Axel Matfin's Blog, page 2

“There’s two guys fighting outside” says the Lady in fron...

“There’s two guys fighting outside” says the Lady in front of my bar.

I run outside to see two five foot something guys facing off against each other. One is a young First Nations guy, the other is a young white guy with his shirt ripped. They’re both bleeding from the face. On the ground there’s a busted beer bottle. Both guys are bleeding from the mouth, although the white guy has a considerable cut on his head. The white guy says something to the effect of “I don’t want to this”, before the First Nations guy calls him a bitch. The FN guy goes at the white guy and the white guy knocks him out on his feet with one punch right on the jaw. The FN guy goes splayed, like he’s falling to make a snow angel, and then I hear his head hit the street. The white guy bolts. The security guard asks the FN guy’s friends if they’re going to help their friend, and their response is “no he’s a bitch” before throwing the downed guy’s hoodie onto him while he convulses on the ground. I’m on the phone with the ambulance because this guy needs one and I don’t have an hour to wait for the VPD. I take the guy’s hoodie and go to put it under his head, then I feel the heavy sticky warmth of pooling blood. He’s got a lot of blood in his mouth, and he’s trying to get up but I keep telling him he’s gotta lay down because we need to make sure he’s ok. The official story was that this guy who’s bleeding all over the place bottled the unsuspecting white guy, then picked the fight and then lost, badly. Some might say that this guy got what was coming to him, but I don’t see it that way. I just see a dumb kid from a rough background who made some bad decisions. When I see this guy laying here on the street I just feel pain and guilt and shame. I wish I could live in a world where white colonialism never did it’s thing to the indigenous people of this continent, and many others. I wish there wasn’t rampant institutionalized exploitive corruption within the government and the native bands themselves. I wish law enforcement could be a worthwhile profession that didn’t enforce stupid laws. I wish that the mental and social health of First Nations people was given as much advocacy as flashy camera friendly pipeline protests parading around Leonardo Dicaprio and Jane Fonda.

I go back inside and wash the blood off my hands, which sadly don’t shake when I see shit like this anymore. I finish work in a fever dream of helping the police with security footage and cashing out before I go home and try to reconcile it all. Justin Trudeau keeps on playing nice guy cards by picking up humanitarian slack, or at least is claiming to do so to heal our international image, but Canada still bleeds. Our cut may not be as deep, but it is infected. We don’t want to talk about this infection. We don’t want to talk about systemic oppression and the hate and resentment it fosters. We don’t want to talk about crime and drugs. We don’t want to talk about the alcoholism epidemic in First Nations people because we’re afraid that we’re going to be called racist for even mentioning the stereotype. We don’t want to talk about the highway of tears or the first nations thirteen year olds that wander around east van at all hours of the morning. We want to ignore all of this, because it hurts, but if it hurts for normal ashamed white people like me, it’s gotta be a lot worse for those that endure this reality. When shit like this happens in front of my face people tell me “You need a different job.”, and I want to smack their rose coloured glasses off their ignorant dip-shit face. If I stopped seeing this stuff, could I then choose to not acknowledge it? How do people live with themselves when they ignore this stuff? I refuse to stick my head in the sand and pretend like these aren’t crucial issues. While our Mayor Gregor Robertson rallies for eventual higher levels of office by appealing to the very clean very friendly very simple environmentalists, think about what he or any other major Canadian Politician has done for the advancement First Nations peoples that hasn’t end up being fickle lip service. Acknowledging the damage done by residential schools is an important step forward, but it is only a fraction of what we as a society must do to even attempt healing and reconciliation-we must recognize the present state of Canada’s relationship to the health and well being of it’s indigenous people, and we must honour them with more than government payouts and cultural platitudes. We owe them far more than that.

Empirical Narrative

[image error]We, as a species, are addicted to narrative. We crave stories that explain our own nature to ourselves. Arguably there are no new stories, just new ways to tell the stories that are ingrained into our history and psyche. We tell the same stories over and over again and while I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with this on the whole, I believe that we are obliged to make a closer inspection of the stories and characters, also known as properties, that have come to dominate the hearts and minds of twenty first century consumers.

The access point to this essay is Disney, a giant media conglomerate  founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and his brother Roy. Disney pioneered feature animated films before it began to evolve into a full studio which produced a broad range of films both animated and live action. Disney has always utilized fairy tales and folklore that do not fall under specific ownerships or copyright laws. It’s the use of these stories, and their universality, that contributed to making Disney a household name. Over time a chief criticism regarding Disney’s appropriation of stories is that the stories themselves become Disney-a-fied, re-written or re formed to be made more palatable for consumer audiences. What were once enchanting simple parables, unflinching morality tales, and even tragic horrors, became saccharine, family friendly fare. We all have our own feelings about Disney films, whether it’s reverence for their golden eras of musical cartoons, a nostalgic appreciation for their live action adventure films or the typical gushing aimed at the much lauded Pixar, yet for all those cash cows there are two of Disney’s divisions that one could consider bullet-proof: Star Wars and Marvel Entertainment.

