efforts of a news magazine editor, Martin Welz, who warned of the ship's impending arrival, industrial action by members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, who said they would not unload the cargo, and the Southern African Litigation Centre, which obtained a High Court order on April 18, prohibiting passage of the weapons across South African soil.

This movement then became a union effort, spreading across the port cities of Southern Africa, in which every single dockworker refused to unload or refuel the Ship of Shame.

Can you imagine this -- the union flexing its muscle for social justice; it almost brings back the heady days of farmer co-ops during the Depression. These are the good things that are possible with organized labour -- a value based understanding of what they do.

Don't get me wrong, I understand how unions have resorted to violence on occasion; I understand that as management you may well be forced by your parent company to implement staff decisions that a union opposes, perhaps unions might even force you to dangerously undercut your bottom line -- and even lose the ability to employ those same unionized workers.

Hear me when I say I am talking about a perfect world -- and I am talking about a reality when unions band workers together to make a difference in the world -- that is when the ideal of a united front becomes a powerful force of change and is something to take pride in.

I was once deep in the rainforests of Guatemala drinking tepid Tecate beer with a representative of the Canadian Autoworkers Union. It was a fairly surreal experience, made crazier by the fact that we ordered seafood chowder in the middle of a jungle, having become incredibly tired of black beans and corn tortillas, and both of us almost died of food poisoning. Here we were, however, in the rainforest helping to organize a repatriation of indigenous peasants from exile in Mexico to the jungles of Guatemala. The CAW took the plight of the Mayan Indians of Central America seriously enough to put some muscle behind doing the right thing.

Which is as it should be; would that more of us could band together, work together, care enough about the things that are going wrong to try and make a difference.

All Africa News has reported that Lloyds of London has declared the ship "lost"; a blanket coverage term to indicate that the insured purpose of the trip is no longer possible. It would be nice to believe that this is enough incentive for COSCO to turn their ship around and head home -- they have after all been paid for their cargo through an insurance claim. Perhaps they will. Perhaps increased media coverage as the Western news picks this up will force a happy conclusion. Perhaps China will even stop transporting weapons to Africa.

Whatever becomes of it; the dockworkers have taken a stand -- the right one. Too few people seem willing to stand up for what they believe in, and when we find those that do, they should be celebrated.

Pay more attention to the images we see

It seems like we have been held captive in the icy grip of winter forever. Spring has finally sprung, and as the mountainous piles of ice and snow recede we are left with the remnants of our winter season -- garbage.

I have been shocked as I drive around the city to see just how much litter is strewn in ditch and sidewalk. Trinity is the worst I have seen so far, but every intersection, every chain link fence, and every culvert seems plugged with paper and plastic.

I have lived in a surprising number of places -- and most of them have been above and beyond the average level in terms of natural beauty -- the Eastern Townships of Quebec, the edges of Calgary, The Queen Charlotte Islands 18 miles off the coast of Alaska all come to mind. I have also spent significant time in Indiana with its amber waves of grain, the parks and waterways of Florida with mangrove trees and alligators, and even the Caribbean beaches of Guadeloupe and Dominica. No matter where I have lived and travelled, New Brunswick compares favourably; with our forests and fields, rivers and beaches, waterfalls and marshes -- and yet, there is more litter strewn on the side of our roads than anywhere else I have been.

I live on the side of a major road and every day from now until Christmas I will have to go out to my front lawn and pick up coffee cups and chip bags. I truly do not understand what causes so many of us to think it is okay to throw things out the window as we drive.

It certainly doesn't make things look any better -- that is my point. I also bet that there are not too many people out there who would throw their trash off the deck into their own yard. So why are we okay with doing it in public spaces?

And it is not just driving; take a walk on any of our trails and you come across the same thing -- sometimes worse.

Last summer my family and I drove from here to Indiana through an incredible number of U.S. States. More than one of them had signs along the road suggesting harsh fines for littering. I seem to recall that New York State was $10,000. That would make an incredible incentive to keep the A&W bag on the floor until next you drove by a bin, would it not? It might also allow us a municipal budget to redo all our roads in concrete, or flex steel, or whatever it would take to make sure we stop littering bolts from our tire assemblies as we drive through the gaping holes winter has so graciously provided us with.

