The General's Theory of Relativity

Its been a tough month for Pakistani President General Pervez "the Perv" Musharraf. Perhaps after casting a nervous eye towards the burning streets of Karachi, he decided that his country's biggest problem was an unruly media, and he moved quickly to rectify the problem. When a few European allies seemed a touch perturbed about the media clampdown, Musharraf's Foreign Ministry said the only reasonable thing:

"This is for our people, our government and our media to discuss, debate and decide"

And that's precisely what they did. After much discussion and debate, the General reached a compromise. There would be no new media restrictions, provided the media agreed to observe new media restrictions. The media pledged to show "respect for national institutions like the armed forces." This was a gracious compromise for the General to offer. After all, he said it best in his own words: "I gave the media that freedom it has today."

Freedom is a relative concept, as Masud Alam eloquently explains in one of the most entertaining articles I've read in months. Perhaps General Musharraf genuinely feels that his country is free. Perhaps he feels that freedoms of Western liberal democracies are foreign to his culture and his country's world view. Or perhaps he feels that freedom of the armed forces and the Inter Services Intelligence is more important than the freedom of individual citizens. Either way, this sordid affair in a troubled country brings up an interesting point. By its nature, political language is peppered with vacuous and ultimately meaningless terminology. Every political leader in the world purports to defend "freedom" and "liberty," including thugs like President Musharraf.

That such words still carry a heavy emotional appeal is clear. Political speech writers of every stripe insist on inserting motherhood terms into their bosses words. But I am at a loss to explain why they still carry impact to citizens. This phenomenon can be seens even in the online comments following Alam's hilarious piece. It's fascinating to read the comments of people who seem oblivious to the concept of satire. Or perhaps they don't believe that people should be telling jokes when Freedom is at stake.

The View From Here

Welcome to my blog. I'm inaugurating it on another tumultuous day in the world. In Pakistan, a brutal military dictator has managed to unite both democracy activists and radical islamist fundamentalists against him. While Karachi burns, Turkey heads for early elections to escape a political crisis. The results may have implications not only for the future of Turkish secularism, but for the future of the European Union as well. Europeans are ever more intensely debating who belongs inside their borders, and it is starting to transform their politics. Even at home in Canada, we are not immune to the insecurities found in continental Europe.

I believe that the most fundamental challenges facing our country are, in some form or another, the same challenges communities and countries around the world are grappling with. We are all daunted by the task of reconciling a growing population demanding a higher standard living with the finite resources of our planet. The social, economic, and political turmoil arising from the mass migration of people from areas of poverty to areas of affluence all stem from this basic problem. I also believe that the Canadian social experiment has, on the whole, been a resounding success, and that our largely tolerant, pluralistic, and diverse population is well positioned to tackle global problems.

Regrettably, we are saddled with a federal government that seems almost fearful of the ingenuity and intelligence of the people it governs. It shamelessly apes the governments of the USA and Australia (whose ruling party is its ideological soulmate) by replacing critical thinking about serious issues with asinine and divisive platitudes.

I started this blog as an opportunity to observe both global and domestic political events and offer my personal opinion on what they mean, and where they suggest we may be going. My upcoming posts will also provide me a chance to highlight the contributions of some the more obscure thinkers and statesmen of history, whose ideas I find exceptionally relevant today. More importantly, I invite readers in the blogosphere who may stumble upon my musings to offer their opinions, observations, criticism, and dissent. Have a good read!