Timothy Snyder wrote ON TYRANNY and published it in 2017 – just as Trump took office. That was NOT a coincidence. Trump is a tyrant wannabe and Snyder knew it. His very short treatise on Tyranny (126 half-pages) makes for a quick read and much of it is about resisting what Snyder believes is an inevitable threat to, and an inherent weakness in, all democracies. He believes that elections and such invite aspiring tyrant-types.

But all that withstanding, that is not what he emphasized in the book. He mostly emphasized positive steps to take to thwart such tyrants and, at first glance, they seem a bit simplistic.

#1 is: Do Not obey in advance. Basically that means that many people will anticipate the next level of government stricture and follow those ‘suspected’ demands even BEFORE the jack-boots demand it of them. That seems odd…? Don’t you think? And especially so in the US where logical ‘requests’ of social distancing and mask-wearing in the time of Covid are being so often resisted. Still, Bill Barr, the AG, is a perfect example of following his leader’s wishes without the leader having to state those wishes. Same for the whole White House cabinet, the GOP and, to some extent, same for the police, the Homeland Security and the Border Patrol staff. Those folks are quick to oppress ‘the people’ and they are not being instructed on a day-to-day basis. Trump set the mood and the oppressors are eager to be let loose on the populace! In many ways, the Bubba militas are also warming up to the new regime and we are hearing of conflict within the larger society as well. Everywhere.

#2 is the instruction to defend our institutions. He claims that our institutions are decent and that rejecting them supports tyranny. We should ‘take ownership’ of our favourite institution and we should defend it. Like Sid does on Education and others do on Healthcare. I am guilty of NOT doing that. I believe part of democracy is fair criticism of ‘entrenched’ institutions and that we have to continue to remake them to keep them responsive to changing needs. Having said that, they can’t be responsive if they are gone. Trump is a wrecking ball for institutions. When he can’t attack them directly, he appoints idiots to head them up and, in that way, they will also fail. Betsy DeVos as the Secretary of Education and Sonny Purdue in Agriculture are classic examples of corrosive and destructive management. Hell, under Trump’s watch the citizenry is seriously considering defunding the police! And so it goes.

#3 is: Beware the one-party state. Duh. That is hardly a revelation, Tim. However, if you don’t take stating the obvious as the real lesson but, rather, variations on it, then there is something to be said for #3. In the US the hoi polloi has often not voted simply because “They are all the same crooks just with different coloured ties.” In other words: the establishment is ONE party. I half-agree with that and find another aspect of one-party tyranny also at play when the Republicans could thwart Obama on Supreme Court nominations and yet push through their own. Even as Trump dispenses with Congress and resorts to government by executive order that same one man/party rule is being exercised. Even though they and we have more than one party it doesn’t look or feel that way.

Snyder went on to write 20 separate ‘observations’ about tyranny and, as the days go by, they are all being manifested before our eyes. He was right.
I won’t bore you with the entire list but there are two more that stand out for me.

#13: practice corporeal politics. “What the Hell does that mean?” Snyder maintains that tyranny requires sloth and complacency to flourish. He advises that we get out, do stuff, volunteer, work, show up, get away from the screens and the Laz-y-boys. He advocates for community action of a physical kind. That kind of advice seems indirect and a waste of energy on the face of it. How can helping your community distribute food stop the likes of Trump? Still, as odd as it may sound, he is right. We do that out here and it it makes us stronger. We will never be strong but being active in the community is definitely empowering everyone in it.

#20 is a bit extreme and gruesome: Be courageous. “If none of us is prepared to die for freedom then all of us will die under tyranny.” I am in no position to agree or disagree with that (being alive) but, so far, he’s been right and I’ll assume he is right on this, too. I am not so sure that I am prepared to be a Patrick Henry (“Give me Liberty or give me Death!”)but I do think having the courage to speak up is a requirement. I’ll hide behind Sal if it gets scary. She has the courage.

Sal’s mom is in her 90’s.  Our newest grandchild is just closing in on 8 months.  And we were going to visit them this week.  In theory, we are safe.  In fantasy theory.  Even though Sal and I have isolated for months, all those people with whom we include in our very small ‘bubble’ have not.  That means we have not.  We are clearly low-risk but we are not no-risk.  We called yesterday to postpone our trip for yet another pure-isolation period.  We’ll go in 14 days.

