One of the most frustrating aspects of the recent shenanigans in Toronto and Ottawa is the indefatigable support of the so-called base. In Toronto, it goes by the annoying and narcissistic name Ford Nation, but the concept is the same: a group of followers who seem blindly loyal and unfazed by scandal.

Among all the Facebook postings I have viewed in the days since the Newtown murders, one of the most astute went something like this: “When the Second Amendment was being written it took three minutes to reload a musket and during that time you could rush the guy and kick the crap out of him.”  Much has changed since the end of the 18th century, but the largest shift is the amount of personal wealth.  And it is fully linked to the emergence of gun culture in North America.  

A boycott of goods made in the settlements within the West Bank is largely symbolic.  After months of conversation and debate, few can name a product that the United Church might boycott.  So it is symbolic.

“First of all, it is our belief that the application of the principles of Jesus Christ to economic conditions would mean the end of the capitalist system.” 

This quote comes from the 1930 meeting of the Toronto Conference of the United Church of Canada.  They were not Bolsheviks: they were moral theologians who understood that business operates for private gain and not the common good.

The statistics are grim: 7,000 killed since the uprising began last year, 400 children killed by security forces, along with tens of thousands imprisoned by the al-Assad regime.  The army has turned tanks and guns on the civilian population, and executed soldiers unwilling to do so.  It might be possible to classify this as a civil war, except that the sides are so decidedly unequal.  The best description remains ‘slaughter.’

Back in the 80’s, we eager young seminarians were required to take a class in social action: how to plan and implement a protest, how alter public opinion, and generally make change.  Good stuff like how to manipulate the media and the best way to get arrested were also on the curriculum.  The goal was to get out there and get labelled an elemento subversivo.