Worth Reading - November 30, 2017

I love podcasts. I've appeared in podcasts. I've considered starting podcasts. This College Humor video was made for me.

Police authorities are now investigating the Progressive Conservative nomination in Hamilton. 

In policy news, the Progressive Conservatives announced their plans for transit in the Toronto and other policy proposals. 

John Michael McGrath writes that the Progressive Conservative platform hones closely to the Liberals' policies. 

From Vox and 99% Invisible, road signs suck, so let's get rid of them. 

I still haven't finished going through this report, but here is the Brampton report on the economic impact of the proposed university. 

The inter-city bus network is failing Ontarians. 

As I wrote about on Tuesday, Postmedia and Torstar shuttered 38 newspapers across the province this week.  

Democracy Dies in Darkness

Nothing has worried me more about the future of Ontario democracy lately than the news that dozens of papers in the province will be shuttered. A deal between Postmedia and Torstar will result in the closing of 38 community newspapers in Ontario. News media has been in crisis over the last couple of decades. Newsrooms and coverage has been contracting, investigations and critical reporting shrinking. Newspapers are hollow shells of what they once were.

The journalism in most smaller and medium-sized cities and towns has been severely lacking in the twenty-first century. The fourth estate is fighting a rearguard action against irrelevancy and insolvency.

The simple truth is that journalism, especially mass reporting, has been critical to the healthy function of our democracy. We are less than a year away from municipal elections, and only a few months from a provincial election. The next elections will be much the poorer without their commentary and coverage.

As I write this I can hear the criticism clear as day. The newspapers had a narrow viewpoint, a small ownership base, they were/are a dying medium that failed financially and failed to adapt to new circumstances and alternatives exist to take their place. These, for the most part, are valid critiques. However, we have not seen a website, Twitter account, etc. replace a newspaper and truly fill its function. The journalism could be relied upon to be factual, even with editorial bias.

Let's consider some of what we have lost in these communities and others. Newspapers during an election can be counted upon to at least profile all the candidates for office for their audience. Newspapers often organize debates and moderate them. Perhaps most importantly they provide a platform for candidates to communicate to the public en masse without expending great amounts of money. I've worked on campaigns and the hardest thing is getting the public's attention. Newspapers and local media catch a distinct audience in a geographic audience and can serve them meaningfully and deeply.

Then there is the usual coverage of day-to-day politics and government. How are public institutions faring? What issues confront the community? How do changes in laws and policies or events impact local people and organizations? Newspapers have been failing in some of these respects, but nothing has offered their reach, capability, or public service.

As we move forward we risk depriving the public of objective sources of local information. Our civic life will only be poorer in their absence until alternative models can be arrived at.

Worth Reading - November 23, 2017

This was a strong episode of Canadaland Commons on the Sixties Scoop. 

Strong Towns shares a story on how parking regulations nearly destroyed a town in Idaho. 

From the Atlantic, the nationalist's delusion. 

Martin Regg Cohn takes a look at the college strike in Ontario and its mismanagement. 

Steve Paikin looks at the fortunes of Ontario's NDP. 

The #MeToo campaign began a conversation about harassment that has had far reaching implications. However, Lauren McKeon writes we shouldn't be surprised. 

Premier Kathleen Wynne faced strong criticism at a public town hall recently. 

Book Reviews: Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

This series of books offers a grim glance into our futures from the mind of Paolo Bacigalupi. Bacigalupi depicts a world that is an environmental dystopia, deeply impoverished and unequal. In both novels our protagonists are children. We witness this dark future through their eyes.

In Ship Breaker we meet a group of children who work on a "light crew," stripping dead ships for valuable materials. Their little bodies are perfect for scouring the tiny crevices for copper wire. They live, I estimate, on the drowned coast of Texas in the oppressive shadow of the scrap dealers in their shacks.

In the follow-up book, Bacigalupi trades economic marginalization for civil war. The Drowned Cities is set in the tropical swamps and jungles in the Potomac River area. Our heroes are caught in the brutal, bloody conflict between warlords around the former capital of the vanished United States.

