No Man is an Island

For those of you today who are thinking on the tragic loss of talented singer Amy Winehouse or a close friend or loved one who has been lost in the past day; 
For those of you who are horror-struck by the loss of 91 lives in Oslo; 
and,
For those of you who are unable to forget the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children lost each day in Africa and around the world from starvation, sanitation, war, and violence, think on these immortal words from poet John Donne: 

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

In other words, every life lost in this earth is a loss to the world and thus a loss to you. Every individual death diminishes you and I because we are all part of the whole.
No one today should be playing the greater-than, less-than game with the tragedies being suffered by the world because each loss is equal at the individual level. 
Mourn as you will, but keep in mind:
 (1) The hatred and fear of difference that led to the shooting and bombing in Oslo is ever-present in your own society. You can best serve the victims of the tragedy by fighting that fear and hatred in your own communities and in your own homes.
 (2) The addiction that ultimately claimed the life of Amy Winehouse claims lives each and every day around the world and is a societal problem as much as it is an individual's problem. Look around at the ignorance surrounding addiction in your own society and think on the situation that leads to drug-use and eventual overdose.
 (3) The world's consumption that fuels our economic growth also fuels violence against nature and our fellow man. The resource-rich continent of Africa has suffered generations of this abuse. Because people are so poor and ill-equipped they cannot find clean water or grow food. They cannot afford drugs to tame rampant disease. What little resources there are to be had are the spoils of warring factions that abuse and murder their people. These issues are present at home as well in the people who become victims of poverty in our own society.

No man is an island...
... Send not to know for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee. 

Canada's East-West Politics

Basically, the City of Edmonton and the Province of Alberta spent $3.5 million dollars on their bid to host the 2017 World's Fair (Expo), but in the fall of 2010, the Federal Government withdrew their support citing a lack of security initiatives in the budget. The Feds had been asked to chip in about $706 million to assist the Expo's $2.3 billion budget.

Why are we talking about this now?? Well, a fact-finding mission to uncover the details of the reports as they addressed this issue last fall revealed that the government's initial view of the proposal was that it was "solid, comprehensive and professional." Of course it is likely true that security concerns were not budgeted for properly, and the lessons of security frmo the G8, G20, and Olympics held in the nation in recent years only serve to embolden the point. But the comment that stood out in the documents uncovered was the warning that: "An anchor in Western Canada could lead to a request for a largescale expenditure in Eastern Canada."

Yes, the old east versus west question. Thus, the headlines read: "Ottawa killed Expo bid over eastern jealousy." And, "Envy kills bid for Expo 1017."

And truthfully there is some merit in blaming the green-eyed-monster for the final decision. We'll ignore for now that the decision came when the notion of a possible Federal election in the coming months was not completely out of the question and thus it played well into drumming Eastern support. Instead, let's look at the reasoning for hosting the Expo.

1. Canada's already done it twice, Montreal 1967 and Vancouver 1986.
2. Montreal has been compared to Edmonton's bid because it fell on Canada's 100th birthday year and 2017 will be Canada's 150th. In 1967, Montreal became a focal point for Canadians to celebrate the 100th anniversary and as yet there is no equivalent for 2017.
3. 2017 is almost 6 years away, plenty of time to organize a better budget for security concerns and fundraise the necessary mony required for the multi-billion dollar project.
4. Expos are nationally and internationally supported events. They bring in massive tourism and deliver investment and devleopment opportunities for businesses and companies across the country.
5. Expos put countries on the world map for a significant amount of time. Some even leave lasting impressions years later (i.e. the Crystal Palace, the Eiffel Tower, the Space Needle).

The oddest thing for me as a political junkie is that this appears to be a standard case of the West getting ditched for the gain of a few votes in th East - except that we're supposed to have a conservative, west-supporting government in power. We're supposed to be pulling through the economic crisis A-OK because our government is so fiscally responsible. We're supposed to be coming together as a country. But all three of these notions have been negated by the recent report, (which states that the country's economy is in a fragile state - notice that this is only mentioned when it befits a federal decision because otherwise we're going strong!).

Also, the concern that a billion dollar expenditure in the West would result in cries from the East is actually a little immature. The Expo would bring benefit nationally and would be a source of pride for all the provinces no matter where it was held. The financial burden to the city of Edmonton alone should be enough to discourage jealous cries from the East. One good example of this is the fact that Montreal supported the bid.

