Minimalism

Technology simplifies our lives but it also affects us in ways we don’t realize until we are without it. I recently fell and wrecked a knee; that meant I prevailed upon a son to drive me to a routine eye appointment. I could take a few steps with a cane or hiking poles but going any distance was still pretty panful.

He called ten minutes before arriving to ensure I was at the door. In fact we were early and drove around so as not to arrive too early - showing how we use the automobile without thinking as to how we are affecting the planet by doing so - but that’s another story. I got to the office, went through the inevitable Covid screening and as usual sat for a wait. A woman sitting across from me - properly distanced - was gazing at her phone and I automatically reached for mine. It wasn’t in my purse.

My first reaction was to panic - and then to beat myself up. It was already in the purse when my son called. How could I have stupidly laid it aside? To make things worse I was to text him back when I was ready for a ride home. What was his cell number? I could remember the land line, but had they cancelled it when all four members of that household had Iphones? I couldn’t recall his cell - or that of any other family member.

I had lots of time to think through a way to connect. I was pretty sure I remembered another son’s cell - but now my stupidity would be revealed even more widely. But son number one has a business website. Wait a minute, I thought - he probably has a phone number on that site. When I finally saw the optometrist and sheepishly told her my problem, I asked whether she could check his site. She did and asked the receptionist to call my son letting him know I would be ready for a pick up in five minutes. Problem solved. The receptionist handed me a little slip with his number on it - as well as giving me a card with my next appointment. It’s still in the purse and reminds me to jot it down in my Bullet Journal. I just did. I’ll also try to memorize his cell number.

I’ve been recently reading Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism - actually listening to it as an audiobook on the Libby app on my tablet. Is this Minimialist? I’m not addicted to social media but my aging brain has conveniently downloaded some important information to a small portable computer. I didn’t need my own - but it was interesting how reliant I was on those of others.

As it happened, my own phone had dropped out of the small purse and my son noticed it on his car seat. He did have confidence that I would figure something out - so that’s at least something. And instead of going home we went to his house where a bunch of Celtic musicians were playing in the back yard - and I got to join in by playing on a 77 key battery powered Roland keyboard. I still agree with Newport that we are overly reliant on our technologies. The important thing is good choice of where and when.

Another Woman of Note

Katherine Hayhoe turns up frequently when climate science is the topic. She came from Toronto and studied first at the University of Toronto starting with astrophyics but later became interested in climate science. Until recently she was head of climate science at Texas Tech University but has stepped down to become the first head of the Nature Conservancy - the first woman to head that body which is involved in environmental protection in 72 countries.

Hayhoe has a particular gift as an Evangelical in speaking to relgious organizations from that perspective. In a seminar when she appeared in Toronto, she noted that if she could convince her preacher husband, after that anyone else would be easy. Along with other women scientists she has teamed up to start Science Moms, providing basic information for families of young children. As well as its website, it has embarked on a number of public service bulletins to spread the word.

Hayhoe has received several citations for her work on climate: the U.N. Champions of the Earth award in 2019, and climate ambassador by the World Evangelical Alliance. You can also watch her TED talk here and add to the four million views.

Democracy and Climate

When we make The UK Guardian with news that one of Canada’s political parties refuses to state that climate change is real, we might like to shrink with embarrassment. When the Supreme Count rules that the federal government does have oversight of climate change - part of the continuing conversation about whether provinces or national government takes the lead, we might feel better - even if the decision is not unanimous. Decisions need clarity in a democracy.

The second book I read recently was Jonathan Manthorpe’s Restoring Democracy in an Age of Populists and Pestilence. It reflects his more than 40 years of work as a journalist and is an excellent review of what has happened in a wide range of countries. He notes that Francis Fukuyama’s original optimistic view that the only things that could affect western liberal democracy would be religion and nationalism and that wouldn’t happen - except that it has. By now, both know that and Manthorpe worries about its impact on his grandchildren and their world to come. Authoritarianism is much more popular and dangerous now in the West and Brexit and Trumpism bear that out. Before dealing with them in some detail he reconstructs the last two decades in the former Russian empire and the rise of China in a face paced and entertaining read.

He’s less worried about Canada than Europe or the United States but he doesn’t let us off the hook entirely. Compared to other countries we may look calm. While the first half of the last century was influenced by our British heritage - and my own life reflects that - the last half drew us closer to America. Now we feel somewhat estranged from both. The Huawei involvement has created new problems with China. Our isolation from traditional partners may require us to seek new ones. Manthorpe is not happy about our political administrative government systems imported from Britain, especially because of the differences in our geography, where huge areas create regions with different stresses and aspirations. Federal and Provincial conflicts are a way of life - but more interesting to the politicians than ordinary citizens. Getting things settled by the courts doesn’t necessarily help.