The plots of both stories, broadly, are similar. An incident and encounter with someone new forces our protagonists to try to flee for their safety and an opportunity for a better life. Their escapes lead them deeper into danger and shows the reader more of their ruined world. Only rare glimpses of wealth and comfort are given. Mostly, we see an America in decay where everyone makes their living by picking the bones of the dead.

The science and speculative fiction elements are bold. Genetic engineering, climate change, and technological adaptation paint a gritty, alien world. Non-human species are now a part of everyday life, but also act as a constant source of unease and horror.

Despite these elements the stories feel grounded. This is likely because endless civil wars in poverty stricken countries are a real thing in this world. That child labour in dangerous ship-breaking is a real thing in this world. The setting and circumstances are changed, but it remains a human, contemporary story in significant ways. I would highly recommend these novels to fans of science fiction. While both of these books are great reads, I still think The Wind-Up Girl is Paolo Bacigalupi's best work.

Worth Reading - November 16, 2017

Some humour to start, The Beaverton reports that General Sir Isaac Brock's final wish was to have a 'mediocre' university named in his honour. 

Macleans writes that the Trudeau Liberals may be running out of steam as they reach the half-way mark. 

The Scarborough subway is a terrible, no-good idea and a monstrous waste of public energy and money. But hey, it's going ahead anyway. 

Aaron Wherry looks at how the Liberals are doing at fulfilling their promises to Canadians. 

Adam Radwanski writes that the culture has swung from one extreme to the other to bad results. 

Jen Gerson articulates a thought that haunts me. We are the greatest threat to democracy. 

Hadiya Rodrique pens a piece talking about her experiences as a black woman in Toronto's professional circles. 

A teaching assistant is under scrutiny for using video clips that illustrate a debate on language from TVO.   

Morality and Foreign Policy

Before I write this all out I should say that I am undecided on this topic. It began as reflecting on a series of news items over the last couple of weeks. In the end this may end up as more of a Devil's advocate piece, or just reflect some evolution in my thinking.

In Western democracies we often use sanctions, political or economic, to penalize governments who violate human rights or operate outside of the geopolitical concert. It's a tricky balance riddled with hypocrisy. There are glaring examples of these contradictions, such as Chinese and Cuban relations with the United States.

Countries exist within a spectrum of human rights. The willingness of us to tolerate a government's human rights abuses seems inversely proportional to its economic importance. We make arms deals with Saudi Arabia and trade with increasingly autocratic Turkey, while we help overthrow the government of Libya and sanction Iran.

However our policies can be slow to respond or adapt, especially when European states are involved, or a big economic relationship is in play. Hungary has been going down a troubling path for years now but there is no calls to discipline them.

For decades there have been questions about the effectiveness of these policies. South Korea and China have improved in their human rights and grown their economies as the world has entered and trade increased. Cuba, Iran, and North Korea seem to have become more and more entrenched as the sanctions dragged on. Sanctions hurt the wrong people and enrich the elite.

I'm not suggesting we sell nuclear technology to North Korea or weapons systems to Iran. What I am doing is questioning the utility of broad sanctions. Sanctions and penalties may make sense for regimes that employ slave labour or terribly exploitative worker practices because giving access to our market only encourages these abuses.

The logic of sanctions also raises questions. Cuba and North Korea, as examples, have been under broad sanctions for decades. They have failed to bring down their regimes. Will four more decades improve the situation or condemn generations to poverty and backwardness? Eventually under this logic doesn't regime change become imperative? If forty years of economic hardship is justified isn't the use of force to compel regime change? Iraq and Afghanistan illustrate the folly of such interventions, but laying endless economic siege hardly seems worthwhile either. In the case of some countries the sanctions are so strict all that is left is military force for negotiation.

Part of my writing on this was inspired by some of the coverage of President Duterte of the Philippines. The man seems a brutal, awful man, but should we let that define our relationship with the 103 million Filipinos?

