We must find a way to co-exist in a democratic society
By Lethbridge Herald on May 10, 2024.
Editor:
The United States of America is where the largest number of creative people live in the world. It is because Americans value personal freedom as the most important life principle. They have few taboos, and fewer customs and traditions to honour. That’s why Americans have won more Nobel Prizes in all categories than any other nationalities.
That also means the U.S. populous retain the spirit of “Wild West” where gun ownership is the god-given right. Hence it is one of the most violent countries in the world. Gunshot is the second largest cause of killing of humans after motor vehicle accidents. The price of liberty is paid by the victims of gun violence. “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
But I’m not Patrick Henry.
I do not want to die defending the right to refuse vaccination. In Alberta and Quebec people also value personal freedom like Americans do. However, I wonder how many Albertans and Quebeckers are ready to die defending personal freedom?
When I moved to Montreal from Toronto , I was surprised to find the culture to treasure personal freedom more than following rules. I was often surprised to see people crossing the street against the red light when there was no car. So the car turning right on the red was not allowed for the safety of pedestrians crossing against red light.
The city of Ottawa is only two hours drive from Montreal. A large number of people are civil servants there.
One sleepless night at about 3 a.m., I was watching Ottawa’s empty downtown street from a hotel window. There was no traffic.
At an intersection I saw a lone figure in a three piece suit waiting for the light to turn green: he was a civil servant for sure. Alberta and Quebec are so much not like the city of Ottawa.
People treasure personal freedom. Quebec has its own pension plan, and Alberta wants one even at the cost of creating and paying for the cost of another bureaucracy. They both value personal freedom like the golden rules. Both hate Ottawa. They both wave the flag of “sovereignty” but not wanting to pay for it.
I grew up in Japan and lived in Switzerland for several years. People in both countries value cleanliness and punctuality. They follow rules. Crime rate is the lowest in the world.
One cold night in Geneva Switzerland, I was in a car in the parking lot of a huge apartment complex waiting for a friend. I kept the engine running to keep the car warm.
An old woman came out of an apartment building and told me to cut the engine. The city council prohibited engine idling: “the new environmental by-law,” she said.
In a subway car in Tokyo, a Canadian friend was surprised to see a middle-aged woman press a young stranger girl’s knees together who was wearing a very short skirt.
“No mask” in winter is almost like acting against motherhood outdoors in Tokyo. The public’s stare makes you feel very uncomfortable if you are not wearing one.
Oxymoron is a fact of life. We are all different occupying the same small space. In a democratic society differences must find a way to co-exist without calling names. Creativity and stability must co-exist.
They should be kept in balance without one over-powering or destroying the other. In antiquity, they were represented by priests and prophets: Today civil servants and sociologists.
Enforcers of law and defenders of institutions must coexist with artists, free thinkers, and reformers. Civilized free society requires both.
Dictators do not allow such coexistence. In my working life, I played both roles. I was in the church bureaucracy and acted like a priest defending the existence and integrity of the institution.
Many charismatic and prophetic personalities fighting for justice were headaches to the bureaucrats like me.
Prophets ignore the rules of engagement to the detriment of the good name of the institution and of the stable and ordered society.
I needed to safeguard the safety of my pension plan.
Bureaucrats thought prophets were endangering the safety of the common people.
So bishops and priests burned prophets and reformers at the stake.
Other times I was a prophet attacking the defenders of organized religion and of the government bureaucracy as the sources of injustice.
I am an oxymoron. Yet I am one person. That’s because I compromise. Can’t a society be like me without constantly fighting and calling each other names?
Tadashi (Tad) Mitsui
Lethbridge
29-28
Why isn’t Tad given a regular column ? He is a brilliant writer !
Compromise is generally the art of spltting the difference. When Compromise becomes a 90/10 in favor of the other group its no longer called compromise, its called woke!
When does someone elses right exceed your own? When was it decided that someone can force me to alter my language and grammar because they have decided to invent a new species or gender? How do you compromise Tad when a person demands to be addressed as something that does not exist, other than in their own mind? Is compromise saying “Yes you are a woman” when you are not? When did speaking the truth, become hate speech and lieing become a compromise?
Whom decided that a person that is on drugs 24/7/365 urinating in the street, defecating on door steps “deserves respect”? Who decided to change the rules and not let the rest of us know? Judicial system has decided, through no compromise, that criminals really don’t need to serve time for a bad deed because somewhere in their childhood, they were treated badly? Drawing attention to a Judicial system in turmoil gets you removed from Xmas Card lists! Stating that people with an IQ of 4 whether self induced or inheited does not mean I have to live in danger of being attacked. There are no facilities for the “mentally challenged” so suddenly the burden is on society to fix them and AHS gets to crack the whip?
When were the negotiations conducted that allowed the “Do no Harm and Savin Lives Group” to supercede the rights of the Downtown Businesses and their right to a peaceful existence? At what point was the negotiations determined to be over where a single entity in a city appointed by the Province can determine that R1 no longer exists or can be compromised by any City who values money from the Feds over the preservation of society?
I do not remember when Climate Change was a negotiation. It went from Alarmist to a done deal. No one, certainly not in this province, negotiated a slow transition off of Fossil Fuels that worked for Alberta. Fossil Fuels became the culprit and any territory providing them were evil. No one negotiated a compromise and said ” its not the Fossil Fuel Industry, its the Comsumer”. The Consumer is in fact getting a rebate for consuming. The Fossil Fuel Industry gets $1.70 a litre and Climate Change Control is a failure. No one wants to hear the truth anymore so you begin “compromise from a liars position”. eg. Canada must get their emmissions under control or they can expect continued forest fires and droughts (Environment minister). This violates the principles of weather movement. Gibbeault wants you to believe that our emmissions hover over Canada and they, by themselves create the Fires and Floods.
So where exactly are the compromises made, I have seen none so far, its “my way or the highway”, whom is making these compromises Tad? I really enjoy your articles and agree you should publish for the LH, but,
Compromise is a “mythical long gone theory that no longer applies”! I must change my grammar or Language, and believe there are 150+ genders when I know there are only two! I must believe Gibbault or be considered a Climate Denier. I must believe the Carbon Tax works or be a Denier! I must believe the Drug Addicts do deserve Respect or be deemed an evil person. I must lie and say you are a woman even though I know you are not, other wise I am homophobic! If I was born in Palestine and support Palestine I am Antisimetic. If I believe Israel right then I am an Islamaphobe! If I speak to any of these items publicly I can be charged with hate speech or branded by the ever-growing woke society! The only compromise people want to see is mine, and that isn’t happening in my lifetime.
Thanks for the article, Tad ! The fact you think that todays Society is Democratic is somewhat disturbing.
tolerance is essential. we each are entitled to to respect the the rights of another, and to have another respect our rights, but personal preferences and beliefs that do not infringe upon one’s rights are not to be determined by any majority in society.