Since acquiring Marvel Entertainment (2009, $4.2 Billion) and Lucasfilm (2012, $4.4 Billion), Marvel has gone on to generate over 5 billion dollars in international film gross while in 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens made just over 2 billion dollars. These are just films, to say nothing of merchandising. To understand the amount of intellectual property Disney wields, let’s break down the structure of both Lucasfilm and Marvel Entertainment.

Lucasfilm

-Star Wars and Indiana Jones as well as all subsidiary merchandising rights.

-Industrial Light and Magic. Since its founding by George Lucas in 1975 ILM has been a leading developer of special effects for whatever studio will pay for them.

-Skywalker Sound, founded alongside ILM in 1975, is considered the gold standard in film sound design

-Lucasarts, software publisher of all those great video games, from Monkey Island and Grim Fandango all the way to Star Wars: Battlefront.

Marvel Entertainment

-Marvel Comics. Not only does Disney have the ability to dictate what content goes into NEW comics they also own the entire back catalogue of material. Most of this material is not owned by the original creators. Stan Lee did not create most of those characters. He Co-Created most of the popular Marvel Characters with people like Jack The King Kirby (Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Thor, The Hulk, Iron Man) and Steve Ditko (Spider-Man), though over time Lee has become eponymous with most Marvel creations whether he had a hand in their creation or not. Most superheroes were created under a work for hire contract, in which all original ideas that an artist may create while working for a company, in this case Marvel, belong to the company not the creator. In many cases these creators do not receive proper attribution for the characters and worlds they created, let alone any financial compensation. There are artists who died in hospital beds because they couldn’t pay their bills, because Marvel, in large part due to the greed and ego of Stan Lee who would not arrange for, even though he had multiple opportunities to do so, a reasonable back payment for works which had become invaluable.

-Marvel Studios, you know, the best superhero movies? The cultural id that dominates our popular conversation and polarizes our attention? The tidal wave of popularity that has kept rising since 2008 and has generated billions of dollars. Film. Netflix. Cartoons. Merchandising.

Why do we like this stuff? Why has Star Wars and the Marvel Universe become such an indelible part of our modern cultural experience? In Marvel’s case it’s because they have had over sixty years to build a universe that functions autonomously, relying on inlaid logics, characters and rules to provide a simulated reality that has a range of history near impossible to have completely experienced. Marvel’s characters have a depth of morality and humanity that contains their supreme powers, they are our benevolent new gods. Star Wars is an ongoing opera that projects the story of a never ending war between good and evil, light and dark. Exhaustively documented since Joseph Campbell, Star Wars is the monomyth, or hero’s journey. Stretched, condensed, gender swapped, or tonally reversed, it’s still the same essential story. As long as it still has the word War in the title, the central theme of that franchise will always be evocative of moral struggle displayed with mortal consequences. The Rebellion vs the Empire is the same as the Resistance vs The New Order or the never ending struggle of Sith vs Jedi. We as a culture love to have a conceptual force of oppression to fight against. Both Star Wars and Marvel are intrinsically familiar to just about everyone in the media-consuming world as they connect us to a intoxicating nostalgia for something that may have never existed. These proprietary universes are emblematic of our conceptual resistance against tyranny or our struggle to conquer the evil, not just in the world, but in ourselves. That’s why we love them, they hold up morals, ethics and concepts that seem beyond our depressing terrestrial abilities and willpower. Yet this fandom is problematic, as too many of us love to worship the Jedi and their principles in theory while refusing to advance ourselves beyond the intellectual and social functionalities of a Tusken Raider. It is thick irony that we should pay money and lip service to the concepts of rebellion, or the virtues of super heroics, when we ourselves are complicit in the sustained status quo of celebrating indulgence, hyperbolic ego and greed. These familiar comfortable brands sustain the preservation of the status at the cost of tyranny. The films and their characters are rental beliefs and convictions, their cultural imprint is a collectable cup from 7-11 and a tattoo that reads official fan club.

