World Politics – Page 17 – Babel-on-the-Bay

Parsing Noblesse Oblige.

July 23, 2013 by Peter Lowry

Travelling around the world building linkages and creating cooperation in the world-wide research effort to cure multiple sclerosis was an eye-opener in terms of understanding charity. In North America, we have built our own model of noblesse oblige. It is quite different from the European version. Europe built from antiquity. North America built from need. And then there are the countries where charity has been politicized.

Politicizing charity is dangerous when you allow a charity to be co-opted for political purpose. We have that problem at the local level here in Babel with the Conservative Member of Parliament. He is one of Stephen Harper’s drones. He has no use in Ottawa where he is something of an errand boy for cabinet members—to ask the softball questions in Parliament, to extend debate and vote as told. It is in his ignorance and lack of having something to do that he uses local charities in Babel for self promotion. It harms the charities when he loses interest and involvement, it costs them supporters who resent this political intrusion and it creates false expectations among those the charity is supporting.

And politicians have little or no understanding of noblesse oblige. The interpretation in Europe is literal. It is accepted as an obligation. It is not charity. It is a requirement of society. You ignore the obligation at the risk of censure by your peers. There are funny offshoots of this. In Germany, for example, many of the charities are run and staffed by women. It is considered women’s work. This goes back to feudal times when the lord of the manor ran the farm and his women ministered to the serfs.

In North America, we replaced the nobles with business executives. The oligarchical structure of business and professions made them the logical hunting ground for organizational talent and influence. The only difference was that it was cast in the moral imperative instead of as an obligation of birth or class.

What has also happened over the years is that this involvement has filtered down in business and young people who might not be sought out as a source of funds are volunteering judiciously for select charities to add the information to their resumes. What is good for the boss is good for the page seeking promotion to knighthood.

The glues that link these nobles and pages of business are the people who care. These are people who understand the problem. They often know through first-hand experience, living with or knowing people whom the charity has been created to help. Many of the health charities of today came into existence because of the frustration of these people in seeking aid for those afflicted.

This growing support for charities in North America has taken charity into being a big business sector in itself. It is a major source of employment, of funding for research and of funding for support systems in our society. The concept of noblesse oblige has come a long way.

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Standing by in Britain and South Africa.

July 6, 2013 by Peter Lowry

Watching a network promotion on Global Television the other day, we learned the details of the network’s royal baby watch in England. The watch is orchestrated under the aegis of the network’s Entertainment Tonight program. This is the program that is constantly promoted on the network’s newscasts for those concerned about the gossip of the courtesans and glitterati of Hollywood and beyond.

But then the news switched to the story of the death watch in South Africa for that nation’s Nelson Mandela. South Africans are torn in awaiting news of their former president. At 94, he is failing in health and stamina. As much as they wish him well, many of his people recognize that his time has ended. It makes an interesting counterpoint to the watch in England.

You cannot help but think of the remarkable achievement of Mandela in uniting his country in a bloodless revolution. After decades of mistreatment by the former regime, Mandela displayed forgiveness and transitioned his country to a one-man one-vote democracy. He inspired a country, a continent and the rest of the world.

And what have any of the royals done for you lately? In England, they at least lend some pomp and ceremony to tourism. They launch ships and open shopping malls. They lend their names to charities. Other than that, they are drones, living off Brit society on a permanent dole. It is nice that a couple of the kids have learned to fly helicopters for the Brit military but there are many qualified Brits who could do the job for less.

Think of Nelson Mandela and the leadership he gave his people and compare that to any royal from the last 400 years. Back then kings and queens and tribal leaders lasted as long as they led their subjects to better hunting grounds.

Why Canadians would have the time of day for any royal, lord or lady, we have never figured out. In a democratic society, it is the people who excel in their endeavours whom we respect. Be they leaders in politics, in the community, in helping others, in business, in education, in the arts, we respond to them for their achievements, their ideas, their compassion for others and being, ahead of anything else, a good citizen.

In Canada, we must learn to honour those who are the best among our citizens. There is no higher rank.

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But how was Harper’s golf score?

June 19, 2013 by Peter Lowry

Hopefully, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a better golf score than German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It really does not make sense for the world leaders to meet at a golf course in Northern Ireland and not play a round. Surely they all know that all work and no play makes Johnny dull.

Not that it started well. Can you imagine Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper trying to tweak the tail of the Russian Bear? Vladimir Putin of Russia is not a guy to trifle with. His various opponents in Russia will all tell you (from Siberia) that he does not mess around. Mind you, Putin probably realizes that Harper is working on his 2015 re-election campaign and he understands the silly posturing. You have to admit that it is ridiculous for Harper to beat his breast and demand Putin stop supporting the regime in Syria. What is Harper going to do about it?