Still, I will allow that the government made a reasonable decision if they are willing to admit that the national debt deserves attention and a billion dollars (which over six years is $170 million per year) could go well to handling that issue.

CTV Edmonton: Feds liked Edmonton's bid, but still pulled support
CBC: Ottawa killed Expo bid over eastern jealousy
Montreal Gazette: Envy kills bid for Expo 2017

Arendtianism?

I really like my random quote of the day today. It's from Hannah Arendt (who is most notable in my field for being the author of the Eichman in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil).

It goes:

"Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom."

Take a breath and quickly move past the "uh... duh" knee-jerk response you just had. I know it, I thought it too. I thought, "what a great sentiment, of course forgiveness is the key to action and freedom! Nice to see someone is publicizing the notion." And then I proceeded to move on.
But then I didn't move on. No, I stopped to ponder my "ya, and birds fly and the sky's blue" reaction to the simple statement.

If you break it down, "forgiveness" becomes more than a checked off box on the list of life. What is forgiveness? How do you show forgiveness? How do you receive forgiveness? Is it in the possession of the forgiver to give or can it be earned by the one who needs it? More than all of this, how important really is it to forgive and be forgiven?

If you check with the many sects religious faith you'll probably find out that it is God's gift, Him alone can show it and give it, and you must show Him love and repentance to get it. It is the all-important feature of the Christian faith as it is literally the "key" to heavens gate.

But we're not going to go with that cop-out. No, we're pondering forgiveness in Hannah Arendt's world, where "men, not Man, live on the earth and inhabit the world." (A central thought from her work, The Human Condition." This makes the idea a whole bucket-load of complicated because it comes down to the interactions of two individuals. Two people who may have completely different opinions about right and wrong, circumstances and events, and what forgiveness is and is not.

If it is the "key" to action and the "key" to freedom, then it must be pretty important. It must have some practical use. It must be understandable. (It must have a guide book, down-loadable free from Google docs.)

No such luck. (Maybe I'm spelling it wrong?)

No, I'm sure you'll find no such guide-book exists. (But it's Google. Everything exists on Google.)

I think you'll find this is not that easy to... (See?! Here, I found a definition for forgiveness: "compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive.")

OK, well what does it mean to forgive? Does it explain that? (OK, wait, wait! How about this one: "Forgiveness is typically defined as the process of concluding resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, difference or mistake, and/or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution." Sounds basic enough.)

Uh, well actually that's not bad. But it's not quite setting the parameters for forgiveness. For example, should the other individual see themselves as needing to be forgiven, or is that not a requirement? Or, can one truly forgive just by "ceasing to demand punishment" or do they have to no longer feel anger as well. And where in all this does the saying "forgive but never forget" fit?

A really great test case would be Arendt's work on Adolf Eichmann. He did not feel he needed to be forgiven because he did not perceive his own actions to be in offense. Could the Jewish public holding him to account for his crimes have forgiven him without delivering corporal punishment when he did not seek their forgiveness? Is it possible to come to terms as an individual regardless of the 'other'?
(Hold on, the Google instant just froze... how do you spell Eichmann?)

[headdesk].

My personal response to these questions would be that I hope people can learn to forgive with or without the showing of repentance of the perpetrator or opposing 'other' because I too believe forgiveness to be the key to freedom. Only after you forgive as an individual can you move on to the next stage of your journey in life and let go of the past. One must be able to forgive in order to function in life or they would be dragged down by all the little gremlins that scratch and scrape at the edges. Grudges and acts of vengeance are the roadblocks, the weight on our shoulders that can grow too heavy to bear if we're not careful.

I also understand that there is a part of the individual that needs to receive forgiveness from time to time. This is where things get a whole lot more complicated. Requiring forgiveness means having to somehow earn that forgiveness from another individual. One who may not see the world as you do. One who may not see forgiveness as so very important in life. Yet without this forgiveness you might develop your own weights that prevent you from moving forward, taking action, and being free. In this more than ever can the inter-play of the human condition be seen.

I say, don't blanket the words of Hannah Arendt with a generalized "well everyone knows that already but show me someone who's successfully lived it."Don't worry, I won't retort with obvious examples from Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr. What I will do is urge you to quit looking to other examples and find it in your own life. Where has forgiveness helped, or its lack of presence hindered, your journey of life, your freedom?