Canada’s Debate

A lot of shit ‘went down’ this weekend I didn’t feel that any of it warranted a full-out, Rambling Joseph kind of treatment, so instead I’ve decided to recap the last four days. This seems like a much safer road to travel. Before I do that though, I have a question for those of you out there in the blogsphere… can any of you tell me how to disable internal trackbacks? It’s a real bitch linking to my older posts because it generates these ugly and ungainly comments. Moving right along…

Friday, July 1st. So today is Canada Day. Apparently this is a day to commemorate newspaper quizzes and concerned editorials, since this is the only thing of note that happens. Sure, there are fireworks, and almost everything closes; but really the only way that Canada Day (n� Dominion Day) differentiates from Victoria Day (or “May 2-4″ as most people know it) is that there are usually fewer mosquitoes at the cottage, and people take a shallow stab at patriotism by painting parts of their body red, or complaining about either something decidedly unCanadian taking place inside Canada or outside. I’m not advocating the flag-and-fireworks orgy of jingoism that is going on south of the border as we speak, but I think that we need to find SOME way of making Canada Day matter, or abandon the pretense of being patriotic.

Saturday, July 2nd. So, there was a concert. I don’t know if you heard about this, but a bunch of artists took to the stage around the globe to try and compel the leaders of the G8 into activity on African Party. It’s a worthy cause, and the assembled talent was certainly remarkable, but I can’t help but be underwhelmed at this show of pop-culture activism. Does anyone really think that Snoop Dog rapping about, well, whatever he’s saying, inspires people to take up the cause? This is a man who deifies “pimping,” that noble profession where weak-dick, loser men beat and degrade women (and men for that matter) and exploit them every which way possible. Do you honestly accept me to believe that a guy who sings these lyrics:

It all boils down to the fact
that you’re jealous of my paper stack (jealous ass nigga)
It all boils down to the fact
that you’re jealous of my paper stack (gon get pimp slapped)

in a song called Pimp Slapped gives two shits about starving women and children? Hey, Geldof got millions of people to pay attention, and for that I applaud him. But as long as social activists have to popularize their message to appeal to the masses, they will not gain the credibility they need to open a dialogue with those who have power; and as long as their goals are more complex than getting people to wear wristbands or tie a ribbon around their antennae, then no amount of pop-culture appeal will attract serious followers.

Sunday, July 3rd. Ok, I admit, not too much happened here. I played Ultimate Frisbee, had dinner with the folks, and accomplished little else. I just wanted to take this chance to reflect a bit on life as a blogger. For starters, nothing seems to work the way it is supposed to. This software DOES support RSS, and there are feeds for both my posts and comments. Unfortunately, they are flaccid by-and-large. They’re working one minute, they’re not working the next… it’s infuriating. Of course, this is largely irrelevant because I don’t have a large following yet, but still. This shit should work. That’s all I have to say. Oh, and would all the people out there who have a blog named “Joe’s Blog” please either POST, or take it down so I can climb up the search engine rankings?

Monday, July 4th. Happy Independence Day! Now, I know what you’re thinking. Joe’s just being a smarmy Canadian, he doesn’t care about America. Well, if that crossed your mind then you can just slow down there mister/missy. Independence Day is something worth commemorating, even to a small degree, here north of the border. Without believing in Manifest Destiny, or Wilsonian exceptionalism, or even that Americans are superior, July 4th represents the very first day (in all of “western civilization” at least… I’m not counting Botswana which has had democracy for centuries) when a nation of citizens achieved democracy for itself. While the same thing would have happened eventually in Britain, or France, or even somewhere else, it was still a pivotal moment in human history, and one that we should respect. Now to be fair some people might not want to celebrate this, in spite of what I just said. So I’m proposing a compromise. If you’re not in the States, or you’re an ex-pat of another nation, take a moment to celebrate Democracy Day. I know I just made that up… if you can do better, please make a suggestion.