What people might not understand about these G8 meetings is that the 33 page Memo of Understanding released at the end of the meeting had been written by the diplomats long before the actual meeting took place. The meeting of the leaders is mainly ceremonial. It seals the deal—such as it is.

You have to assume that President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron would be the best golfers. They would also have the savvy to know that the best place for a real conversation would be in a random sand trap on the tenth fairway. Here they are surrounded by razor wire, Scotland Yard and the British Army and there is no privacy even in the washrooms.

Judging by the obligatory group photograph from the event, it must be the gloomiest, ugliest golf course in Northern Ireland. Originally everyone was saying this meeting was in Dublin but with the Brits as host, that would hardly be appropriate. And there was no way the Brits would spend any money gussying-up Belfast for the event. After seeing the bollix that Harper made of things at the Toronto G20, a barricaded golf course made perfectly good sense.

You knew it was an informal meeting of the world leaders because all the men had taken off their ties. The fact that no fashion expert seems to have explained office casual to Germany’s Angela Merkel did tend to spoil the group picture.

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Harper failing at foreign affairs.

September 10, 2012 by Peter Lowry

What can you say about Canada’s relations with the rest of the world? Will we ever be able to dig our reputation out of the dumper where Prime Minister Harper and the Bobbsey twins have taken us?

It was bad enough when Stephen Harper let Flossie Bobbsey (a.k.a. Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird) lose us a seat on the Security Council. It was bad enough when Stephen Harper allowed Freddie Bobbsey (a.k.a. Jason Kenny, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) to put the screws to refugee claimants. The one-two punch of Harper’s Bobbsey twins is enough to destroy any country’s reputation.

And the Iran affair is beyond belief. Can you imagine a foreign affairs minister of any country to be so rude as to announce the breaking of relations with an unrelated country at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit? Why on earth would Canada’s foreign affairs guy do the deed when in Vladivostock, Russia? This is a gathering of some of the most powerful leaders in the world and if he had just farted, it would be glossed over.

But you cannot gloss over an announcement that had obviously been in the works for a while. This had been decided while Prime Minister Harper and Baird were in Ottawa. It had its roots in the recent visit to Ottawa of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This was the favour Netanyahu had come to Ottawa to ask.

It is hardly a gesture that does any good for Canada. It harms our reputation as peacekeeper. It smears our reputation for fairness. If it were necessary, it would only follow a long series of speeches and negotiations at the United Nations. For this act to be carried out, there had to be far more grievous concerns than are already evidenced. Is Harper copying George W. Bush with his fictitious ‘weapons of mass destruction’?

If Canada had the money and organization and the smarts to field its own Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), it still would not have enough eyes and ears in Iran to replace our diplomats. Our embassy in Tehran might have seemed useless but it was a gesture that we were willing to listen. Only idiots stop listening.

Prime Minister Harper is micro-managing the Canadian government into foreign affairs positions where we should not go. Is he so keen to destroy the reputation we once had?

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Canada cursed in Kandahar.

July 16, 2012 by Peter Lowry

They no longer think kindly of Canada in Kandahar. The Canadians have left the building. Their promises no longer heard.

Oh, they marched so bravely up the Khyber Pass (figuratively) past the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan into the reality of the Pashtun peoples of Afghanistan. The image of the Canadian soldiers following the skirl of the bagpipes up the pass gives death time to mark those who would be his.

Turn the clock back 200 years and those are British troops marching up the pass. They marched up the pass to make the world safe for the growing of the opium poppy on the Northern Frontier of India—now Pakistan. The British East India Company had ready markets in China for opium back then and the safety of the growing fields was important.

Little has changed in the succeeding 200 years. The Afghans have learned to live on the rations of foreign troops and the opium poppy crop in the country has become the largest in the world. Only under the Taliban has the opium poppy crop been reduced but they became the enemy when they would not turn over Osama bin Laden to the Americans.

Despite the efforts of foreign troops in Afghanistan to kill off the Taliban, there are ample new recruits for them in the Madrassas of Pakistan. These religious colleges are indoctrination centres producing a steady stream of zealots eager to smite the infidels in the name of the Prophet. And the profits of the drug trade pay for their weapons.

In the ten years of Canadian military taking part in active fighting duty in Afghanistan, nothing has been accomplished. Soldiers have died. Pashtun fighters have died. The drug trade continues. The Afghan warlords stay in power. Nothing is resolved.

Canada also has shipping containers full of materiel for its troops left behind in Afghanistan. Trucking this materiel to Karachi in Pakistan for shipment to Canada will take much time and many bribes. Luckily, the Chief of the Defence Staff tells us there is nothing essential in the containers.

And, oh yes, we should also mention that the Americans started the current war against the Afghan people because the Taliban in Afghanistan would not give up Osama bin Laden. The Americans attacked and removed the Taliban and established a group of warlords in their place. As for Osama bin Laden, he was killed by some U.S. Navy Seals and C.I.A. operatives on May 2, 2011. He was hiding in his home in Pakistan.