How could two, senior stay-at-homes on a remote island separated by water from normal traffic and having little or nothing to do with the outside world STILL be a risk?  Simple: my daughter came to visit from Alberta two weeks ago.  Her visit was factored into the schedule to allow for us the required ‘break’ before visiting family this week.  But then a friend came up (sailing), stayed for three days and basically interrupted our isolation period.  Start the clock again.  And our neighbour loaned his cabin to two pleasant people and we picked them up in our boat.  Technically, our isolation was ‘set back’ again at that point.  Then, of course, Sal attends the food distribution program on Fridays and, technically, sets it all back again every time.

And yesterday Sal went to bookclub.

None of the ‘encounters’ were with people showing any kind of symptoms but, on the other hand, there is a lot of pollen in the air and some people sneezed.  Covid?  Or pollen?

And all the social distancing etiquette we practice just can’t hold up when people stay in your home.  We all tried.  No hugs.  Six feet apart.  Socialize outside (and we have a pleasant breeze most of the time to assist)….but then I hand them a glass of wine, we eat dinner together, we ride in the boat together…..it is simply impossible to be ‘good’ for more than a few hours – life and living just gets in the way.

Now bear in mind that Sal and I and most of the locals are more isolated than most people and, being retired, are not as engaged with ‘the larger society’ anyway.  Most of us sport masks if we do rub shoulders with the hoi polloi but none of that makes you ‘pure’, it just makes you less compromised at best and still a carrier at worst.  Two old people living OTG for months still cannot be sure of their health in the age of Covid.

When it comes to infants and grannies, we have to be.

As mentioned before, almost the majority of our community is a senior.  47% are 65 or older.  If you count ‘senior’ as 55+ then it is the majority.  And, if you factor in the average age (likely 55+) then we are getting past senior and into bucket-list.

All this is not particularly interesting information, I know.  But it makes me wonder how they (us) will ever get C-19 fully under control if even folks like us cannot be sure of non-transmission.  I am not the risk that a waiter or a teacher or a bus driver poses.  I am not the risk that presents every day to urban people in the least.  But I am NOT pure.  And, if I am not pure, and Sal is not pure, and our community is not pure….the rest of the world is definitely still very much at risk.

Back in early 2017 Sal and I wrote a somewhat prescient novel regarding Trump(post election but pre-inauguration), HomeLand Security, immigrants, old folks and the US border services. As part of the fiction we employed pertinent background ‘facts’ and one of them was the ‘out-of-control’ police actions being done overtly and covertly against our Accidental Fugitives, Charlie and Nancy Moon. We enjoyed writing it and we tried to make it so that a cheap B, shoot-em up movie might come from it. The book tanked. No one bought it. Bummer.

Still, we had fun. And we even had fun being rejected. “Why would you not carry our book?” “Well, it’s political. It’s fiction. And we don’t want to be part of anyone’s dystopia especially when it is not true.” “Fair enough. Good luck with that.”

In effect, they said we were exaggerating to the point of fantasy and being potentially divisive. Those were American rejections. But sadly, that is now the American reality.

The below article introduction and link was in the Guardian today. By the way, the Guardian allows a reprint so long as they are credited properly…..and there is no profit to be derived therefrom which, as any of my readers know, profit is non-existent on my blog. I should be good.

A remarkable and nightmarish scene playing out in Portland should terrify anyone who cares about the US constitution: unmarked vans full of camouflaged and unidentified federal agents are pulling up next to protesters on street corners, then snatching and arresting them with no explanation.

If this were happening in Venezuela or Iran, the US government would be threatening international sanctions. Since it’s happening in the US, Trump’s acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary is defending the decision and even promising more.

The stories from witnesses and those who have been picked up by the unmarked vans – apparently being operated by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which is under DHS’s control – are downright terrifying. One victim told the New York Times: “One of the officers said, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK,’ and just grabbed me and threw me into the van. Another officer pulled my beanie down, so I couldn’t see.”

The article by Trevor Timm continues…… https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/18/portland-oregon-federal-officers-trump-department-homeland-security?utm_term=LTIwMDcxOA%3D%3D&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email

As a friend of mine is so fond of saying, “You can’t make this stuff up!”

Well…….we did, actually. We ‘made that stuff up’ and now it is a reality.

