Politics: Lots of Anger All Around

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Using talk radio as a barometer never leads to an accurate view of the electorate, but I've been struck in recent weeks by the continued anger being expressed by callers to talk shows of all political persuasions in the United States. From KUOW's "The Conversation" (usually drawing left-wing Seattleite callers) to the syndicated Glenn Beck Program (usually drawing those far on the right), people are calling in expressing anger toward the Federal government. It may have peaked during the revelations about the bonuses paid to executives of AIG, but it hasn't subsided much.

On the left, there's anger that the Obama administration has sold out to corporations and isn't using government power enough, and that it isn't different enough from the Bush administration in foreign policy. While public figures on the left like columnist David Sirota and economist Paul Krugman have been pretty calm if clear in their criticisms, callers to talk shows have not. I've been surprised at the number of left-wing callers to talk shows saying that they wish they had not voted for Obama, and that they were already disappointed and--yes--angry with him, usually for his commitment to the war in Afghanistan, but also over the economy. Even a month ago, these callers were rare; they are rapidly becoming the left-wing mainstream.

On the right, the anger is all-encompassing. People are echoing the opinion of talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh that the nation is threatened by socialism as embodied by the Obama administration. Some actually fear the government, leading in part to a run on both weapons and ammunition sales that started the day Obama was elected and still continues to this day according to a report on NPR's All Things Considered today. Listening to right-wing callers to shows like Limbaugh's, the reaction is visceral to anything the Obama administration does, whether it is bailing out a financial institution, orchestrating the removal of the CEO of General Motors, or Obama himself giving a speech to a foreign audience--it's ruining the country.

The right-wing movement is coalescing into what are anticipated to be enormous rallies on Tax Day, April 15th, which according to their organizing web site will be taking place all over the country. One of the prominent Tea Party backers, talk show host Glenn Beck, has been so over-the-top that he has even drawn a brilliant parody from Stephen Colbert. Yet, listen to callers to the talk shows, and Beck seems like a downright moderate.

The promise of the Obama administration was that it would go beyond the "red state versus blue state" dynamic of the past decade. With the anger upwelling on both sides, either this is the first step toward achieving that goal as people express their emotions, or it's the beginning of the evidence that the endeavor is utterly impossible because they can't get over those emotions. As always, time will tell.

Economics: Beware of Fundamentalism

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Pretty much everyone agrees that the main flaw of communism is that it did not account for human nature, that human beings are fundamentally self-centered and greedy. While communism might work quite efficiently on paper, in practice, individuals do not necessarily do what they are told society needs them to do, withholding resources for the their own use or not doing assigned work, and those assigned to make decisions for the society could become especially corrupt in assigning resources to their own friends and family rather than what would actually most benefit the society as a whole.

Proponents of capitalism have long claimed that their system was superior precisely because it was centered around self-interest. In a market environment, people would have to act in their own self-interest and be greedy, resulting in innovation, and this would lead to advances that would result in economic growth and the advancement of society. Thus, there is a supreme irony that what has occurred that is making some people question the veracity of capitalism now is that it didn't properly account for human nature. In the absence of regulation, people withheld information and over-sold various financial instruments, leading to a distortion of the market, and the very greed that made communism unworkable and was supposed to make capitalism work instead led to a global financial crisis.

Of course, this doesn't mean that capitalism is fundamentally flawed and needs to be abandoned for something else (and I'm still waiting for a serious suggestion for those making such claims as to what exactly would replace it). Instead, it points out that the real enemy here amounts to fundamentalism--those that believed so strongly in the core beliefs of free-market capitalism that they were blinded to the realities around them. They believed so strongly in eliminating regulation to create a free market that they did not realize that the lack of regulation had actually resulted in a market that was far from free. In order for a market to function properly, there has to be accurate information about what is being sold at what price so that the purchasers can make a decision that is in their self-interest. Some will buy cheaper products of lower quality, while others will buy more expensive products of higher quality, but nobody should buy more expensive products of lower quality; the market should force the prices on those products to lower, or if there is constricted supply and these products are necessary to meet overall demand, then the prices of the higher-quality products should rise higher than the lower-quality products.

What the fundamentalist needs to understand is that when human beings are involved, the establishment and maintenance of a truly free market actually requires regulation. If not for regulation, people will be greedy and withhold or distort information--pretending that bundled sub-prime mortgages, for example, were of no more risk than normal mortgages, or that milk was really pure when it was actually contaminated. Proper regulations--not regulations that constrict the market, but those that make it transparent and reliable--actually make markets more efficient and allow them to do what they are supposed to do.

Fundamentalists refused to believe that human beings would destroy communism, so sure enough it was destroyed. Fundamentalists are now refusing to believe that lack of regulation contributed to the current financial crisis and are calling for further deregulation. If allowed to prevail, capitalism might face a similar fate as communism--but fortunately they don't appear to be prevailing.