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Stephen Harper is doing Europe.

June 7, 2012 by Peter Lowry

After going to London to fete Her Majesty in her Diamond Jubilee, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has climbed back aboard his military Airbus A310 and headed for the next capital on his European tour. Paris can be quite lovely in June, before the summer invasion of tourists. It is also a good time this year to get a reading on the new French President François Hollande.

The bad news is that Harper has his work cut out for him in trying to convince François Hollande of anything. Hollande is a socialist—which says it all as far as Stephen Harper is concerned. The first socialist in power in 17 years, in his first month in the Elysée Palace, Holland has already stated that his government will lower the retirement age for some French workers from 62 to 60. This is at a time when Mr. Harper is telling older Canadians that they better suck it up as they will not be able to draw old-age security until they are 67.

Mr. Harper brings a message to Hollande that has already been stated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Both leaders have said that Europe requires a strong political union to function effectively. Merkel made the point as early as this Thursday morning in Europe that the Eurozone countries have to give up more power. “We need not just a currency union; we also need a so-called fiscal union, more common budget policies. And we need above all a political union,” she said.

Mr. Harper said that the European members of the Eurozone will have to come up with a plan to make this happen. It is his opinion that Europe is a ‘half-done project’ that lacks the tools to get the job done. He said that he told Hollande that there needs to be quick action when the two met for breakfast. The French President was probably too much of a gentleman to tell the media what he said in return.

The only problem with the Harper-Merkel scheme is that many in Europe are contemplating that what the German armies could not accomplish in two world wars is now supposed to be as simple as a signature on a piece of paper.

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The threat of American intransigence.

May 3, 2012 by Peter Lowry

Former New Brunswick Premier and former Ambassador to Washington Frank McKenna came to Babel the other day. He told a rapt audience of TD Bank customers about the two greatest threats to world peace and prosperity. From the way he explained the two scenarios, it was hard to say which was worse.

Since the concern about Iran is over nuclear weapons controlled by a theocracy (a country ruled by religion), he gave top billing to the Persians. People in the west do not appreciate the capabilities of Iran and believe the nuclear threat is a long way away. The problem is that Iran can easily turn off the tap on about 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply by simply closing the Strait of Hormuz. The United States would be the country hardest hit by that embargo and that country would have to go to war with Iran. In turn, America’s ally, Israel, would be bombed into a nuclear wasteland unless Israel can take out Iran’s nuclear capability first. It is a chilling story.

Luckily, McKenna believes the current peace feelers to the west from the Iranian leadership are genuine. He feels sure that tensions can be eased if the Iranians see the benefits in cooling the threats to their Middle East neighbours.

His other scenario offered fewer solutions. As the former ambassador to Washington, he is well tuned in to American politics. He sees the intransigence of American politicians as extremely serious. He explains that no matter who wins the White House, the House of Representatives or the Senate later this year, the parties will remain locked in vicious combat over taxes and spending. He sees the politicians as so entrenched in their ideological positions that they could cause a deadlock that would throw the U.S. and then the rest of the world into a bottomless recession.

He says Canada is being caught up in the U.S.problems whether we like it or not. At the same time, he sees Canadian politicians as far more flexible. He noted that we have a former New Democrat running the federal Liberal Party, a former Liberal running the New Democrats and Mr. Harper changing Canada into an oil producing country—if he can ever get the oil south to the Texas refineries or to the east or west coasts. Mr. Mckenna sees the pipeline problems as easily solved.

Mr. McKenna is obviously enjoying his role spreading sunshine for the bank. And the bank customers certainly enjoyed his presentation. He did it with humour and a confident delivery. We should also mention that the bank served coffee and cookies. The cookies were very good!

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Oil and royal action figures go south.

February 25, 2012 by Peter Lowry

Do you remember the Falklands War of 1982? We were laughing at Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, at the time, having a Brit fleet circling in the mid Atlantic hoping to scare the Argentine soldiers on the Falklands/Maldivas into surrendering. In the end it got bloody with some 900 Argentine soldiers being killed when the Brits landed. On the 30^th anniversary of the dust-up, they have found oodles of oil off the coast of those islands and the protagonists are back at it.

With an estimated US$180 billion in oil potential, the sheep herders on the islands off Argentina are becoming a cause célèbre for the entire South American continent. As the Brits have no intention of giving the islands to the Argentines, South American countries are rallying to the side of the sheep herders. The sheep herders—in case anyone cares—are quite happy being British subjects.

Thankfully, this time, it is still very much a war of words. To be on the safe side, the Brits have sent a nuclear submarine and a destroyer to the Falklands to point out their claim of ownership. They cheerfully explain to all who might be interested that the one destroyer has enough rockets on it to shoot down every fighter aircraft in South America. Their point being that they would not fool around in the mid Atlantic this time.

