Dear Kids II

Passion is a luxury. Deep feelings are one thing but putting a passion to work for something or someone is quite another. The young woman who is generously giving her time and energy to her cause and finding a welling up of peers who feel as strongly as she, is very brave. Most of us admire what she is doing and the best part of it is seeing how strongly the young are demonstrating their passion about the future. What these young people are demonstrating over is good and beautiful and true; there is no doubt. But we live in a democracy and a philosophy is one thing but how to go about achieving a cause is the hard part. In this world, we have governments that through the voting process, determine how our countries work. Youth knows this, but what is misunderstood is the patience it takes to get things done and continue to remain in power in our governments. The people speak via their vote during election times. The hurdles are enormous in making major changes to a system, but that's the way we do it in a democracy. If we lived in places where action is determined largely by one strong, usually a man, leader, that leader can merely say the word and the deed is accomplished. This is not what happens in our free country. Climbing a mountain is not the wish to get to the top, but the work in doing so. If you have ever tried such a thing, I can say that even, sometimes after a long, hard climb, it feels both good and bad to look a few hundred feet ahead and say I know I can't make it, but it's okay, I got this far and that is my accomplishment. It is something you never forget but each time you don't get your way the way you wanted to, you think about how far you came and not about what didn't happen. While right and good should rule, it does mostly but not always. The beauty of being a teen ager is that while knowledge is present, it is so fresh and young and pure, it doesn't see the pitfalls. It doesn't have to because it doesn't have big responsibilities that include supporting a family or dealing with employment or health and aging issues. Youth has energy and will and determination and desire, but all that is not experience. Experience is the good and the bad coming together in life and the ways that each person deals with it in order to survive. Survival is how human kind evolved and remains on earth. Some of it is positive and some, not. In a democracy, everyone has a voice and makes decisions and governments by the people are comprised of all kinds of opinions, some not very wise but each may speak. It's our way. Simple, right system changing ideas don't work simply.  Sure, the clear result is what we want and work toward, but getting there isn't simple. It should be, and we all want it to be, but that's not democracy. Commerce, social issues, world problems, tax burdens all present stumbling blocks along the way to saving the beautiful globe we live in and on. I wish it were as simple and easy as carrying a sign that says "How Dare You".

The Media Party

Marshall Mcluhan, an Edmontonian originally, went East as most young men did in the day to "get ahead" and made a name for himself with his invention: "the medium is the message". The media is the message. The Media has evolved into an enormous "party" worldwide that can control what happens to all of us. Its strength has overlapped right into our very homes which depend largely on media sources. If you don't believe this, you are naive. Every item in your home and especially the electronic ones was born thru media advertising and reviews presented through media sources. Everything in our today world depends on the media. How the entertainment world works, how you are influenced is measured, sold and used. How elections are won and lost happens through media sources that not only report, but influence. The bigger the spin or hype, the more we want it because we are tapped constantly by media servants called reviewing and advertising sites. Media is hired by sinister means to help or hinder political systems. And it is so powerful that when denied or questioned it can control what is published or not. You think you are getting the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Think again. Why do you think its top mavens sit around the daily table to discuss what they will allow on air or how to call it and who is best  to present it: how large the pictures and of what, who will do the pieces, in what manner will it be coloured and so on. To forget that the media has everything to do with everything we do, is foolish. We love it, too. Fashion magazines tell us what is fashionable according to what the "stars" wear and how. Photographers and ad men and women, image folk and set makers and thousands of media off shoots are hired to make saleable impressions on buyers from the top down. They know you. You hope you can trust them. The media has principles and ethics as do all those truly invested in the system that runs all of our media sources every single moment of our lives, what we see on our small wares that sit in our hands, pockets or bags. The very origins of the electronics you use are according to the businesses that can afford to pay the highest prices to make the most appealing presentations. The proof of its power is  Black Fridays. Hmm? We assume that media sources are ethical and honest but how do we non-media creatures measure that? During the last election, how much a candidate could afford to pay for media which it drags along behind itself like a dragon with a powerful tail, determines its destiny. Media today calls itself "investigative journalism" and as such has become not only a tin god, but also a detective and along with that, whether we like to admit it or not, prosecutor, judge and jury. How you play the media has become fodder for the new as top shelf people called "assistants". "Seeing is believing" and all you have to do is go onto a certain well-used form of the amateur media to see how  ridiculous that adage is. Fake media is here and some people love it and use it to their advantage. Oops, there goes ethics! Marshall Mcluhan, a media guru himself, left us all too soon.