Photos: Boston Fourth of July, 2005

Boston mayor Thomas Menino and representatives of the US Military honored revolutionary leaders in the Granary Burial Ground in Boston, Massachusetts on 4-July-2005

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site again dives into the archives to feature the morning of the 4th of July, 2005 in Boston, Massachusetts. As occurs each year in Boston, a parade started at City Hall, honored revolutionary leaders buried in the Granary at their grave sites, continued to the Old State House for a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and then proceeded to Faneuil Hall for more speeches, finishing about the time the USS Constitution started its turnaround cruise to Fort Independence.

Radio Pick: As It Happens Hockey Prank

TORONTO, ONTARIO - I can't let the week of April Fool's Day go without citing an on-air prank as my radio pick of the week. For the most part, I was disappointed with the April Fool's stories I heard on the radio this year. However, for the second straight year, the CBC's As It Happens pulled off a very good one. After all the talk about "pansification" of hockey this year and admonitions on the show that they were unable to run their intended April Fool's prank because of recent news stories related to the environment, their story on the banning of away-team jerseys in the National Hockey League was very nicely done, about half-way through the 24-minute second segment of the show. As always, the follow-up on the show was almost better than the original joke, the second story in the 24-minute second segment the following day.

Listen to streaming Windows Media of As It Happens "Hockey Jerseys", and listen to streaming Windows Media of follow up to As It Happens "Hockey Jerseys"

Heritage: No Generation Gap in Swansea

George Jardine presented to the Swansea Historical Society with musical accompaniment from Flo Thompson on 1-April-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - I have to admit that I wasn't especially looking forward to this month's Swansea Historical Society meeting. The newsletter stated that George E. Jardine would be speaking about his book, "Becoming Me: As I Think It Happened, Growing Up in West Toronto in the Mid-Twentieth Century". I figured I might pick up a few historical tidbits, but would likely have a hard time relating to his stories, since I am only a recent arrival in Toronto.

Yet, as Jardine started to read some excerpts from his memoir, I did start to find some things I could relate to. In the first section of his presentation, he spoke of various early experiences, including his time spent listening to the radio for entertainment and of the value of radio drama. When he broke to take comments and solicit the reminiscence of others in the audience, I was surprised to find everyone focus on the radio topic, speaking of their favorite shows and sharing how they still listened to such shows. It is no wonder my favorite Imagination Theater radio show is so popular--just about every person in the room had a favorite radio drama.


George Jardine spoke about his experiences growing up in West Toronto to the Swansea Historical Society on 1-April-2009

During his second section, he spoke of various activities around West Toronto including going to the West Toronto train station and the various places he could go on a day trip from Toronto by train in that era. Again, that was the aspect that the audience latched on to--the various places they had gone by train, the punctuality of the trains of the era, and how they missed that form of public transportation. Clearly, the people in this room thought about the same way I did about the utility of railroads as transportation!

After a break for a sing-a-long of "No Man Is An Island" based on the John Donne poem, Jardine continued into other portions of his life, including some opinions based on his life experiences. None of it drew the kind of audience response that radio dramas and railroad sections had done.


The audience at the Swansea Historical Society rose to sing along with speaker and author George Jardine on 1-April-2009

There may be a generation gap between many other members of the Swansea Historical Society and me, but there's no generation gap in our attitudes about radio and railroads, and it took George Jardine's presentation to make that clear.

Media: More on the Future of Journalism

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Earlier this month, the Project for Excellence in Journalism released its annual state of the media analysis, including a section on newspapers. Considering that this report amounts to some of the best minds in the industry trying to chart out a future, it's pretty sobering that the suggestions for the future of newspapers as summarized in a Christian Science Monitor article don't seem to hold much promise--and I mean that even in terms of news organizations, not just physical newspapers.

The first idea is one I have advocated for both newspapers and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation--creating non-profit foundations, like ProPublica, to produce high-quality news. However, they point out that it is unlikely that there is enough funding to become a general ownership model. It's hard to argue with that assertion, though maybe it can save a few newspaper organizations as they turn into general journalism organizations.

The other ideas? Adopt the cable model, in which a fee to news producers is built into monthly Internet-access fees consumers already pay. I like this one, but I see only one way to administer it--as a tax. That will never fly in the United States, so unless someone figures out a better way to administer that idea, I'm afraid an idea that makes a lot of sense will be stillborn.

Next, build online retail malls within news sites to create a local search network for small businesses and link them directly with customers. I like this one as well, but I don't see how if the current advertising-supported methods are failing that this one will bring enough additional revenue to work, either.

Third, develop subscription-based niche products for elite professional audiences, which have already proved to be a profitable growth area in journalism. Clearly, this may work for some publications, but it's hardly a recipe for providing general news.

Finally, collaborate to challenge aggregators, especially Google, to start sharing more revenue. I don't see this happening. There are too many options for news collection (say, Al Jazeera for national news in the United States, which as a reminder is government-funded) for there for be any incentive for the aggregator to do this--and some have said as much.