But why do we need the negative incentive? Will we only choose to do the right thing if there is some punishment involved in doing the wrong? It suggests a sad state of moral development on our parts, but alas, I fear it is true; and so if I was running for mayor my platform would be $10,000 fines for littering, and most likely also for other social crimes like cutting people off, or scowling while making change.

Which reminds me, and I realize this is a huge tangent but I really cannot wait until next week to make this observation, I love the subliminal advertising in our municipal election. This is nothing against any candidate or any campaign manager, it is just a chuckle I get while driving around and I would like to share it with you.

There has been debate for years about how effective subliminal ads are. Recently Dr. Bahador Bahrami of the University of London published a study showing that it did have an impact on decision making. Now -- subliminal or not -- advertisers of any product, including a political candidate, want you to be subconsciously in favour of who they are on a level so deep that it hardly registers consciously; it is just a reflex; for example you feel thirsty and you instantly, without even recognizing it, think: Coca Cola.

Barak Obama says the word "Change" so many times, with a different inflection from the other words he speaks; every poster says "Change" in big letters; the backdrop as he appears in ads and interviews also plasters "change" larger than life across its surface. Does anyone know what he is changing? Does it matter? No, they are just hoping that when you think Barak Obama, you will think, "Change" and since none of us ever like the present all that much, we will vote for something different.

But back to Moncton; just about every election sign on the side of the road includes all the info you need to make a snap decision -- picture, name, ward, slogan and position interested in. . . They do not include anything that would need higher brain function to decide, such as platform items or record of past service. Again, I am not intending to belittle any of this -- it is necessary for the election process, it is just curious.

As we drive around we are meant to make a decision as to who to vote on based on the bright sign colours, the catchy slogan, or perhaps the attractiveness of the candidate.

Here is the subliminal part -- almost every sign also includes a little box with a check in it very closely positioned to the name. If you see that image enough times, you will automatically associate the name with a check mark in the box, and when it comes time to vote. . .

Perhaps we need to pay more attention to the reason behind the images we encounter -- because they have a lot of power, which brings me full circle.

What image does garbage on the side of the road project?

Human Creativity Helps us Meet Challenges

SOCIAL STUDIES - April 14th 2008

How about this: The CBC reported last week that CDs, beverage bottles and other products made from hard, clear plastics may have a role to play in slowing global warming.

It seems like a complete reversal of everything that has been said for the last couple of years about the evils of plastic. For example, water bottles are clogging our landfills; not to mention commodifying water which should be an inalienable right for all, but that is another issue.

We all know that plastics have done wonders for life -- everything from making cars lighter, faster, and more dangerous right through to food preparation and preservation. In fact, without plastic most of us would not end up with the food we do, as it would be inefficient to package and transport it.

So how great is it if it is being redeemed! This all happened at the American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans; and the simplified idea was that we take waste carbon dioxide and make polycarbonate plastic from it. This is almost too good to be true -- a waste product caused by burning all those non-renewable resources gets channeled into a creative process to make a product necessary to maintain our quality of life. All that and it improves the environment too; assuming we still try to keep the bottles out of the landfill.

We are also talking about contact lenses, all kinds of plastics, all of a sudden taking on a secondary role as "carbon sinks" to soak up unnecessary CO2 which, admittedly, will not solve the global warming crisis any more than changing to vegetarianism will solve the food crisis.

It is, however, a building block, a step in the right direction; and everything we do that makes a difference does add up.

Take the Earth Hour a couple of weeks back when we were all supposed to turn off our lights. We turned off the power to our house completely for that one hour; but regardless of whether the results were huge or the change significant; millions of people around the world participated and that means something.

Or how about all of us changing to compact fluorescent light bulbs; is that going to save the planet? No. It most assuredly will not -- but there will be a percentage change in the amount of energy we require and accidental heat we create; so it will make a difference and be part of the building block towards a better future.

It reminds me of a conversation I read with a doctor who said that people who take vitamins daily are much healthier. When asked directly if the vitamins increase health he said, no one knows, perhaps not -- but those people that actually follow through on taking the vitamins are more likely to do other things that would improve their health as well; thus they are healthier overall.