Easier Said Than Done

The old saying as in my title is especially true at election hype times. The air is daily infused with promises, promises, promises. They're roiling about like the pages of old dailies flying in a windstorm. We indulge ourselves in their delicious solutions that will solve all of our problems: pollution, economics, social ones, education and health and child care. You name it. If all the political leaders formed a team to work as one and their solutions to those problems all came true, we'd be rich, healthy and smart. But it is all fantasy and no one cares. Apparently. It's just part of the pre-election game and everyone plays along. We discuss for hours, one over the other of the promises. We debate amongst ourselves, which ones will work or not. If we are confused we can refer to the media for help. A couple of days ago, I read a comprehensive listing of issues along with an analysis of what each of the runners for Prime Minister of this country promised in fixing them. The golden solutions to each of the issues were laid out in clear, concise sentences and not over many of them, so that we, the voters, might be clear on each. Thus, the author hoped, we would be secure in placing our one little vote in the right place and go away confident in thinking that we had done the right thing. As sure as you'll find a needle in a haystack without a magnet, it will happen. Right? Here comes another old adage. If "ifs" and "ands" were pots and pans, there'd be no need for tinker's dams. Promises are just that. They are easy to make, and even if you present a plan that appears clearly to allow them to happen, they must pass a huge number of trials before they  remotely can become actual events. Only dictators can make promises and force them to happen. We have a democratic society and parliamentary system in our country that makes us believe what we voted for and "won" will actually happen. It will happen only if it can get through the complex process of parliament.  And our governments have exactly, as we do in our own budgets at home, whatever kind of home it might be: a castle, a mansion, a three bedroom, an apartment or a hovel, one pile of our tax dollars to shift about to make the promises happen. The money goes only from one pocket to the other. Pre-election palaver is mere hot air and we know it, but we all love to gather around and warm our hands on it. After the big expensive party of election fury is over, is when the storm ends and we have to pick up the pieces and get on with it for the next four years.

Bullying Murders

The latest and most tragic case of bullying, one that ended in murder by the bullies who have not been charged,  has me not only angered but remembering a few young students when I taught, and how hard it was to try and control their similar situations. For some reason certain young people are subject to being bullied. One example, was a young chap, although it happens to girls also,  in my school, who was bullied from a very early age. He was typical of many who are subjected to it. He was thinner, delicate in sensitivity and frame, lacked the average behaviours that most his age had in favour of his own ways, dressed unlike the others and seemed almost to participate in his own misery by ways of inviting the others to tease him. He often made fun of himself to amuse them. The other boys jostled him and verbally abused him continuously. They did physical damage that was minor but very insulting. The staff made every effort to stop it by interacting, coaching and teaching and talking about the situation, meeting with the parents and children but it went on and on and became worse when there were no adults around to protect the young fellow. And he had to be on his own some of the time. He suffered this torment right through to the end of his school years in varying degrees, but after, managed to find a profession that was satisfying and rewarding. While then he appeared to have a normal life, he never really forgot about the bullying that tainted him for the rest of his days. I speak to him now and again and feel badly that his life was so affected. It seemed wrong that he spent those years in pain. Now that I am not in the teaching realm, I ponder sadly over boys like him that I knew of and wonder why we couldn't have entirely stopped this dreadful matter that continues today for so many unfortunate children. These youngsters who are targeted by bullies often take on a role and seem to accept it as their given fate. If I had such a vulnerable child, I think I would consider home education or remove the child and find some other source of peace in education for him or her. Parents can't always afford this and here is where the system must take early action to provide for and protect this kind of child who has a right to an education. It is their responsibility to see that these special bullied children receive the attention they require, to remove the child from the danger  and find ways of going ahead with  a suitable educational environment that fits their special needs just as those done for children with other learning difficulties. Bullied children are special needs children also. We need to take immediate action not just go to meetings and take courses. It could save lives.

