Excavations


... nothing is more essential to public interest than the preservation of public liberty.

- David Hume



Thursday, June 18, 2020

That other form of discrimination

It took the nauseating death of George Floyd, at the hands of four policemen in Minneapolis, to ignite the political imagination of people everywhere, not just in the United States.  Oppressed by the pandemic, people threw off their shackles, even risking the coronavirus, as they gathered in protest: Floyd’s death was unnecessary, but it was also one more “negative” too much.

And as Canadians today engage in hand wringing at their own apparent complicit “racism” and “discrimination” against visible minorities, Blacks, Indigenous, Asians, and others, let us not forget there are minorities for whom discrimination is not based on the colour of one’s skin. 

I am not talking about the LBGTQ community, some of whom may or may not be apparent: I am talking about the mentally ill.  Mental illness does not discriminate against colour or gender identity.  It can affect anyone, regardless of social position. 

Consider the example of Gerald Le Dain, a former Supreme Court of Canada Justice who in 1988 was pressured to resign within two weeks of his diagnosis of clinical depression, after four years on the job.  Recent indications are that attitudes at Canada’s highest court have actually changed since then, though no apology has been issued to Le Dain’s family, but can you imagine the number of lesser mortals in Canada also afflicted by mental illness who have been similarly dismissed from employment chances?

How can the mentally ill look up to Canada’s highest court when others have followed its kind of example?  Historically discrimination against the ill has tended towards the implicit – as opposed to explicit.  Discrimination against a mind and its person can be rather subtle. It still has its casualties.

This is a good time to restore to Justice Le Dain’s family his full legacy, and to recognize the societal harm done by stigmatizing the mentally ill, chronic or otherwise.  Right reason demands it.

 

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Life in Jamaica (some thoughts from 1993-94)


Jamaica, the third largest island in the Caribbean, is a land of many contradictions: for example bobsledding and more recently email.  Known also for its beaches, ganja, Bob Marley, and even Miss World, Jamaica is considered by its nearly 3 million inhabitants to be the first among Third World nations.  Its democratic system, however, is enforced by gun crews (‘Dons’ fighting for turf) at election time, which adds to the frightening annual death toll figure.  Life for the average Jamaican is also disturbingly poor.  The minimum wage is a mere US $8.00 daily.

How can computer networks function in a country beset by tropical conditions and Third World problems – where water supply can be down for days; where roads are repaired only when dignitaries come to visit; where the streets of downtown Kingston are dominated by men steering go-carts; where rain stops everything, including postal services; where mail between Canada and China is faster than that between Jamaica and Canada?

Jamaica’s infrastructure is devoid of much rationalization; roads are chaotic, pot-holed and dangerous.  Impatient bus drivers leapfrog one another regardless of traffic conditions.  Violence – homicidal and domestic – usually headlines both radio and newspapers.

Everywhere the regular support system is breaking down,[1] and now email comes to the rescue.  Donkey carts can be seen on the roads quite regularly, passing by the university.  My female house ‘helper’ (who has no telephone) does not use a washing machine: she does it all by hand.  The average car in Jamaica (certainly if one considers taxis) is thirty year old, usually with proper brake lights and in dire need of repair.

E-mail demands cyborg technology and the latest in equipment. This is seemingly quite incompatible with the spirit of Jamaica.  Miami is only two hours by plane, but it is a world apart.  Anyone who has been to Kingston airport will notice that the arrival and departure television screens are behind schedule by several days: today’s flight arrival will appear in two days’ time.  Also there are no working intercoms.  Anyone who has used a bank’s automatic teller will notice that computerized statements will differ depending on which machine has been used, which will differ again from the passbook statement.[2]

Joerge Dyrkton, “Cool Runnings” (1996)

 



[1] Consider the toilet facilities in Whitfield Town, an inner city area of Kingston, where life is less than equitable.  In 1982, the last available census, a mere 3 percent of the 905 houses used a pit; another 19 percent used a WC not linked to a sewer; while 46 percent used a WC linked to a sewer.  Significantly, 32 percent of the households did not identify their type of toilet facilities.  This area is known for its sewers breaking down – and taking moths to repair.  When there is a shortage of water, residents can be seen fetching it with pots and pans from the nearest primary school. (Source: Novlet Smith, 1993-94 ‘An assessment of the contribution of the Canadian Jesuits to the social life of Whitfield Town Community in Jamaica, 1986-93,’ Hons thesis. Caribbean Studies. University of the West Indies). 

[2] Extracted from Joerge Dyrkton, “Cool Runnings: The Contradictions of Cyberreality in Jamaica” in Rob Shields, ed., Cultures of the Internet: Virtual Spaces, Real Histories, Living Bodies (London: Sage, 1996), pp. 49, 50, 56, 57.


Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Trump and Fear at St. John’s Episcopal Church: Montesquieu’s “principle of despotic government”

Just as there must be virtue in a republic and honor in a monarchy, there must be FEAR in a despotic government.  Virtue is not at all necessary to it and honor would be dangerous.

The prince’s immense power passes intact to those to whom he entrusts it.  People capable of much self-esteem would be in a position to cause revolutions.  Therefore, fear must beat down everyone’s courage and extinguish even the slightest feeling of ambition.[1]

Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1748)

 



[1] Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, ed. and tr. Anne Cohler, Basia Miller, Harold Stone (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), p. 28 (Book 3, Chapter 9).