I like to think of it the same way; if you are willing to change your light bulbs, you will probably move on to other steps and voila!

More important than all of this, however, and what really excited me about this news item, is human creativity. Have you ever noticed that when faced with a challenge we rise above it admirably? I could be accused of being overly positive about the human species and our capacity for self-improvement -- but I truly think that we should celebrate the successes.

Every day there are things I see that when I really think about it I cannot for the life of me understand how they came into being. Take bread for example: One day you see a plant growing in the field and you decide to pick the heads off it. Later you decide to roast and grind the seeds into dust. After that you mix the dust with liquid and make dough. Then you bake it in an oven? Who would even think to do any one of those steps let alone the whole kit and caboodle?

Or in a more serious way, think about the last century and the literally thousands of inventions and ideas that have changed the world: in 1901 Ransom Olds created the assembly line; 1903 brought the airplane out of the Wright brothers creativity; and in 1912 Robert Goddard invented the rocket. John Logie Baird brought us the first television in 1925 and Alexander Fleming invented penicillin in 1928. Duct Tape (older then you think, Johnson and Johnson first made it in 1948), Lego, bikinis, toasters and microwaves all came out of someone's creative mind during the middle of the century. Not to mention photocopiers, computers, cell phones and the like.

There are days; heck, there are months, when I think my daughters are going to inherit an arid, lifeless and desolate future.

But then I remember that there has never been a period of history from the dawn of fire and planting of seeds right up to the harnessing of CO2 for the creation of plastics when we have not been able to come up with something better.

It is awfully nice to read something positive in the news every now and again.

Thank goodness for chemical engineers.

Reasons why we should all be vegetarian

SOCIAL STUDIES - April 7 2008
Last Monday Gwynne Dyer wrote an article about the food crisis that the world is facing.

He chose as the point of conflict the creation of ethanol -- and rightly so; if food becomes fuel for machines, we are in trouble given the insatiable need our culture seems to have for fossil fuels. Dyer quotes information saying that at present 30 per cent of America's grains go to ethanol and while that number will continue to rise there is a looming crisis in terms of feeding people.

On Thursday CBC Radio ran an interview on using potatoes to produce plastics -- or at least, plastic replacement products. Again, same issue.

This is completely true and part of our global environmental problem. Eliminating ethanol, however, is not the easiest way to solve the food crisis. Vegetarianism is.

Now I know that there are a lot of arguments against vegetarianism; and I am not trying to write this column from a "meat is murder" point of view. I understand evolution and the food chain; I even agree with one of my friends who says that if God didn't intend us to eat cows they wouldn't taste so good.

By the same token, I have fielded a lot of questions lately about being a vegetarian; and the reason that I have chosen that path comes down to two things: ethics and environment.

You see, I love ribs, probably more than any single thing on the planet except strawberry-rhubarb pie (thank God shortening works as a substitute for lard in pastry) and the idea of never again smoking those ribs on my BBQ all afternoon is enough to bring a tear to my eye.

At the same time, it just doesn't make sense anymore to raise animals for food; if for no other reason, then because the population of the Earth will soon surpass our ability to raise livestock and we will be forced to live off grains and plants.

There are two books I urge you to read if you want more information on what I am about to say: "Diet for a Small Planet" by Frances Moore Lappé; and "Becoming Vegetarian" by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis. Both of these will explain the nutritional science and debunk a lot of the myths surrounding vegetarianism; as well as giving some pretty compelling social reasons to choose to eat differently.

Consider this: Food animals are raised, by and large, in an inhumane manner. 10 billion animals, not including fish, are slaughtered in North America every year to feed us; and despite what we might like to think, they are subject to appalling growth, transport and slaughter practices. Animals do have rights, and they certainly do have feelings. We would never treat our pets the way we treat our food; and yet many breeds of livestock are more aware than some of our pets.

What about health? Do you know that over-consumption is one of the biggest health problems in the developed world? That is a euphemism for the fact that we are fat. Vegetarians by and large are healthier and more likely to be a proper body weight -- mainly because most of our calories come from animal fat. Obesity causes millions of dollars to be spent by our health care systems to take care of heart problems and diabetes. There are 1.2 billion overweight people in the world. Vegetarianism is an easy way to take control of your own health.