Our media, like those of our neighbour to the south, focus on news as entertainment and opinion often swamps actual news reporting more often than we realize. The lack of local press makes this even worse. Regional grievances are rampant. We have too many governing bodies with endless subcommittees that operate as silos; only a crisis like a pandemic lays these bare. Politics has taken a focus on leaders as folk heroes or villains making politics a matter of celebrities and influencers, rather than a matter of policies. Partisanship is not as virulent in Canada as it is in the US, but it is there - and a central consensus is becoming harder to find. Our reliance on oil and gas is going to be a force to be reckoned with. We require restructuring and retraining even more since the emergency of the pandemic.

Votes and voting will matter. So will a civil service that is competent and respected by all political parties. As we move into the new pressures brought on by climate change, engagement and trust of ordinary citizens will matter even more.

Good reading

I’ve finished two books in the last ten days. The first was an audio version read by its author Rachel Maddow entitled Blowout. It’s a history of the fossil fuel industry.

She is not someone I watch regularly on TV - but what I have seen suggests that she comes with strong views, a focus on facts and a wry wit. These are all borne out in the recent book - which I first heard about at the end of 2019 at an environmental seminar.

Her view is hardly unbiased and starts from the premise that the point of the industry is to make money come hell or high water and basically do as it pleases. No government anywhere has ever come close to controlling it.

She alternates between its development in Russia and in the United States and focuses on the fact of industry greed without having any idea of the consequences of its actions. Part of its success relates to its size and reach across the entire planet.

A blowout happens when the pressure of an oil or gas well builds up beyond the limits of its control system and backs up in an explosion. In the process blowouts have affected water systems and have caused earthquakes though the development of horizontal drilling. Never mind killing pets and making countless people sick who reside close to wells.

The book ties together a number of fascinating stories ranging from incompetent Russian spies, to a multimillion dollar playboy from Equatorial Guinea who enjoys giving his girlfriends $80,000 for shopping trips in Malibu, while three quarters of the citizens of his country starve. We move through entrepreneurs in Oklahoma, Texans who want to secede. Always lurking behind the scenes is Vladimir Putin who will do whatever he can to stir the pot. From Standard Oil to the present, one of the inevitable results is all countries depending on industry support for the election of its officials - who then use government money to return the favour in the form of government subsidies to the most profitable industry on earth.

Changing this will be an enormous challenge everywhere. What will count, Maddow says, is paying attention and asking questions. Our futures will undoubtedly depend upon that.

Vaccination adventures

Sometimes things work well. In the constant noise about pandemic procedures and cures, here is one story of a solution that went the way it was supposed to - at least for a start.

In Canada, health care is regarded as a right - and public health is a priority. The first group to be vaccinated were seniors in care homes and their caregivers. That group has largely been accommodated. The next group specified in my province, Ontario, are those 80 and over. I’m computer savvy - and until this week totally mobile - after a minor fall that created a tiny fracture - painful to walk a couple of blocks for an Xray to learn this - but it could be much worse.

The rollout for us 80 plus group hasn’t been the smoothest. My GP has really worked hard to keep us up to date and recently provided two possible avenues to get there. One was a pre-booking tip for two local hospitals. I signed on with the closest one and got straight in with providing basic information including a provincial health card. A friend tipped me off that she and her husband already had an appointment at a nearer one - and that same contact came a day later from the GP’s office. They were already accepting bookings - but every day was filled. An insider tip from the friend let me know that new dates became available on Thursdays at 7:00 pm, and I was primed to go online. Naturally the system was overloaded and wouldn’t let me in, so I waited an hour and tried again. This time there was a message - “You are now in line, your screen will update automatically so stay on”. I did and sure enough within minutes I was at the registration site and went for the furthest available date to save time. There were several choices and I signed on for a convenient one. The next morning I received a confirmation and instructions to proceed.

The pre-booking also offered a place the next day to register. It gave me 96 hours to respond. What it didn’t allow was a chance to refuse the appointment, since I now had one elsewhere. I hope that doesn’t mean I deprived someone else to register. It would have been easy to have a link to say, “I don’t need this appointment.”

The day dawned and a caring daughter-in-law drove me to the hospital. I entered the large main floor unit and was greeted by someone who noticed me sporting a cane and immediately took me to a seat in the closest section. My appointment was for 9:30. I handed over the letter with my information and they orally confirmed that I had consented. They found me in the system by last name immediately. I received the shot - totally painless so the needle must be really fine tipped. - at exactly 9:29. I was asked to wait for 15 minutes and texted the daughter-in-law that she could come back soon. After chatting with the staff attendants and thanking them, I was back in the car at 9:46. A copy of proof of vaccination identical to the one I had been handed at the hospital was sent and in my email when I arrived home

The only bad news was a sixteen week wait for the second shot. We are now following the British pattern of getting as many first doses into arms as possible to lessen the serious infection rate. I commend that strategy. I awakened this morning glad that things worked out well - and grateful that I started using a computer in 1984 and explored the mysteries of internet and the like soon after. When technology tools are understood and implemented well, live becomes easy. Would that that were always the case.