I am going to see the new Star Wars film and I do enjoy the Marvel movies, but I’m struck with a profound mental pain when I think about either of them and their place in the culture. Star Wars in general, and particularly Rogue One‘s heavily marketed concept of rebels and rebellion is an eternal message, but there’s part of me that can’t help but feel it’s just too well designed for the current state of our planet. Doesn’t everything feel scripted these days? We are craving a rebellion, we’re craving inspiration to get out and change the world, but our methods are flawed and the leadership of our rebels is shrill and entitled. What I wonder is, if the majority’s desires to rally and affect change will be derailed by the haze of masturbatory satisfaction that follows indulging in a cross planetary narrative meant to salve the feelings we’re currently experiencing as a culture. Will Star Wars give us all the rebellion we need? What calls to rebellion are really being made when we buy a functioning BB-8? Are people mentally embracing the complex nuances of American history and identity when they put on a Captain America T-shirt? Do people consider the psychological torture that goes with Wolverine being a super regenerating amnesiac living weapon? Or do they just like the claws? What, you don’t wake up in a cold sweat thinking about how Spider-Man accidentally snapped his perfect girlfriend’s neck, while trying to save her life? The Hulk? Killed thousands of people who got in the way of a temper tantrum or two. Do people really identify with the white conformity of the Empire enough that they’ll get Tie Fighter tattoos or sport bumper stickers mocking the Alderaan genocide? People lose their shit over cultural appropriation, but don’t bat an eye at the idea of dressing up as or identifying with a storm trooper, a literal metaphor for the Nazis. The idea that we so willingly pledge our allegiance to something with WAR in the title is astounding when we claim to espouse so many other high morals and standards. It’s ok gang, this time around it’s the women who are doing the killing, thats equality. The sweeping christmas marketing campaign for Star Wars begins and I’m watching commercials with little kids gleefully shooting down faceless soldiers, rallying their friends to get a lightsaber or blaster and join the fight. In Star Wars, the Empire is a vast intergalactic tyranny that governs with an iron fist, forcing conformity and submission across the universes. In real life, Disney is a vast media conglomerate that presents us with a simple, comfortable, safe, resolvable version of our plight.

We are driven by our desire to engage with stories and narratives which we have become accustomed to, for those are the only things that have ever held any answers in the eyes of the consumer. Our desire for and satisfaction with Star Wars and Marvel has changed these two properties, once considered sanctuary for outsiders and purveyors of the counter culture, civil rights, and advanced thinking made simple, now they are symbols of our willing submission to the placating designs and social narratives of our corporate overlords. When George Lucas created Star Wars, it was about rebellion. It was about tapping in to the eternal struggle of good vs evil. He made a movie that rebelled against many of the sentiments of gloom and doom at a time of rising Cold War tensions. Star Wars was not anticipated to be a popular film, because it wasn’t the way things were done and instead it changed the world. With the success of Star Wars: A New Hope, George Lucas was able to utilize the profits of his merchandising and special effects companies so that he could freely develop his future films, without the interference of the studio systems and their inevitable focus testing. He staked it all on The Empire Strikes Back and I’m sure you can tell me how that turned out. Creative freedom was Lucas’s rebellion and it gave us an inspiring, if not wholly original, story to draw upon. The creative liberty that is engrained in the origins of Star Wars has become a manipulative piece of its identity. We still perceive it as an underdog. As a rebel. Something you’re not supposed to like, but you like it anyway ’cause fuck the man! The stories of Star Wars and Marvel are not written by individuals, with visions of worlds beyond our current imagination, they’re written in think tanks and board rooms, by men and women who have turned the brilliant metaphor of a story into a cold, hard calculation designed to hit every demographic possible. The superheroes didn’t fail, we sold them out.

To clarify, I do not think that the enjoyment of Star Wars and Marvel should be verboten, but I do feel that we should all take pause and consider the implications of placing so much of our cultural interest and faith in two properties that are a representatives of a real world Empire; the only type of empire that has endured the transition into the twenty first century unscathed, the corporate empire. Disney has seen political ideologies come and go, that Mouse blows his nose at Presidents and governments. Our popular and celebrated culture is all that really matters anymore. For what else has the ability to capture the hearts and minds of the populous more so than our art? To deny this would be to say that Harry Potter had no effect on the world’s youth, Adele never made an entire stadium cry or that Emperor elect Trump didn’t play a whole country’s hunger for a villain like a fiddle. It has always been the stories we tell each other that reinforce the narratives with which we approach our lives. It is far easier to escape to a world where great power intrinsically must come with great responsibility than it is to accept the powers and responsibilities we already possess. We yearn to become part of that story from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, where the narrative dictates that we will overcome the nebulous oppression that surrounds us based on faith, dedication and the advice of old, typically white, men. I don’t discourage anyone from embracing fictitious narratives in their personal lives, it can give you hope. It can give you an escape and a reprieve from the cold bitterness of our present reality. But should you choose to represent yourself with the symbols and ideals of the superhero or align yourself with the light or dark side, take pause and consider that in our modern society, our culture is religion, the popular and enduring characters are now the gods who hold sway in our hearts and minds. If the morality and struggle of these heroic characters is worthy of our attention and obsession then should we not pledge our allegiance to those ideals in a way that goes beyond a sitting in a movie theatre lineup wearing a robe and toting a plastic sword, arguing who shot first, or endlessly weighing in on the casting of our new idols or the hiring of the next artistic lottery winner eager to play with big toys and money?

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These images are from a phone and internet company in the Philippines, a country who’s President has ordered for the execution of over 5 thousand people since mid 2016.

 

Many will shrug this off as a Scrooge-like humbug, the rantings of a Debbie Downer, but please don’t misunderstand me. I have loved Star Wars and Marvel with all my heart for as long as I have been able to read, but I don’t know if I can continue to reconcile the puppetry of the heroes of my youth as they are used to sway our attention with nostalgia, unconsciously aligning us ever more with the Dark Side.