And last, but certainly not least, we come to the environment. Here are some fast facts to consider: 50 per cent of all the water used in North America is used to produce livestock. Although it varies from place to place an average amount of water used to produce a pound of beef would be 2,500 gallons; or approximately 100 times more water than it would take to produce a pound of wheat. Not only that, but agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of all the waterway pollution we contend with.

Rain forest beef is also being used in most fast food restaurants, and 55 square feet of rain forest is cut down for every burger -- meaning the loss of hundreds of species of plants and animals -- some of which might even have medicinal properties that could save us from the diseases over-consumption might cause!

How about this: 70 per cent of all available farm land is used to graze livestock. Then on the rest we plant mostly corn and soybeans, both for ethanol and as cattle feed -- and these two crops are linked to greater erosion of topsoil -- another limited resource; once we fail to have enough soil to plant in, we are doomed. And they need so much more grain then we do to grow and make meat. The world's cattle alone consume enough grain to feed 8.7 billion people. It takes over 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef.

It is not as hard as you think. I had some great portobello fajitas at the Lone Star the other night. I try out different vegetable combos on my Pizza Delight pizza. In almost any restaurant you find yourself in there is a way to order that will get you a fabulous meal without meat -- and it will even cost you less some of the time.

Seriously though -- there is an ethical reason to get on board; and whether we like it or not, the day is coming quite soon when we will have to admit we simply cannot grow enough food, or collect enough water, or waste enough fuel transporting the animals we use for food. It would be easier to start making the changes today -- who knows, you might even live longer.

We need more religious thoughts in our world

RELIGION TODAY - APRIL 5 2008
Time magazine along with CNN ran a news piece on at the end of March which might shock some people. Islam is now a larger group than the Roman Catholic Church. As of last count, Catholics accounted for a stable 17.4 per cent of the world population while Muslims were growing but have now reached 19.2 per cent. For the record, if you include every branch of the family; Christianity accounts for 33 per cent.

Still, back at the end of the 19th Century the next one was dubbed "The Christian Century" in hopes that the entire world would somehow convert.

Or at least there would be recognition that Christianity was the dominant player on the stage. At best, at the beginning of the 21st, it is looking like a minority government sort of position.

Andrew Coyne, the editor for MacLean's magazine wrote last month that pointed out that Stephen Harper's minority government had brought politics back into parliament. Think of it, by being in a minority they are forced to argue every issue -- not only that, but for a bill to be passed it must be good enough to attract support from even the opponents.

And this is how it should be; because it brings out the best, and it forces us to try and decide issues based on how they would benefit everyone; not just in a partisan sort of way. When the disciples started out to take their message on the road they did so facing steep opposition -- much of it religious. Romans, Greeks, Jews, Arabs -- they all had their own religious positions; and religion and politics was pretty much the same thing. Christianity believed that it had a message, a way of life that would improve the lot of everyone -- so they became evangelists in other cultures.

We too face steep opposition, but we are confused as to who that is. Religion -- whether you are talking about major world religions, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and the like; or local branches of Catholics, Baptists, Wesleyans, United, Mosques and Synagogues should not face opposition from each other.

Our opponents are secular humanism, greed, commercialism and the like. If Jesus sent out disciples now, they would not go out to convert people who are already religious -- whatever their religion... they would go out to convert those who no longer feel the presence of God in their lives; no longer feel any connection to the divine -- and are therefore trapped within a society that does not give them life. After all, if it is just about making money, life probably gets a little lonely and meaningless once you have enough doesn't it?

Jesus also said, and we forget this some of the time, that whoever is not against us is for us. In other words, if you value the things that God values; which are creativity, love, harmony, and all of creation... and if you actively try and keep in touch with the sacred through prayer, meditation, community or social action... then you are a part of the solution, not the problem.

Karen Armstrong, a religious scholar from England suggests that the different religions have more in common than we previously imagined. Consider that humans have been around for a long time; in 2004 National Geographic found bones from a human dating back 13 million years. Yet in all those years there was an amazingly brief period of history, from about 900BC to 100AD when all of the major religions of the world came into existence.

Each of these traditions also developed its own Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and moved from believing in many gods to one God, seen as some form of energy, either personal or as cosmic energy which interacts and gives direction.