When you write a novel, the inevitable question is ‘what happens to the protagonists AFTER the book is done?’ And so, in my mind, I had kinda naturally conjured up a follow-up story. But it was never written because there was no previous audience to the first book. Previous sales of half-a-dozen does not portend well for a sequel. Little did I know that Trump was working on sequels all on his own.

I am considering, ‘ACCIDENTAL REFUGEES’ – why the citizens of the #1 country in the world all migrated away.

Writing about Trump has almost become boring.  The guy is so insane that I doubt that he, himself, will ever get boring but writing about him is getting close.  Just how many trainwrecks does one have to see before not bothering to look?  I am getting close.

Writing about Trudeau is getting to be much the same, too.  Foot-in-mouthism, whiny drama crap, then a sad-eye, squinchy-faced apology.  ”That’s getting to be more than a bit lame, Justy.”

Hearing of idiot ‘leaders’ trying to ‘re-open the economy’ just to have them fall back five steps a week later is also getting tiresome.  Ron DeSantis (R – governor of Florida) has proven beyond incompetent, he is verging on criminal negligence.  Ditto Greg Abbott of Texas but Doug Ford is not trailing them by much.  Arizona and California not much better.  The clear and simple message is their and our leaders are failing us, they are incapable and incompetent and the proof is in the growth of the pandemic and the shrivelling of the economy not to mention the chaos and division in society as a whole. * (see excerpt-article below)

“So, what else is new?” 

Well, I am glad you asked.  This should surprise you: the best country in dealing with the pandemic is rated POOR in health care, ranks 26th, I think.  It has fewer health professionals and fewer hospitals.  It discovered it’s first case in early January (one guy from Wuhan) and they immediately went into total response mode.  They did it all, they did it quickly and they have had no deaths and only a few dozen cases.  Even more surprising, they have a distant neighbouring country that did almost as well under similar conditions.  Vietnam and Taiwan have managed to deal with C-19 better than everyone else and, South Korea and Japan are much closer to a similar situation than say, we are.  We are ‘poor responders’ by comparison and we have been hundreds of times harder hit.  Canada has NOT done well.

“We have done a lot better than the USA!”

True but that is not enough.  That’s just sad.

But this blog is not about lamenting our poor response, nor even our pathetic leaders.  This blog is about something bigger. This blog is about me.  This blog is all about me and Sally and how we are coping.  In a nutshell, we are doing very well, thank you.  No worries.  All is good.

But it is different.  And, more to the point, it will continue to be and grow even more different as we trudge along over the next few (remaining?) years.  The world will never be the same again and maybe that is OK.  Maybe C-19 will simply be viewed as the catalyst for the change that was so desperately needed, that the Bubbas lashed out and voted for Trump.  That vote, it seems, was really a ‘cry for help’, a desperate ‘Hail Mary’, an ignorant and primal response to ‘felt’ danger.  The over-run-with-rats ship of state was sinking and the rats panicked.

I do not have a crystal ball.  I can’t see five years ahead.  But I suspect that five years is the very least amount of time that will be required to ‘stabilize’ the global economy, manage the disease and calm our collective jitters.  And, if that effort is further stalled by fools-in-charge, the five year clock doesn’t even start.

So, to predictions: Sal and I will not be traveling. Amazon and our garden will only get bigger.  Governments will fall.  Some folks will get stinkin’ rich with various pandemic  ‘responses’ and we’ll see a minor baby boom by this time next year.  The cost of living will increase.  Real estate will shift somewhat….commercial properties fall or go flat, suburbs much the same, but small rural towns will become more desirable and thus more expensive.  Working from home will quadruple (or more) in occurrence.  Electric cars will continue to displace ICE vehicles.  Electric bicycles will explode in urban areas.  Even suburban areas.  Maybe even rural areas.  Out-in-the-air transportation will be more popular.  Immigration will continue – even grow.  A ‘new’ generation of TV based entertainment will come along to keep us home and a lot of small moms-and-pops will cease.  So will the restaurant society.  More home cooking.  There may even be a universal income within a few years.

Russia will push somebody too far and will be engaged in a war.  The horror of that statement is that, currently, we are amongst the most-pushed.  Russia keeps encroaching on us to the North.  The very worst is when some idiot decides to mine or ‘develop’ the north.  And the protests will come then but not if the encroacher is another country.  Then Canada will sit back and just take it.  Biden will be overwhelmed.  He’ll do well but not great.  It may be that they cannot Make America Great Again.  I just hope they don’t try too hard – because when they try to be bigger and better, that usually means more wars.