Stay Positive

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I’m going to save everyone.



How so? I haven’t figured out all the details, but I’m working on it. What are you doing?



We live at a turning point in history. Whatever happens with elections both at home and abroad, we are not bystanders in the destiny of humanity. We, my friends, have the ability to step up and lead ourselves through these times of uncertainty and fear. Now is the time for us to start building a better future. Do not easily ally yourself with political slogans or the lobbyist calls of either the left or right. There is no us and them. Think objectively about the issues presented to you and even have the savvy to use the internet for a little research. Whether you believe in the proclaimed good intentions of our magistrate or not, you should believe in yourselves and each other.



The world need heroes, my friends. The world needs people to grit their teeth, saddle up and ride in pursuit of what they believe in. The world needs people who will never say die and face whatever trite apocalypse the media sells them with a sneer of disdain. These days, of any of the other days I’ve witnessed in my short life, there is so much obvious suffering in the world. There is no truth and there is no justice some would say, but these doubters and the haters simply aren’t trying hard enough. I have found truth in the many faces of love. I have found justice in a self prescribed code of morals and ethics that is guided by my own faith in what’s right and wrong, not at the instruction of some talking head or popular rhetoric. The world needs you heroes. It needs you to fight until your dying breath against fear, apathy and hate. We as humanity must pursue goals that both satisfy our own desires and needs while providing for the welfare of those less fortunate or less capable. In the face of terror we must remain vigilant and honorable. We must look the beast in the eye and stand fast no matter the horror it threatens to inflict. I do not ask of you to bear arms and conduct violence against our fellow human, no instead I demand that whatever it is you do in life you do it well. Play guitar. Draw pictures. Build dog houses. Fight fires. Run marathons. Bake cakes. Rage against the machine. Love everyone and everything in your path. Whatever you do, attempt consideration and compassion for your fellow man. If you feel you are justified in violence, even if you are right, you are wrong. If you believe in anything less than total human equality, you are the villain in this chapter of humanity’s story. Yet, know this, even villains can become heroes in this world, for redemption still exists. Do not conduct yourself and your actions as if you bear no merit upon the world, for you my friends are the only thing that can save it.



We are all superheroes now. If you had an iphone loaded with apps in 1984 you’d be capable of more than anyone could dream of at the time. That technological separation you feel with your parents or grandparents? That’s the rift of history that we’re all caught in. It’s society re-calibrating itself to new technology and new ideas, like in the century before, and whether or not you’re a history buff I bet you know that those days were filled turmoil and death, just like the many days since. The difference is that today in 2016, you’re here, and you’re all super-heroes. The science fiction of our parents days and our childhoods are in fact a reality. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen. I dare you. When you get up in the morning and take the bus or get in your car or don’t even leave the house, I just want you to believe that You can make the world a better place somehow. Just believing it is enough at first, and then you’re not going to be able to avoid it. You’re going to believe that you can save everyone too.

I write books that carry messages. I serve people drinks and entertain them to ease the tedium and grating anxiety of reality. Ultimately I‘m just doing what I can to make the world a better place. I hate the corruption and lies of those that conduct our society, but I don’t want to watch the world burn just to piss on the ashes and claim some sort of rebellion that I don’t understand. Juvenile protestation is so 20th century. Talk is cheap and judging by the internet it’s getting cheaper by the minute, so what we need isn’t more prattle- what we need is action. I’m 28 so if you’re either a decade up or down from me you can probably speak to the confusion and weirdness of our generation, but rest easy in knowing, that it’s always been this way. The world is filled with chaos and uncertainty as the complex metaphysical battle of good against evil rages on, just the same as it ever has. Yet for this confusion and tension, life as we know it has never been fuller. This world floods at the edges with beautiful people, spectacular ideas and those that make all our lives a richer deeper experience. It is necessary to have brave people stand for us as a vanguard against against violence, abuse, inequality and the divisive viral infections of religious and racial hatred that have fuelled the forge of the human war machine throughout history. But before we can ask a soldier to take up arms against another human, the education of their fight must be honest. Our soldiers must know the symptoms of our social diagnosis before they can ever be asked, or authorized, to make the decision to take another’s life. This is an ideal that many would scoff at in the past as egalitarian or naive. The difference is that now, we’re here. The smartest, most advanced, creative, FREE people in the entire GOD DAMNED world. What was all that for? Huh? What was the past 2000 years of bloodshed, racial discrimination, religious bigotry and hatred for? So we could sit on our asses and expect more for nothing? I don’t think so. So whether you’re building a high rise, copywriting some new ad, teaching a university course, treating some kid’s broken arm, helping someone pick out dishrags, struggling with your own addictions or issues, selling someone insurance, learning stairway to heaven in your basement, brokering a high priced real estate deal, butchering a hog or tending bar-when you’ve got a few seconds to spare? The world needs you.