Off To A Home

There comes a day, for many elders, when it's no longer desirable to be on their own in their own home. A home is many things: a house, an apartment, a condo, a mobile and so on. Every home requires upkeep and maintenance and cleanliness. When it comes to the point where the safety or health of doing what one could once do effortlessly in younger times, is impossible. Pain dictates the rule for others. When that happens some hard decisions must be made. While a loving  family is entitled to suggest various plans for the elder, the final move is up to the aging individual. Only he or she knows what is truly wanted. If there is an illness involved, that makes close planning imperative. There is government help. This inevitable move is difficult on all sides. Usually, we elders put up with our aging problems until it becomes obvious that continuing to make the effort is just too much. Aging is not a sin, it's a fact, one that no one escapes. Some people can go on longer than others to care for themselves adequately and independently and others are forced to seek earlier assistance. An age number has nothing to do with it. Suffering is not heroic. Heroism is taking that huge step to a home away from home situation in all ways: physically, financially and emotionally. Some families bring the elder into their homes and it works out well, while others assist to set up their elders in a place where they will continue to feel independence and have a sense of enjoying their senior years. I see some very attractive new facilities and on looking into their costs, they are sometimes prohibitively high. The newer venues that advertise all sorts of beautiful programs, amenities and accommodations are pretty much out of reach for the average person. Unless one has access to a large sum of capital to purchase or rent in these flashy buildings with elegant facades, dining rooms and programs, they are out of reach. For a one bedroom unit, for example, the cost begins around five to six thousand a month. When I calculate this cost, it makes more sense to bring help into one's own home. No matter how the hype is advertised as to what you can save,  the savings you make in taking on their plans, are just not feasible. There are however, less glitzy places that are pleasant and affordable, thus possible. Even new, top drawer buildings have their situations no matter what the spin. Some people choose to hire helpers who offer care in their own home on a daily basis including housekeeping and driving. While it is not cheap, it can be far less than some other more glamorous spots. What is important is how you feel in the facility and some allow for a stay to try it out. Best hunting for all. Happiness is much more than the newest highrise down the street.

Where Is Hollywood

Hollywood used to be the taj of most young people interested in acting. Los Angeles was the destination to star watch, tread the sidewalks adorned with glitterati names and hand prints and perhaps catch a peek of some successful actor in the Hollywood area. Maybe even be discovered and become one of them, too. Now, with the crazies who grab at actors or throw things and yell at them, or bug them to take selfies, those days are over. They've ruined it for themselves as well as others and don't care. The body guards get more star time than anyone else. I come from times where there were "movie mags" now replaced with a thing called People. In its pages, we see reams of face shots of the rich and famous who look unbelievable and are, with their nips and tucks and lifts and shots. In my day, as a child I saw older teens with rooms papered in colourful pages filling their walls with  favorite stars and signed photographs of their heart-throbs in frames on their flouncy, skirted dressers or bureaus. There were dolls and paper dolls and dishes and yes, cutlery, sporting the faces and forms of Hollywood's latest. The stars were to dream on. Glamour was key and the sparkling, beruffled, gargantuan musicals we thrilled over, filled the movie theatres so that fans could watch them over and over, speak the lines, sing the songs and try to dance the dances. It was all flash and film and glamorous fantasy. Some of it had stars talking to actual people on the street, who went to their movies. Today, in some of the best films chosen, young actors take on roles that must be physically excruciating to play or fun or tense or those calling for deep commitment. It's now a private, often secret and serious business, one closely guarded and supervised and cultivated. It is no longer simply fun and it wasn't all back then either. The darker roles then, became later, the drama icons for actors today. Much of the glamour is found now, in style. It seems that fashion and film have fused into one big runway show every time the red carpet is rolled out. The big fashion magazine that glazes the stands, is now a movie star publication. The cover borne actors are first groomed to lose weight (which seems to be, sadly, part of a current resume requirement in spite of health first) and then made up and adorned with garb that costs as much as a year's rent. None of them think it up themselves. Most of the Hollywood darlings, male, female and so on, are groomed by a highly competitive crew who run about frantically adorning the dollies of Hollywood. If we, the real people, saw them as they are, we would likely not recognise them even if they dared to trod our public sidewalks. Many fly in and out of drug addiction at some point, marry grandly but temporarily, are ridiculously rich, can't appear in public places even to bag a burger or remotely hope to step onto the sidewalks of their own towns. Where is Hollywood? Inside behind bars. Their own.