Time to Live a Simpler Life

Maybe Jesus was on to something…

The current economic crisis has started claiming its first victims and each day the signs grow grimmer for our consumeristic way of life. Of course it is the small that fall first; this evidenced in the recent government collapses in Iceland and Latvia as well as the news that GM would be feeding Swedish carmaker Saab to the pecuniary wolves.

Yet as the current uncertainty gives way to a certainty of worse things to come, it is hard ignore the way the superficiality of our the economy is exposed. Everything depends on continued consumption; something we all know is unsustainable, but something we are all unwilling to admit. The scary part is how reliant on this consumption we have become. If people were to stop buying unnecessary items, which ironically enough is also destroying the planet, the job market would dry up and millions of people would be left without work. This sounds like a travesty but I cannot help but see how people like this, including myself, are dependent on frivolity. In the US, each household has an average of 3, count it, 3 TVs. Think how many billions of dollars in revenue would be lost if Americans (and Brits, Canadians, French, Germans…) had, on average, one less TV in their house. TV manufacturers, cable providers, DVD player makers (each of those 3 TVs needs its own dedicated DVD player), video game makers and even the people that make all the parts for those TVs would face massive reductions in revenue and jobs would of course be the moribund currency.

And with apologies to those bible non-enthusiasts, a quote from your favourite book:

"Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." Luke 12:13-15

Jesus makes a very clear distinction between “life” and “possessions.” What he means is that life is about people, not things. No matter how many TVs we own they will never become a part of our lives the way that friendship, love and our relationships to other people will.

Ultimately what this whole economic crisis is going to come down to, along with other crises such as climate change, is who is willing to make sacrifices and who is going to hold on to their possessions. Regardless of whether one is atheist, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, CEO of a company or assembly-line worker, those that cling to their 3 TVs will go down with the ship. Those that value humanity, morals, knowledge and recognize the adequacy of one TV; they might just make it through.

And now to satisfy those that might not be a big Jesus fan; a quote from a popular beer commercial that some in Canada might remember:

“It’s all about balance.”

Whether you are talking about the balance between spending time with the guys and, well, watch the commercial here, or the sustainability of the world’s resources and quality of life, there is a lot of wisdom in the idea of balance.

All jokes aside, the economic crisis will no doubt have a major effect on the entire world, and it would be naïve to think that it will just be the little guys that will suffer. Everything is connected. Those that value their possessions need to learn that the future will not be about excess. It will be about balance. Just ask Bob. ("Thanks for gettin' me away from all that sex!") If people can learn that a simpler life might be the answer (something that, as always, is easier said than done), this crisis can be turned from black cloud into a silver lining that forces us to change our ways before it is too late.

Maybe Jesus was onto something...

Or maybe it was the beer guys.

Will Grassby

The Arrival of True Democracy

Democracy, as outlined by Aristotle from the very beginning, is based on the principle of equal access to power for everyone in society. Over the last two weeks we have begun to see the arrival of true democracy to the world, not through the firing of guns and wars on terror but in the very buildings where democracy is, or at least should be, taking place.

Following the pomp and circumstance of Barack Obama’s inauguration as America’s first black president (yes, it is ok to say that), another victory for democracy will be taking place with slightly less pageantry (but no less importance) in the financially fraught nation of Iceland. Johanna Sigurdardottir, the current foreign affairs minister is expected to take over the reigns for the ailing Geir Haarde.

But why is this such a big deal? That’s exactly the point! Let me explain.

In his speech last Tuesday, Barack Obama pointed out how “a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath...” At the same that Obama was elected as president, a country with a gruesome history of racism took a huge step towards the further not just the eradication of racism but to moving past race as a barrier to true democracy.

Jump ahead, one week later and another wall is being torn down as Johanna Sigurdardottir will become the first openly gay women to become a Prime Minister. Yet that question still lingers: Why is this such a big deal? The truth is it’s not.

Although moments like Obama’s inauguration and the selection of Johanna Sigurdardottir draw attention and headlines it is actually the subsequent silence that is most significant; not silence on the issue of homosexuality but the silence of the critics. A silence that signifies a realization of the equality we share as human beings regardless of our skin colour, sexuality, religion, or beliefs and the insignificance of everything that works against this principle. The silence that marks the arrival of a true democracy.

Despite these significant steps however it is clear there is still work to be done. The fact that the headlines will no doubt cite Sigurdardottir’s sexual orientation is proof enough that we are still not totally comfortable with homosexuality. If we were, maybe we would instead hear the story how Sigurdardottir worked her way up as a flight attendant in the 60’s and 70’s and has been a mainstay in Icelandic politics since 1978. Maybe we would hear the story of how she missed an opportunity to become leader of the Social Democratic Party in 1994 and marked her defeat with the quote: “My time will come.”

These traits of hard-work and commitment, which mirror those virtues profiled in Obama’s speech last week, make her seem like a perfect candidate to bring Iceland out of a very dark period. Wouldn’t it have been a shame if she had been ignored because of who she was?

It is very seldom in the news we hear anyone applaud anyone for anything but in my view several positive steps have been taken in the last few weeks for both democracy and equality. I sincerely hope that these moments will not be forgotten, but that their memory will put to rest the irrelevant and un-democratic roadblocks we have been obstructed by for so long.

Will Grassby