The world needs you to do whatever it is you do. I know you’ve got deep inside you, that thing you can do better than anyone else. I know you’re depressed. I know you’re angry. I know you feel powerless in the face of the soul sapping news that rains down upon us every day. But you can beat it all, I believe in you. You are more powerful than you think and you are no longer shackled to the ideas and dogmas of the past. All your fear. All your damage. All your hatred. All your guilt. All your sin. All these things are powerful, but not as powerful as the harnessed power of your will. The energy that awaits all those who would tempt fate, look the devil of doubt in the eye and dare to achieve greatness. There is healing and absolution for all of us, and no one should be excluded.  There is a rebirth coming for mankind, but it need not be born out of bloodshed or the ashes and the remains of the old world. It can be a sacred union founded on honouring those fallen over history and celebrating our evolution as we move forward to respect the beliefs and cultures that populate our still beautiful planet. Everything that was ever promised to you by preachers, politicians or gods? It’s already in you. They never had it. They could never touch it, they could never take it. Because they are weak, and that’s why they need you. They don’t have friends, they don’t have talents and skills. They are a consortium of liars who have burned every last shred of imagination and magic from their minds, as they only care for themselves and their affiliation with their simple strain of power. Those that would proclaim that they have easy answers or present you with an ultimatum of belief are adept at only lying to convince you that you are weak. You’re not. You’re the most powerful being in the universe. All you have to do to activate your super powers is to reach out and help someone, then you’ll see how high you can fly.

Countdown to liftoff.

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Art by: Sarah Campbell

In less than a week I’m going to be packing up my shit and hopping in a Van with the dudes from BRASS, Vancouver’s darling punks, and heading on a speedy tour (tentatively titled : The Keep ‘Yo Dick Hid tour) to Penticton, Edmonton and Calgary for the infamous Sled Island Music Festival.

Dates are as follows, lineups are tentative:

June 21st @ Kurt Russel’s, Vancouver with: Anchoress

June 22nd @ The Royal Canadian Legion, Penticton with: HEDKS & Lost Apes

June 23rd @ The Buckingham, Edmonton with: HEDKS

June 24th @ The Brothel, Calgary with:

June 25th @ Sled Island, The Palimino, Calgary with: Pears

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Devon, Tristan, Rory & Eric have allowed me to come along for the journey not just because I’m a pretty cool guy but because they’re hoping that I can re-forge Alberta’s perception of the quartet. Since last tackling ‘Berta they’ve traded up a bass player and written (almost) a whole new album. I’m here to see what happens as they test their mettle on the road a year after the disastrous No Soap Radio tour fell victim to vehicle fires and a major personality malfunction. This year I’ll be taking on the role of Tour Dad as well as documenting as much of the journey as possible. I’m hoping for some video, photographs, audio and of course a lot of writing about the experience. It’s my goal to gather enough memories and materials to write a uncensored book about the tour. This is me getting in the swing of writing about more topical stuff.

Hit me up on the road @AxelMatfin on twitter or instagram!

Hope to see you in Alberta!

I’d like to formally announce the launch of my new publis...

I’d like to formally announce the launch of my new publishing company:

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Gargoyle Publications is a publication house that is open to submissions for just about anything. Do you write? Do you want to have your own publication? Do you want me to pay for it? The way it works is first you need to have an idea, people have lots of those, then you have to do the work. Write it. If you can write it once, then you can write it again. For anything to be any good, it requires revision. So to be published by Gargoyle you have to be willing to go through a editorial process with me. I’m not an invasive editor. I respect whatever it is that you want to do. I’m interested in what you have to express. So my editorial process is more about helping you get the best results possible for the piece that you’d like to write.  We’ll refine your work, conceptualize the design and layout for the publication as well as any original art elements that could/should/would be included. Then at the behest of the designer I have on retainer, the book is designed, printed and officially published. If you can write a novel, I’ll pony up for serious design and print quality. If you have a few shorter pieces then the formatting will probably be closer to a ‘zine. The physical design as well as the typesetting of a publication must be in synchronicity with the contents of the book itself for it to succeed as a piece of art as a whole. This is what I do. I write and publish books. I’d like to extend my experience and encouragement to the general creative community.

That’s why, through Gargoyle, I’m also hosting this thing Called: Genre Lab. It’s a writer’s workshop where I prescribe a genre every two weeks (like Steampunk or Boxing story or Detective story) and if you want to come you have to write a piece that’s between 500-1000 words and show up on the day and share it. Then we talk about the process of creation, the genre itself, our thoughts, motivations and inspirations concerning the piece. Then afterwards if participants like I post the stories on Gargoyle’s website so that the progress of the workshop and it’s participants can be shared. Inevitably I’m sure I’ll publish anthology collections of these labs.

So if you know of anyone

There’s just a brief update on what I’ve been up to. Also you may have noticed that my website has changed a bit. I’m now giving away every major novel I’ve ever written for FREE. They’re PDFs. Take them. Share them.

Big shout out to Rob from Suna Studios for helping me get Gargoyle off the ground.

 

A Time for Giving.