To a certain extent, especially in semi-democratic/democratic countries it feels like punishment for their choices. It is a grand scale of election meddling. Say Canada put something in place to sanction Duterte, does the government remove them if a challenger beats him in the next election?

As cold as the calculus is it might be worthwhile to consider the opportunity costs for Canada in these sanctions. What options are being abandoned for a system that has not truly proven to be effective? I know in recent years sanctions have targeted leaders rather than countries. In that instance at least I can see a correlation. However, with over one hundred and ninety countries no blockade is tight, so I think it would be worthwhile to consider our effectiveness and intentions when we call for bans, boycotts, sanctions and penalties on those regimes we find odious.  

Worth Reading - November 9, 2017

As we examine questions around housing affordability, a writer at Strong Towns suggests that we might need to make 'lower quality' housing an option to reduce price. 

This week marked the centennial of the Russian Revolution, Anne Applebaum offered some of her thoughts on the topic in the Washington Post. 

In local Brampton news, Gurpreet Dhillon is switching offices, or trying to, in the next municipal election. 

This week incumbent mayor Denis Coderre lost re-election to a challenger, and Chantal Hebert suggests it could be a warning to the elite of Montreal. 

Jagmeet Singh has come out in favour of wide drug legalization. 

This piece is a little bit older, but it suggests the five things Singh must do now that he leads the NDP.

Martin Regg Cohn writes about Ontario's approach to cannabis legalization. 

The Toronto Star has two different takes on the 'zombie' law which targets pedestrians using their phones while crossing the street. Here is one in support. Here is one against. 

The Greater Toronto Region is becoming more geographically divided by wealth and polarizing between extremes. 

Research suggests there is an unknown chamber inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. 

Consolidation of Culture

I had a pair of conversations this week that goes together with some recent news that I found irritating. The news was that the Disney Corporation may be seeking to buy out 21st Century Fox.  The conversations with my friend involved the artistic hollowness and shallowness of the film industry and culture more broadly.

I would like to think I am not a terribly naive person. Popular culture is a business enterprise. That's fine, since the time of patrons and master craftsmen artists have needed supporters to financially back them. But for those who love to the market it might be time to consider the consolidation of our cultural industries.

An alarmingly small number of massive corporations produce most of our popular culture, especially in the areas of film and television. Furthermore, these companies are often deeply entwined with one another in business deals and frequently share common interests. If you want to see the twists copyright laws they are a good case in point. Disney perhaps is the peak of these oligarchs, and I fear nostalgia and positive associations deflects much of its criticism.

Defenders of, or those comfortable with, these few titans dominating our cultural life might point to the "meritocracy" of services like Twitch or YouTube which allow 'anybody' to find their own audience and create content and share it widely. Both are platforms owned by massive companies, Amazon and Google respectively. We have many example of creators running afoul of these company and losing their businesses, demolishing the illusion of their independence. Market concentration has made competition incredibly difficult as has the simple reality of creating such a service in 2017.

While many enjoy the products of these few dominant media companies the consolidation and death of meaningful competition is a concern. Disney has being pressuring distributors for special treatment for the upcoming Star Wars film. Though distribution is also problematic, this can happen as companies become excessively dominant in the market. The space for small, independent artists is dictated by large companies over again. A rich culture is a diverse culture that takes risks. It may be time to shatter the oligarchy that dictates the terms for the films and television we watch.

Worth Reading - November 2, 2017

Sorry for missing the Tuesday post. Hallowe'en is a big holiday for me and between work and finishing off decorations and a costume I lost track of time.

Toronto City Council appointed a replacement for the departed Pam McConnell, Edward Keenan suggests their conduct was unsavoury. 

Samara Canada released some research on the topic of heckling this week. 

Strong Towns looks at the collapse of the shopping mall and its impact. 

Strong Towns takes a look at the idea of fine-grained versus coarse-grained urbanism. 

Steve Paikin writes about how the Ontario Liberals are struggling with democracy in its own party. 

Senator Jeff Flake made a splash with his speech on American political life. The New Yorker answers back with this piece on the GOP's complicity in the Trump era.