Arthur,
I don't know whether Quebec will or will not break away from Canada (though
if I were young enough I'd take a bet that it will within two or three
decades). However, in about 50-70 years when readily available oil and gas
supplies start to be in short supply everywhere else in the world I would
be very surprised if Alberta doesn't start to rule the roost or perhaps
become entirely independent (and, for the protection of its pipelines
feeding Asia, British Columbia too!).
Keith Hudson
At 20:35 26/11/2006 -0500, you wrote:
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Meanwhile in Canada we are going through more discussion on where we are
and where we are going.
The Commons is expected to vote yes on this proposal tomorrow.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has proposed that the House of Commons
"recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada." His
motion and its discussion in Parliament leaves unanswered the question of
what Canada is: Are the Québécois a "nation" within the "nation" of
Canada, or is Canada not a nation?
Canada, more than perhaps any other western nation-state, knows that its
continued existence is a daily plebiscite on the value of living together.
The Canadian nation-state must accommodate the competing demands of
French, English, aboriginal, and the many other groups that make Canada
among the most diverse and interesting of modern democracies. The
affirmation of the value of that living together makes Canada unique.
There is no reason why Quebec cannot and should not be a nation within Canada.
----------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Karen Watters Cole
Sent: Sun 11/26/2006 11:49 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Futurework] FW -- New governance required
Keith, I was surprised at the numbers in the poll (59% and 68%). I cant
help but wonder if there isnt more than tribal comfort levels involved and
the interplay of cultural identity. I wonder about the burden of size, as
you suggested, but also about the tendency of older nations to resent
having too many dependents still hanging around, like older people if they
are not allowed to rest and let the next generation take up the family
burden. In this case, a tax burden strained by social services with too
many new members in a limited land space.
You know, we are just ending a holiday weekend over here that
superficially is a celebration of history and time to be grateful for
blessings, the Hallmark version. Another aspect is how far individuals are
willing (forced?) to travel to be with their family members at least once
a year, like an annual pilgrimage to a mecca of food consumption and
rebonding with family members.
These simple holiday reenactments are now being supplanted by Wall
Street-inspired acts of feasting and spending, much as feasts in the early
centuries did for weeks at a time, and in some cultures, culminated in a
live sacrifice. Many find mates or leave theirs in this pilgrimage,
reinforcing again that we are not so different from other migrating animals.
Thanks to the retailization of America, Thanksgiving, the third Thursday
in November, now kicks off the holiday season of parties, food and gifts
culminating in the New Year. Thanks to a moderate climate and modern
transportation, relative wealth and comfort, we hold these annual feasts
for six weeks. No wonder there is a post-holiday adjustment of fatigue and
spent resources, a resentment by those who cant participate and the displaced.
Arthur commented from an item in the Casey Reports, how interesting it is
that the purchase of take-out holiday food is rising, and my thoughts
after more than a decade of preparing meals and cleaning afterwards for my
local family that now with boyfriends and girlfriends varies from 14-20 is
that I could handle a year or two of that. Not everyone is a foodie. But
as long as the younger ones bring something and do the clean up
afterwards, the tradition will survive.
Wouldnt this ICM poll in Great Britain indicate that citizens feel
relatively safe and dont need the burden of forged alliances to survive,
as they felt before? In the face of the global war on terrorism, one
assumes that the English, Scots and Welsh would still share the British
Army and Navy. And tea.
Maybe Im just a middle aged grump today, tired from deboning two turkeys,
freezing the extra meat and making broth, caring for my elderly, ill,
parents and my young grandson. A fish taco for lunch sounds wonderful but
more likely it will be a shepherds pie to make use of the leftover mashed
potatoes. Or more likely, I cant imagine cultural differences here in the
States progressing from the wish stage of a poll to actual regional
settlements because our American history is less of a simmering melting
pot and more like a blender, tribes and groups arriving at different times
in various amounts, blended and tossed across an expansive landscape, each
batch a different result.
The British experience reflects its island geography, as does Japans. By
comparison, the North American experience is still in mid-development. But
now that the US population is 300 million, I am wondering if our Canadian
neighbors are less comfortable about that long, open border we share. And
thats the point where the history of Europe and the emerging history of
North America gets interesting in this technologically-open borders global
economy.
Bon apetit.
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