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I am a very lucky person. I’m a white, heterosexual male and I live in Canada. I have a comprehensive fundamental education. I have been vaccinated against disease and have been served by health care professionals my entire life. While I do not come from a wealthy background but I have never experienced abject poverty. I am very aware of how good I have it. How I, so far in my life, have not had to overcome any obstacles that were not taken on by choice nor have I faced persecution or prejudicial judgement. It is because of my advantages that I take the rights of other people very seriously. As a little boy I was aware that I was growing up in an environment of freedom and safety. It is because of this that I felt a strong affinity for treating other people with empathy and compassion. As an adult I try to understand how other people feel and why they feel that way. I try to give people room to be who they are, reserving my judgements for their actions not their base level descriptors. I believe in attempting to preserve the rights, freedoms and safety of all people who want nothing more than to pursue a life of decency and prosperity for them and theirs.

When I was in elementary school Remembrance Day was a very important day. The Cadet honour guard. RCMP troopers. The Veterans. Flanders Field’s and speeches that despite their dry tone instilled in me a great deal of respect for the people who had died so I could sit in this cushy little assembly. It was that respect that kept me from complaining about how hard or cold the gymnasium floor was. By the time I was in grade three I was already writing pieces for Remembrance Day to express my respects. Having always had an overactive imagination it was impossible for me to not envision the scores of men and women who fell beneath the wheel of war. As I recited whatever words I’d put together I’d always be brought to tears. A little boy standing in front of his whole school, crying because he couldn’t fathom the amount of death that had occurred so that he might be given the opportunity to pursue anything he wanted. The brutality and transgressions of war were branded onto my brain. I’d read about the World Wars and I did my best to understand why those historical events had happened. I had reverence for the legitimacy of the allied missions. Their goal was to stop the crazed eugenics driven Nazi war machine and prevent the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of  innocent people who were being persecuted for both their race and religion. It made sense to fight that fight. The idyllic childhood bubble of belief where all the righteous calls to arms, bloodshed and fates of those lost souls maintained a necessary haunting visage in my mind. This bubble was soon to burst.

In 1999 I was in 5th grade and my teacher made the dubious decision to explain to the class that NATO was bombing Kosovo in an attempt to stop the continued genocide of non-serbians by a an extreme nationalist movement orchestrated by a man named Slobodan Milosevic. I was livid. I was unconsolable. I was disillusioned. What were all the deaths of all those people in World War 1 & 2 for if the mass murder of people was still occurring? I was overcome with a horrible grief and anger for a world that had casually looked on time and time again, as I was soon to find out, while fanatics driven by madness or twisted motivations, murdered people in cold blood. Murdering people over beliefs or racial disparity, it was incomprehensible to me that such a thing was still occurring at the turn of the century. I was ravenous. I had to know why. I explored the depths of WW2 history, learning just how many Russians lost their lives and of the vicious treatment of the Chinese at the hands of the Japanese and in turn the sickening aftermath of nuclear explosions in Japan. The  Korean War followed, then Vietnam, the Gulf War, not to mention the hundreds of other conflicts involving violent regimes and shadow ops running rampant across the world. None of this includes the First Nations genocides of our continent’s history, the blood and bones of the indigenous all but ignored except by those that still stand proud and carry on the standard of culture and the memory of all those murdered for the white imperialism we enjoy today. As a child my perception of the righteous narratives of WW2 fractured around me. With the distance of half a century, the twentieth century agenda of The United States of America look far more like war mongering than righteous liberation, proliferation and self preservation. I came to understand, over time, that our entire North American way of life is built on the narratives that were sold to the world at the end of WW2. History has always been written by the victor.

September 11 2001, I’m in eighth grade. I got to school without having heard the news. My family didn’t watch TV in the mornings and although it may have been on CBC radio at the time I don’t think my mother was eager to point out what had happened as global conflict obviously troubled me. It strikes me as strange now that on that day in September the events in New York City were never discussed with us by our teachers. It wasn’t addressed or talked about it until weeks later when the status quo of the situation had been prescribed to the adults by the media theorists. It was then left to a pack of unqualified small town kids to make up their own minds about what had happened based on the poor information they had on hand. I learned a lot of new phrases to negatively describe people from the middle east that day. I learned that a lot of kids dad’s didn’t care what the difference between a Pakistani, an Afgahni or a Hindu was- so long as he was dead. I was told by one kid that it was going to be martial law and gleefully from another that we’re all going to war. As time went on the enemy of Osama Bin Laden was made clear to us, and we were given a face to hate with all our childish hearts. By this time I had begun to loudly wonder why those guys in the Taliban hated us so. No one seemed to be able to tell me much at the time so I had to figure it out for myself by reading up on the history of the area. By the time it was 2003 and I was watching Colin Powell give his presentation on WMD’s in Iraq to the UN Security Council, I had done enough fundamental research to make up my own perceptions as to what was going on in the middle east.