No -- the fact that Christianity did not grow at the exponential rate everybody once hoped for does not worry me, rather, the fact that people are becoming less and less religious is the real problem. When stripped of rhetoric, religion makes the simple claim that we are all valuable. We need more of that in our world.

Being nice brings all kinds of nice paybacks

SOCIAL STUDIES - MAY 31st 2008
So I went through a Tim Horton's drive thru the other day; not an unusual occurrence as you might have guessed by now. My wife and youngest baby were with me, and I believe I ordered two coffees and two muffins.

There was, of course, some complexity to the order as one was decaf, one had sugar twin instead of the regular double-double -- but basically I ordered in between snippets of conversation, never giving it another thought.

For the record, I did not win anything with the cup of coffee, never have yet, and I am way over the 10 to one odds. This leads me to wonder about conspiracy theories and speaking out against iconic coffee contests -- but I digress.

Now here is the interesting part. When we reached the window and the cash was handed over, the server leaned in close and said, "I gotta tell you, that was the politest order I have ever taken -- all the girls were listening and we were like, wow!" My first reaction was that my grandmother would be proud -- but my second thought was, wait a minute, I was not really trying to be polite, I wasn't even thinking about it.

I feel I also should tell you that I am no Miss Manners -- in fact, I can be downright surly by times. I am sure I was polite enough; I almost always say thank you, and sometimes even make eye contact . . . but the politest person ever?

It reminds me of the worst week I ever had, when I took a term off school to earn money and decided to try my hand at selling carpet cleaning over the telephone. At one point I joked with my friends that I had talked to over 1,000 people in a single day and the nicest thing anyone ever said was "No!" So as not to offend any sensitivity I will leave it to you, gentle reader, to fill in the worst response.

I understand the reaction to telemarketers, I have had it too, but how hard is it to be nice to someone who gives you a cup of coffee?

This is, after all, the nectar of the Gods, and they are in effect saving you from all manner of disasters: poor job performance, fatal vehicle accidents, lack of judgement in social situations. . .

And this is Tim Horton's for Pete's sake; these people make low wages with minimal tips -- I can only hope they get free donuts. Not only that, but for over a decade I have interacted with a Tim Horton's employee a minimum of three times a week, in at least five provinces, and countless different franchises, and I can count on one hand the number of times I have not been met with a smile.

I have no idea how they manage such a great outlook on life; but they certainly deserve at the very least a modicum of respect.

More than that, I would argue, they deserve to be treated as politely as possible.

If this were not incentive enough, how about that old adage that you get more flies with honey than vinegar. I know this to be true in my own life. For example, simply by being nice and engaging in conversation I have been offered free samples of almost every Tim Horton's product they have released. I still find myself drooling as I think back to the triple chocolate cookie right from the oven. I have been given a free apple pie from MacDonald's, a free Teen Burger from A&W, a free dessert at a Montana's, been pulled from a few snow banks, given free rides, had furniture moved, and been invited out for supper; all, I would argue, because of the respect I show for other people.

I don't mean to make it sound like I think you should do this to get free stuff -- quite the contrary, I am just offering a number of incentives. Another of them would be that we want people to be nice to us, and perhaps the easiest way to do that is to introduce some niceness into the world. Whatever the reason that might make you get on board, I urge you to consider adding a little more politeness to your day.

Life is rough for most of us, a lot of the time. To quote Amanda Marshall's song Everybody's Got a Story: "Now who can read the mind of the red-headed girl next door, or the taxi driver who just dropped you off or the classmate that you ignore? Don't assume everything on the surface is what you see, cause that classmate just lost her mother and that taxi-driver's got a Ph.D."

Our arrogance, or our stress, or our insecurities, or perhaps even our indifference cause us to overlook the people we come in contact with -- but everybody does have a story, and everybody has the same basic need of respect, compassion, and value.

I am sure what most of us really want deep down is for someone else to validate us, to be nice to us, to share a smile or a laugh and make the day that much less painful. My wife turned to me after this all took place and said, "See, you really do make a difference." Wouldn't we all want that now and again?

Let's make it a new sort of contest.

I bet any of you could beat me at being nice to the drive thru attendant.

Any takers?