Idiocracy is here!

Democratic debate is good, division and conquering nature is bad. I've been involved in environmental issues for a long time now and it saddens me how we keep going around the mobeus strip - relearning then conveniantly forgetting the hard fought lessons. We are inundated with change and conflicting views and opinions about what to do about things we are uncomfortable with. I try to give thanks to the trees every time I throw another log on the fire to warm my bones. I try to nurture a balance between the black and white when choices are not easy or clear to make. I must admit, the more I know the less I understand...
I plan to be at tomorrow's smudging ceremony for the ancient trees slated for demolition, not because I'm neccesarily for or against the highway or it's ridiculous design that was forced on all of us, but because I'm trying to retain my sense of sanity from all the wanton destruction of things we value but feel powerless to do anything about. It's never too late to care and reject the pulling tides of idiocracy.

Here's my letter of the day:



Good people of Wakefield are outside at Lac Brown every day now from 5:30 am all this week, to all-night long now. We are together, in the cold, in the trees, at the heart of life, culture and beauty. We are people who know that we don't what what we are getting from the global business-owned-state regime. We get massive, unpredictable, unreliable and outdated trails of wreckage of the good life. The movements for change that are rising fast today are movements of sense, of restoration, recovery, reconciliation and truth. That is the change back to wellness and quality of life and environment that we desire for our children. We are taking the high road for a better road plan.

The writing is on the wall for this region unless protest is finally successful. We have witness another takeover and makeover of NCC-Ottawa Valley-Algonquin land from Orleans, to Kanata, Ottawa South, to boxstore central in Carleton Place. We have witnessed this despite a land claim and before we have been allowed the opportunity to reconcile and listen to the truth about Canada and her past from first nations.

Instead we are marching ahead with maladaptive destruction of beautiful, creative, rural, sustainable land and culture to give it over to suburban sprawl. A change from the good life to worse and worse job satisfaction, higher and higher stress-disability claims, and yet worse income to quality of life ratios for anyone who has fallen out or never made it into the public service and high tech. Traditional Ottawa industries are demoralizing, shrinking and turning everyone into an unhealthy person first and then if lucky, a freedom-loving freelancer still struggling and angry half the time. Serving all of us are the service industry who goes without benefits, job security or good income, and still we want them to smile when we're angry. Artists and art entrepreneurs are cropping up everywhere, freelancing as consultants or working in the service industry to get by. That's why there is immigration to Wakefield of people who like the people that are here already, a move home to a slow pace of life and social time.

Like many of the towns in the region we are proud of our distinct character. Wakefield is progressive rural creative capital. Many Wakefielders are here because we reject the death march of the droning mainstream and together we are book-smart, heart-smart, woods-wise, hard-working, bilingual, autonomous and produce the full spectrum of the Arts. We are the Black Sheep of the Valley, Rivers and Hills. We build our own houses. Some of us build passive solar recycled straw bale genius houses. We are not powerless or foolish. We kick ass.

Idiocracy is coming and landing flat on top of in the form of a badly designed highway extension. It predicts the inevitable multiplication of boxtstores, car lots, Timmy's and gas stations (one would be enough). Just look everywhere in this region where the cause has been pushed back, and where wetlands, trees, birds and their supporters were scoffed at by savvy suits with dollars in their hands, and the devil in their brain. They extend a golden handshake to hapless and demoralized municipalities and use their business school manners to butter-up elected officials look good if they cooperate. What happens? Eventually even the locals scoff at the dirty, grimy tree-hugger as the realist is then labeled, and tell him to clear off! The culture is lost, people move away, many get stuck in suburbia, with better times forgotten and remembered. If that is that - more cynical tears, less friendly beers. We will sit on plastic Timmy's benches instead of Molo furniture, and we will stop talking to neighbours.

The tragic short-sighted sellout and false message that the battle is a lost cause are more government and big business lies. It depends on YOU and I. That is why I at A5X I protest submarginal development plans hoisted on a people who have all the tools to create better given the chance. This plan is pushy, faulty and divisive just like colonialism - straight through what is sacred, and creating conflict of interests between the good people who want a good road, and the good people who want a better road.

People with different economic and values interests here are all good and can win-win together. This particular style of development is bad, not all development is. This should not be a place of divide and rule. This is Wakefield and we are wiser than all that. Come and do ceremony here at Lac Brown on Saturday, or just visit anytime with an attitude of respect for the land and all her people, speak with the knowledgeable and hearty. Maybe we can find out what kind of Tree Wakefield is? What kind of roots we can lay down here together?

The Price of Living is Eternal Vigilance

I heard the heavy machinery rolling into the Brown's lake parking lot yesterday and decided to take a gander. All I witnessed was some guy in a digger eating his lunch while the behemoth machine sat idling. So I walked down to the lake thinking it might be the last time I could enjoy the silence that nature intended. I watched a woodpecker flittering around trying to find a snack on parasites living in the trees. For some reason, I felt sorry for the woodpecker, maybe because it reminded me of us?
Like many others, I have lent support in peaceful protests, making up slogans and posters that read: "Save the Pines - Redesign" but I must admit I don't know what to do anymore except wring my hands.
The weight of the bulldozer of change cannot be easily shifted, yet I refuse to accept defeat. It is somehow personal. A common question I hear from people is "I care deeply for the environment, but what's the best way for little me to make a difference? Years ago, I coined a trite little aphorism: "making a difference by avoiding indifference". My then girlfriend loved this but doesn't give a shit whether I live or die anymore. Yes, life can be harsh and cruel, mostly confusing.  Confusing because we constantly change our mind on everything simple and sacred. An example of this comes from a dear friend of mine, who recently told me it was a waste of time for protesters to fight the current A5X design because it was a done deal and there were better things to do. I could never discourage someone from taking on a noble cause, no matter how silly or insignificant their actions may turn out. I'm beginning to wonder if that's true or if we're all a bunch of lazy cop outs? The verdict is out on this, just as it is for the human race; but the evidence does not look good...

Here's the letter of the day:


As you are aware, our Wakefield has an emergency fund that village members contribute to to help out members of our community when they are in financial need. People, including me, who contribute to this fund do not ask what the money is going for. We just know that it is going for the betterment of our village, of people in our village who are in need of help. When we help out these people, we do not ask why the recipients of this fund are in this situation, we just act for their betterment and trust the judgment of our fellow citizens who are running the fund.


And so to it is for me with the A5X protesters. Perhaps they are not in financial need but they too are faced with a severe problem and are in need of our support. And, just as with the Emergency Fund, I think it is my duty, our duty, to act in their behalf.

I think that most members of our Village,like me, are concerned about global and local environmental degradation but feel powerless to act and, in some cases, have justified their inaction by making up reasons for their inaction. As I understand it, what the protesters are arguing is that the A5X is being built without sufficient public consultation and that there are feasible, more environmentally friendly, alternatives to the presently planned destructive swath. I may not know all the nuances of the arguments that are going on, but, based on my experience, I am sure that there is much more than a grain of truth in the protesters concerns. For this reason I support their plans and actions for bringing these concerns to the attention of our Village and the builders of A5X. I think you should support the A5X activists too.-The Price of Wakefield is Eternal Vigilance