I’m not here to give you the whole history lesson but just to sum it up for you there’s this:

In order to retain dominance and control of arabian oil the USA trained, funded and provided weapons to radical militias, assisting them in  destabilizing their current governments so that when the dust settled the USA could install their own dictator for life, wielding the newly acquired nation and it’s economy like an extension of its own infrastructure yet without any responsibility to, or respect for, the people living in that country. These conflicts led to cities being bombed out of existence and many civilians dying or being marginalized by the de-stability of violence and military occupation. These uneducated & displaced men and their sons became the the radicals we have now.

The USA supported multiple coup d’etats, provided weapons, equipment and training that resulted in the deaths of so many innocent people. Then, after the current regime was toppled, rather than hand over control of the government to the militias they’d funded, men who believed they were freedom fighters, the USA installed a puppet dictator and continued to exploit these people. When the puppet dictator decides they aren’t going to be a puppet anymore, the process begins again. If you continue to kill and subjugate people, they will hate you and they will do whatever they feel is necessary to stop you. The people of the middle east have been engineered into a piece of spooky propaganda to in turn make them cannon fodder for The Military Industrial complex. A fine machine for continued economic growth and international dominance, so long as you have someone to kill. Once you understand this narrative, and understand that it has been happening for decades, the actions of radical violent extremist groups are not justified, but they are explainable. It is understandable that a group of marginalized uneducated people under such duress would turn to violence and a extremist ideologies.

As a Canadian I’m conflicted. My country is not fuelled by a vicious multi-billion dollar military industrial complex, though it is irrefutable that Canada is a cog in this mechanism. We enjoy the same indulgences and freedoms as our American counterparts, often lumping ourselves in with them when it’s convenient and disassociating ourselves when it’s not longer stylish. Our constant insistence that we are friendly and polite to a fault is obnoxious and untrue. A creeping shiver runs up my spine when I hear declarations that we live in the greatest country on earth. That brand of oversimplified nationalism is easy to swallow and fast to grow, distending our gut reactions to other cultures. We do not have a society where violence and social disorder is open and obvious, we have one where it is a tainted slick in the bloodstream of our culture. Nice normal folks would rather not discuss this: violence, racism, drug distribution, mental health, organized crime- but discuss it we must for it is time to change the narratives about who we perceive our villains to be as well as re-defining what it means to be a Canadian at this place in time. The Core of what I am saying is that the power of love and empathy must win out over the tested and time worn maxims of judgement, hate and proliferation of war. Make no mistake there will be fights and there will be deaths. I lost my delicate illusions about such things before left grade school, but I don’t believe that killing people and fighting over resources or ideologies will lead to any resolves but the inspiration for more killing. The only way to end the fight is palm up, arms open.

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Syrian refugees are not our enemies. They are human beings fleeing persecution at the hands of a radical extremist fundamentalists who are misinterpreting and misrepresenting a religion who’s words are just as valid and complicated as any other.  These men women and children are people that want to enjoy the same fundamental rights that we take for granted every single day. I enjoy running water on demand and have the luxury of choosing what type of food I get to eat and when I get to eat it. How many refugees are celiacs do you think? I don’t have to worry about whether or not my family is going to be burned alive or marched up to the top of a mountain to be executed. These Human Beings need to cared for, they need all our love and our ability to extend ourselves to them. We owe them that much for having enjoyed so much for so long after our profitable violent conquests and resulting system of economic oppression. This is a time when we have the crucial opportunity to change the narrative about how the Muslim world feels about the West and how we perceive a people who need our help. To meet this challenge of human decency is to show those that need are help that we the people, not our government or our special institutions, are there for them, regardless of what their political or religious affiliations are, we can help.

I have never been a religious person, but I respect people’s pursuit of whatever faith they desire. I have experienced a range of non-religious belief structures from militant teenage atheist to daydreaming psychedelic agnostic and onto hard science based literalist. I’ve learned our beliefs sculpt the reality that we choose to inhabit. I believe we’re free to pursue whatever structure of belief we’d like, so long as it doesn’t infringe upon the rights, freedoms and safety of other people. To pass judgment on another’s faith without due diligence of education and experience is an ignorant action and not a basis for a judgement of an entire group of people. Despite the fact that I am not religious I have taken the task of educating myself as to the fundamentals of many other people’s religions. I don’t intend to share in these faiths, but it is important to me to know how other people believe, so that I’m not confounded and scared by our differences.

