“Authoritarianism appeals, simply, to people who cannot tolerate complexity.” Authoritarianism is growing in popularity in many democracies, as we can see in places that were once seen as democratic success stories like Hungary and Poland. “Populist” parties and leaders in Italy, France and the U.K. Trump’s populist and authoritarian appeal is undeniable, and terrifying as […]
The Ontario provincial election is only a couple of days away, so if I want to make a statement about it, now is the time. Few will be surprised to read that, politically speaking, I lean to the left. Actually, I probably stand a few steps left of centre. There are two main reasons why: […]
That’s what Russell Blake, author of Geronimo Beach and other action novels, asked in his guest blog post on the World Literary Café. When is everyone’s favourite passtime in page form too much, whatever that is? I’ll admit I don’t read bodice rippers or erotica, so that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m asking the […]
by andrianart I’ve been having an interesting discussion over Facebook with author Robert Bidinotto around the importance of narrative in our society. It all started with a discussion about Ayn Rand. Robert’s contention was that, no matter whether you agree with Rand or not, she changed the popular narrative of her time. It’s an idea that […]
“I’m still running away” by Flickr user Vincepal, used under a Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 license. I have noticed a shift in my Facebook news feed: there are now fewer ridiculous rants against Obama and pro-gun-rights posts, fewer Creationists going on with spurious proofs of their improvable ideas, and thankfully fewer racists with equally implausible, unsupportable ideas. […]
Annihilus, copyright Marvel Comics Parliament has reconvened in Ottawa, and the buzz is already about the next election—which could be more than a year away. I’m bracing myself for a year of public negativity to come. In Canada, all the parties are already in full campaign mode. And in the US, the presidential election process […]
Congratulations, Mr. Trudeau, for expressing the antidote to negative political advertising we’ve been asking politician for, for decades now. P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:lin When Justin Trudeau was elected leader of the federal Liberal party in Canada a couple of weeks ago, the Conservative party launched negative attack ads against him personally within a couple […]