Crime will increase – partly out of desperation, immigration adjustments and increased competition for fewer and fewer jobs.  Partly out of entrenched police ineptness.  Racism will continue to grow.  Domestic terrorism will continue to grow.  But smaller communities will ‘pull together’.

More on future-casting to come……………suggestions welcome…………………………

—————————–(this excerpt/article by H. Adelman)—————————————-

Where does Canada stand in its handling of the pandemic crisis? The situation clearly is not as bad as America’s. Just past mid-May, Canada had 77,000 cases of COVID-19 with 5,782 deaths. Two months later, on 11 July, the country had almost 108,000 cases and 8,783 deaths compared to America with 3,236,000 cases and 134,572 deaths, up from 1,520,000 cases and 89,932 deaths on 15 May. The U.S. doubled its cases over the last two months and increased the number of deaths by 50%. The Canadian case load increased 40% and the number of deaths by 52%. Thus, while a great deal of attention has been paid to the horrendous situation in the U.S and Canada has seemed in good shape comparatively, a close look at the figures indicate that Canada is increasing its number of cases at half the American rate but its death toll at roughly the same rate.

The U.S. has a population of 328.2 million people while Canada’s has only 37.6 million. That means that in absolute numbers relative to population, Canada has suffered about half as much from the pandemic as the U.S.

…..seems China is doing boffo at the box-office (translation: they are exporting 75% more through their usual shipments, Ali Express and Alibaba than before C-19). It is an ill wind that blows no-one any good and that illness is very much doing China some good these past few months.

It also seems that some companies in North America are also going ‘full-tilt’ while others have virtually shut down altogether. The pandemic closed a lot of businesses but it also put a lot more customers on to those businesses more suited to deliveries. Delivery is going to get even bigger.

To some extent, the ill wind blew us some good out here, too. By us, I mean the whole of the community. We got a couple of small grants to assist our seniors during this time of isolation.

Truth is, the old folks out here are isolated anyway. Truth is, most of their lives weren’t altered by the disease much at all….only made better by the small grants. They can now get groceries delivered for a small fee rather than a large one (the delivery fee is temporarily and partially subsidized). That has been enough of an incentive to build a small one-day-a-week bulk grocery delivery operation which saves town trips and whatever cost is still imposed is less than that of taking a ferry and burning gasoline.

Covid made our shopping easier and, as a bonus, more frequent (so fresher dairy, etc). When the grant runs out (this month) there should be enough orders every week from NOW on to support any ongoing effort with our own money. It really just needed a hand-up in starting-up and, once going, is probably working well enough to stand on it’s own.

We also got funds to continue our one-day-a-week home support worker. She does a circuit of the islands and visits and assists those who are in need. THAT is a real bonus since this year no one could host W’fers and thus a lot of scheduled physical work was falling behind for the senior seniors. I am pretty sure only Sal and I are totally ‘all-in’ for our wood-burning season thus far but that was primarily because my daughter and her husband came to visit last week and helped us. We kinda had our W’fers in them. This home support program will be a real help for many.

Since the food delivery program was a hit, we also added a monthly Costco delivery schedule using another ‘dedicated’ service. We pay for that one and it ain’t cheap (she does the actual shopping as well as the delivery) but it is a lot easier on the community and still less expensive than doing it ourselves.

One of the things many people have also mentioned but not emphasized was a drop in living expenses overall – especially gasoline. No one is going anywhere. We’ll travel a bit next week but I doubt that I have filled the tank of the car but once or twice in the last three months. And, even tho we restaurant a lot less than when living in the city, we are simply NOT utilizing the few open restaurants at all because we are not traveling anywhere – not even to the other island.  Costs are down.

But here is an especially odd thing……..everything is generally down.  Fewer whales.  No whale-watching boats.  Fewer prawns.  One prawn boat.  Fewer kayakers.  No tourists.  Way fewer visitors.  Hell, we are all doing less work around the homestead, too.  It’s weird.  It is as if the whole world went from 45 rpms to 33.  Even my readership is down….or you are reading slower, anyway.

Maybe this is the start of a generally slower-paced lifestyle…..?  I mean: really, who wants to go back to the pace of the old rat-race?