The Brits already had plans this year for some 30^th Anniversary events to honour their Falklands citizens. They have already sent Prince Billy to the Falklands to serve his country. (There is nothing more dangerous than to fly one of those old Sea King helicopters.) Mind you, Kate is keeping a stiff upper lip about it back in London. The scene would only be a bit better if she was pregnant with another royal heir.

The Brits have realized that an important component of the old traditions is sending their princes off to fight their battles. This has led to a rapidly growing market throughout the Commonwealth for action figures of Prince Harry shooting Arabs with his machine gun and Prince Billy flying his decrepit Sea King and rescuing people in more serious straits. The Queen has even been asked for permission by the toy manufacturers to make sure the boy dolls are anatomically correct. It is a matter of some concern in certain circles that they cannot show the royal princes without balls.

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Mr. Harper is in heady company.

January 27, 2012 by Peter Lowry

It must be the rarefied atmosphere in Davos, so high in the Swiss Alps. It could also be the company of so many of the world’s leaders, political, industrial and academe. With his toupee firmly in place, our Prime Minister is ready to read the riot act to the World Economic Forum. He gently chides the world leaders for their economic bungling. He tells them that in Canada, we know just what to do. Canada can penalize those who cannot fight back.

Why Mr. Harper chose such a remote forum in which to announce that he would take more money from impoverished seniors, was not clear. He was certainly safe from having enraged Canadian seniors rising up and rendering him into a crushed mass on the floor of that august stage. Not many Canadian seniors can afford the lift fees at Davos at its peak season.

But if you think Canadians back home are puzzled at Mr. Harper’s choice of topics for these world leaders, the world leaders are equally puzzled by him. He has no message of interest to them. He barely gets polite applause.

The Prime Minister and his staff seem to have no clear understanding of what the World Economic Forum in Davos is about. That breaks a cardinal rule for people giving speeches and their writers: you have to know your audience. These people have not come to hear the old conservative economic bromides. They are here to be challenged, to hear new ideas, to see if there are solutions. They are deeply concerned about the world economic situation and have no interest in the same old conservative ideology.

The Davos participants must be shocked by the threat from Mr. Harper to force through the pipeline to Canada’s British Columbia coast from Alberta. This twinned pipeline is to take oil-sands crude to ocean tankers for shipment to the Far East. To threaten to ram this pipeline through the Rockies and native lands to the coast, without proper consideration or precautions, comes as a shock to any caring person.

Mr. Harper needs to look out the window of his Davos hotel suite. He needs to see the majestic beauty of the Alps, the challenging ski runs on the Junkerboden and the fact there is a world out there where people care about people, not ideology.

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Mr. Harper sets the world aright.

November 5, 2011 by Peter Lowry

It is lovely to be in Cannes at this time of year. The heavy mugginess of summer on the French Riviera has past. The crowds are sparse between the seasons. Prime Minister Harper took his wife but we doubt you will find her enjoying the topless beaches. She will probably be partaking in a cloying spouses’ program while he tells the other world leaders how they should run their countries.

That boy is just work, work, work.

He is hardly a newby after hosting last year’s fiasco in Toronto. The French police must have used his idea to kettle the protest groups. They are being kept 30 kilometres away from the people with whom they really want to talk.

He had a very meaningful discussion with President Barack Obama the other day. The American President wanted to know what that red thing was on his lapel. Stephen told Barack about poppies and Remembrance Day.

Down to business, Mr. Harper tried to tell his friends in Cannes how to straighten out the Greeks but had to admit that he did not have a clue what else could go wrong there. He told them that the eurozone needs a tough, oppressive and conservative banking system like Canada and that would solve all their problems. He explained that he trained as an economist and he should know.

Harper even offered his Bank of Canada guy, Mark Carney, to police world banks and make sure they run tight operations just like Canadian banks. They jumped at the offer.

What his G20 cohorts in Europe need to understand is that if they want to be an economic zone such as Canada and the United States of America, they have to accept the responsibilities along with the benefits. Even if Harper and Obama do not admit it, there are weak economic areas in America and Canada that are compensated for in the management of the country. It is obvious that Greece, Southern Italy,Spain and Portugal are never going to be the economic dynamo’s of the eurozone, on the scale of France and Germany.

What they do not understand is that the Greeks should not be expected to endure lengthy and vicious austerity programs until the bailout money is repaid. That is akin to blaming the inmates for a badly run insane asylum. The Greeks have every right to be aggrieved. They are in the mood to tell the myopic eurozone leaders to stuff it.

If the eurozone is going to hold as an economic unit, there have to be cash transfers into those faltering economies on an ongoing basis. Nobody should expect a payback or even gratitude. It is reality.

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