Against the USA in Vietnam, then; Against Russia in Ukraine, now

All empire states tend to dominate their neighbours. Russia has a long history of doing this. During WWII, Russia invaded Finland and grabbed the state of Karelia, where my mother was born. Subsequent Russian invasions include Hungary (1954), Czechoslovakia (1968) and Afghanistan (1979-89), Their methods are often brutal as seen in recent wars in Chechnya (1996-99) and Syria (2015-19). Now after Russia’s first invasion into Crimea, it is invading all of Ukraine.

A Tale of 2 Empires. Or is it 3?

We are witnessing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Many people are saying – Why is this happening now? This is part of a pattern. Empire states tend to control smaller ones at their borders.

What we can learn from the Freedom Convoy (FC) ?

The recent freedom convoy of truckers and others who recently invaded Ottawa can teach us something. Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) claim to be working on a rebellion. There are obviously different types of rebellions – there are peaceful rebellions and there are violent rebellions, and everything else in between.

It all begins with disinformation – or is it misinformation?

Let’s begin by defining the difference between misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is false information that one spreads because one believes the information to be true. Disinformation is false information that one spreads even though one knows it to be false, i.e., an effort to deceive people. 

Jesus, on the rich and the poor

We are living in difficult times. The divergence between the rich and the poor is huge and increasing. Rising inequality as registered by all indicators is as high as it has ever been since the great depression. Many have warned that such inequality will spawn a raft of severe social problems (the book, “Spirit Level”, Joseph Stiglitz, Pikett). Even some of the rich themselves have alerted us and said that this trend needs to be reversed (Warren Buffet, Bill Gates).

Thoughts on Buddhism and the environment

I’ve had a longstanding interest in Buddhism, in particular what it has to say about stress and our relationship with the environment.

What follows are some of my thoughts on this topic followed by a Buddhist prayer for peace, which I believe suggests a path forward for dealing with the environmental crisis:

Buddhism and the environment

Protest of the Royal Bank of Canada, a major global investor in fossil fuels

If you click on this link, you will see some action at the HQ of Canada’s largest bank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The top video gives a general view of the demonstration.

If you open this link, from the 2.30 minute mark to the 4.40 mark, you will see the Rebellious Seeker cancelling his RBC credit card.

Rebellious Seeker

Ottawa

October 2020