Politics

Gregor Robertson Promises Action On Peak Oil

December 29, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie

The Georgia Strait reported recently that Mayor Gregor Roberston is stepping up to prepare Vancouver for the effects of peak oil.

“We have to address peak oil,” Robertson told the Georgia Straight at City Hall. “That’s a hard reality.…I think it could end up compounding the looming challenges we face with oil supply and an economy that’s totally dependent on cheap energy right now.”

Speaking of peak oill, I thought it an opportune time to re-post my interview I conducted with Rex Weyler on this very topic. Rex is a member of the Vancouver Peak Oil collective, and spoke with me about the challenges ahead.

How Do You Change Someone Else’s Mind?

December 28, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie


Each war is different. Each war is the same. / Photo Kevin Dooley

If someone doesn’t have the same opinion as you, most people take it personally.

That was a great movie! How can you not like it? This music sucks! Your taste is awful. And so on.

Our preference often becomes part of our identity. So when someone else doesn’t share your preference, we feel they’re insulting us personally. And this isn’t limited to music/movies/food.

Politics and religion also falls under the identity umbrella. Some people believe the US should have invaded Iraq. They have based their opinions on what they read/watch and what they believe they “know.”

Radical fundamentalists hate our freedom. War is unfortunate but necessary.

If you try and demand otherwise, it doesn’t matter. Any amount of facts won’t change the mind of a person who has already settled on “the truth”. Persisting will only cause them to feel their worldview (and by extension, identity) is being personally attacked.

So how do you change someone else’s mind? You can’t…directly.

You can only offer alternative information. If they choose to absorb it – to allow it into the realm of possibility – then you just might have a chance.

Obama: For Prime Minister?

November 1, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie

Why oh why can’t Obama run for Prime Minister instead of President?

As Lawrence Martin said in a recent column, Obama is “an American politician with a Canadian mindset. Or at least what has generally been considered a Canadian mindset.”

Which is all the more bizarre when you discover that we just re-elected a Conservative government.

Let’s make up our mind people!

The Lazy Voter’s Guide To Each Party’s Green Platform

October 8, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie

If you’re like the average Canadian voter, you’ve been bombarded by political news and tv debates over the past month. With the election a mere week away (Oct 14) you may still be wondering how the parties differ on the key issues.

Courtesy of Dan Froidevaux here’s an outline of how each party wants to tackle the current (and future) environmental challenges:

What do you think – cap and trace or carbon tax? Or is climate change a bunch of malarky?

Gauge This: Why The CNN Audience Reaction Meter Sucks

October 3, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie

Photo: Biden offers his stance on the Iraq War.

There’s a odd trend in the US that wants to mess with the TV aesthetics of things that aren’t broken.

For example: illuminating the movement of the puck during a hockey game back in 1996. Rather than aid the viewer, the effect resembled a lazer shooting around the ice. Thankfully the effect was dropped two years later.

But now this trend is affecting the news.

Anyone watching the debates on CNN were treated to an “audience reaction meter” – basically seismographic lines running along the bottom of the screen.

The idea is that voters from each party can register their “gut reactions” in real time while the candidates face-off. Viewers at home, like myself, can see if our own feelings mirror these lines on the screen and see if we match up.

On the one hand, it seems like an interesting idea. On the other, not so much.

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Are Mass Protests Still Relevant?

September 20, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie

G8 Protest

Protesting today is often an exercise in futility. How can we change the pattern?

Photo: ABC News

In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq invasion, I protested on the streets of Vancouver. By all accounts it was a large crowd. We chanted slogans. We held signs. We blocked traffic for a few hours. We congregated on the beach. Millions of people around the world also protested on that day.

Soon after, the US still invaded Iraq. I watched the initial bombing unfold like a video game with hyper-realistic graphics. The news anchors wore grave expressions on their faces, though secretly loved to have such compelling footage to share with the viewers.

Five years later, I don’t need to outline the many reasons why the war is a massive failure.

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Naked Hippies On Bicycles

June 29, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie

A few week’s ago, I covered the Vancouver Naked Bike Ride. It was an enlightening experience:

Aside from the great interviews, I was struck by the following observations:

  • naked people are bizarre for about 10 minutes, then it becomes so normal you barely notice
  • there’s something very beautiful about complete inhibition to social code
  • looking around it’s entirely obvious we’re utterly dependent on cars, and it’s interesting to think how we let it get this way
  • it may be fun to join the ride next year

What do you think of the naked bike ride? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Do Films Like ‘Children of Men’ Warn Us Of Alternative Futures?

June 16, 2008 by Ian MacKenzie

Last year, while watching Children of Men in the theatre, I remember feeling a slight twinge of deja vu.

It wasn’t the personal type that makes you wonder if you’ve dreamt a certain experience that actually came true. Rather, it was the unshakable dread that here, on screen, was a bleak vision of a future that may be.

David Roberts, reviewing the film for Gristmill, agrees with me. He writes:

“[Children of Men] It puts some flesh and feeling on the warnings of the doomers: the peak-oil doomers, climate-change doomers, nuclear-terrorism doomers, global-virus doomers, general-malaise doomers.

The techno-optimist response to, say, peak oil, is hey, when oil starts to get expensive we’ll respond in an orderly fashion and shift to something else, right? It’s not like there’ll be riots in the streets. Right?

But one thing Children of Men shows to visceral effect is just how shallow civilization is. Just how quickly the veneer can be ripped away and the lawlessness and brutality let loose. They’re always closer than we know.”

Walking out of the theatre that night, I wondered about my feeling of dread. Is it possible that the film was meant to serve as a warning to the very real possibility of it coming true?

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