What does it mean to Canadian? What is our culture? I don’t believe that we can be reduced to some apologizing, beaver tailed, Tim Hortons gargling, hockey watching, logger beardin’, maple syrup swilling caricature. Fuck that.  If we’re looking at histories of our continent and if we believe in hereditary ownership, I can stake no claim to being a original Canadian for my anglo saxon blood didn’t originate here, but this is where we must change the narrative of our own identities. Do the random origins of our bloodlines define us, or is it to what we choose to pay our allegiances? I may be caucasian, but don’t call me white. White is a entitled state of mind that can be found in any race or culture where a form of purity is a prescribed ideal and self designated sense superiority is present. I am not white. I am human being, a citizen planet Earth, and who I choose to be now matters so much more than where my blood comes from. Our identities are defined by those we stand beside, not those we would have stand behind us. Who we care for should say more about us than who we hate. We must open the conversation with each other and demand a change in how we relate to other nations and cultures. We must disclose and accept the truth about our own bloody history, and the people we’ve exploited. Before the healing can begin we must close that wound. Our nation needs to stand in awareness for what has occurred and thankfulness that we might have the opportunity to move past this and become a stronger Canada which is united by more than political agendas, religions, blood lines, economic ideologies and grudges. Are any of those platforms worth standing on to represent who we are as people? Following the acknowledgment of the trespasses of our ancestors there may come forgiveness, for it is not until we are all in honesty together, the healing can begin and all those who would stand on guard for thee may become Canadian. This is my home. I love this country. I love the freedom I enjoy, and that’s why I think being a Canadian means using your freedom to contribute to a greater good, in whatever way you can, regardless of your race, religion or rites. I want to share Canada with anyone who would use their freedom for to generate goodness and charity.

In my life I have done a lot of thoughtless taking. Without ever thinking or thanking, I have been receiving the blessings of freedom and opportunity for which many men and women so bravely died. I recognize the many who die every day in the pursuit of my freedom. It would be disrespectful of this freedom and the advantages that I have been provided with to turn my back on a people in need such as these Syrian refugees and indeed the needy the world over. For what is our freedom and strength of organized society for if not to aid and lift up those in need? The time for taking without recognition is over. Out of respect and with apologies I feel we need to extend ourselves to these people who have already endured so much, just so they may have a chance at survival and a life for their families free of persecution and fear.

The time for politicizing is done. Our leaders and representatives may do an awful lot of the talking, but as Canadian citizens it will be up to us to do the walking. Screenings and safety precautions will happen, but I feel the greatest security we can achieve is by showing muslims of the world that we do not see them as an enemy. Instead of a dismissive stare and an unfounded resentment they should be met with open arms and taught the joy of what it means to be in Canada. We the people who love our nation so and are proud of it at every turn are tasked with extending ourselves and caring like the individuals of righteous merit we believe ourselves to be. This challenge accepted the greater collective society called humanity may benefit. We the people must change the way our society thinks and feels about each other, it is not something that can be politically mandated. We must share to the extent that we are able and come to each other in assurance that what we are doing is right and disagreement when our actions are false. Now is the time to give of yourself.

There are those that would call my stance an issue of naiveté or bleeding heart liberalism. I would call it a grounded stance on the fundamental human right to life. I would call it a defiant and revolutionary act to state that loving the sick and wounded with all our hearts is a far greater goal than isolating ourselves from the rest of the world and living shrouded in fear and hate. I would declare that any people’s religion, history and cultural differences mean little to me in the face of saving their lives.

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Much talk has been done about the cost of war and the justified killing that will be required to end the conflicts with our enemies. Not enough talk has been made addressing the profits of investing our faith in each other and refocusing on the purpose of our supposed efforts in countries that we hold no ownership of- to save lives and protect a persecuted people. To halt terror requires courage, vigilance. We must not falter in our resolve to assess our options and do the right thing. In the coming century we are all going to need to be able to access the breadth of our own thoughts, prayers and emotions. If we are to achieve peace, we’re all going to have to be able to express ourselves on a spectrum that doesn’t include violence. We must teach this way of caring to the world over so that no longer will mass graves be filled and hidden while children are stolen from their parents in the night. No more shall those in need of help be turned away and those who cannot help themselves abandoned. Sick people can be identified and we can care for them so long as we have the resolve to care the most when it is the most difficult to do so. Our planet must come together in a recognition that war will never unite us, only the collected extension of our compassion and empathy for the plight of others may do that. It is our turn to play Atlas and shoulder the burdened hearts of those who have endured so much more than we can ever understand, only so we may all eventually carry the collective weight of mankind together. If talking about these emotions and understanding the feelings of others makes you more uncomfortable than talking about the required murder of thousands of people, you need to get some help and stop believing your opinions have positive contribution to our so called civilized society. I believe that historic moments of trial such as these are what give us the opportunity to better ourselves through the noble support of our fellow man, without regard for race, religion or any of our painful histories. No matter now, who won and who lost.

This piece is not just about Syrian refugees. This is about making the world a better place with the simple act of caring. Extending yourself enough to feel and understand who someone is and where they come from is never a waste of your time. This is about choosing to reject the tenants of exclusionary and selfish self satisfying faiths or sharp logics which are hard to swallow. This is about learning how to feel deeper, on purpose and with control. This is about recognizing those that have transgressed, becoming evil, and looking into their fractured minds to feel their pain so that we might help them. This is about recognizing the fundamental rights of everyone on this planet. This is a time for giving, for we are able to. If I could I would give everyone on the planet the same freedom and safety I enjoy I would, but it’s not just up to me. It’s up to all of us. Now, in December, in this time of giving, please consider giving of yourself to those who need it most for not all of us are so lucky.