Interestingly, my other standing idea, an official fourth estate funded by government is not listed as an option for newspaper organizations, which may say more about the mind-set of the United States than it does about the actual practicality of the idea. Indeed, it seems to be so far removed from what is considered acceptable in the United States that it isn't even worth mentioning and rejecting. Considering the lack of other options, I am reaching the conclusion that this must change and the idea must be taken seriously.

Culture: April Fool's Day 1994

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Those that knew me during my undergraduate years know what has to be posted on this day. Throughout my freshman year, during dorm meetings I would provide an oral summary of the news of the week for people who didn't bother to read the newspaper or otherwise stay informed about what was happening beyond our campus. The first dorm meeting after spring break just happened to fall shortly before April Fool's Day, prompting me to take advantage of the situation, hoping to make a point that people didn't question my credibility enough. Most sound clips had been recorded since the last report (a few were from somewhat earlier in the year), but obviously were taken way out of context. A transcript of the report follows:

"There was quite a bit of discussion between the RAs and I about what kind of report I should give: a summary of spring break news, just the last week, or whatever. They basically gave me a time constraint and I was going to put it to a vote, but clearly...the events of earlier today just made it really...obvious what I should report. I'll try to stay positive. On the bright side, we do have a new news theme."

[News theme: "Would I lie to you?..."]

"The top story...clearly, today occurred just this evening. President Clinton was giving a speech in his home state on health care...Perhaps the best way to do this is to play the live coverage on NPR:"

[Clip from state of the union: "For too many families, even with both parents working, the American Dream has been slipping away. In 1992, the American people demanded that we change. A year ago I asked all of you to join me in accepting the responsibility for the future of our country." Clip turns to gunshots, taken from the Johnannesburg riots earlier that week.]

"Clearly, there were multiple gunshots. Apparently, the first did not hit Clinton, but later ones did...he was transported to a Little Rock Hospital where vice president Al Gore gave a press conference about half an hour after the incident, naming a prosecutor to look in to the shooting:"

[Clip on Whitewater taken from the January 9th Face the Nation program: "He's a career prosecutor, an official in the justice department, who is a Republican incidentally, who came in on the Nixon and Ford administrations; he's a man of unquestioned integrity, Donald McKay, who came back as part of the Bush justice department. He's being given every single shred of information about this. Uh, there has been no specific allegation of criminal wrongdoing. What there has been is a series of political attacks. Frankly, you know, the opposition has watched this past year as President Clinton has done everything right, put our country back on the right track; economic indicators are up; the economy is recovering. They attacked his policies all year long, to no effect. I think there's a little bit of political panic about the fact that everything's going so well. So, they're unleashing these attacks on him."]

"It should be noted that there is NO evidence that the Republicans were involved in this attack....What vice-president Gore didn't know at the time was that Clinton would die as a result of his wound. That occurred at 8:46 pm tonight. However, the man you just heard, Al Gore, is not president of the United States. The big news last week that you may have heard about was that the constitution was amended by Congress so that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was first in line, so she has been sworn in as president. Here's what Al Gore had to say about that:"

[Clip from same interview: "So, it seems to me that it's politics."]

"Tributes are already coming in. Here's attorney general Janet Reno. I've edited out some tears:"

[Clip from her announcement of the resignation of William Hubbel from the March 14th All Things Considered: "But of the former I can say, unequivocally, he gave fully of himself to make America a better place, and I'm going to miss him."]

"And Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones:"

[Clip from press conference announcing the end of coach Jimmy Johnson's contract: "He has done everything in his power, and he has done it successfully."]

"I apologize for placing this last, but it came over the radio late. Here's the president's last words, recorded in the hospital."

[Clip from the Clinton Whitewater press conference as reported on the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour on March 15th: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"]

"Uh...there is one other story I should mention, since we are students. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders announced this week cigarettes will be banned as a result of nicotene being declared a controlled substance. So, stock up now before June 1st, because they'll be gone. Here's her explanation from last week's Face the Nation program with Bob Schieffer:"

[Actual clip of Elders: "Bob, I feel that there is much evidence to say that nicotene is a drug. We've considered nicotene a drug for a very long time. And I think the way the FDA classifies drugs is based on their intended use. So, if they're just using what's in cigarettes already, and what comes in the form that they use, I think that's how they've escaped regulation."]

"In light of the other stories, I don't think a kicker would be appropriate tonight. But, read your e-mail for real news tonight, and remember, April Fool's Day is just around the corner."

[End news theme.]

Apparently the performance was too good, as people took it seriously, and some left the room before it became obvious that that the reports were not accurate. A passionate war of e-mails started on the dorm list. A number of people defended my actions and an apology that was issued that evening, but an equal number were upset and questioned the sincerity of the apology. That chain seemed to end a couple days later when a forged e-mail from "president@whitehouse.gov" issued a pardon for my actions. However, not until years later did I find out that an application had been filed based on Stanford's Fundamental Standard to have me expelled from the university, and only the withdrawal of faculty sponsorship of that application had prevented it from reaching then-Provost Condoleezza Rice's desk for action. For the remainder of my time at Stanford, my April Fool's editions featured only true stories--very weird true stories, but true stories nonetheless.