A Rant

I've taken much of my time lately just writing poetry and putting random school works up here, but now is the time to ponder again in prose.

I've been reading an autobiography recently by Peter C. Newman, a Czech-born Canadian journalist behemoth who reported for Maclean's and the Toronto Star during the last half of the 20th Century.

One of the points that he brings up in his reflection is Canada's lack of nationalism.  It irks me as well that a country so privileged with the status as a G8 nation doesn't have pride in itself or it's accomplishments.   Moreover, our lack of nationalism leads to the decline of things that we can invest our collective spirit in and call a Canadian icon.

Our government is dragged around by a foreign policy leash tugged on by the United States. Our greatest hero did not change the world but instead played our most beloved sport. The international community looks on us not with the fondness it used to, and they think that we live in an ice covered paradise and live in igloos, driving dogsleds to work and playing hockey everyday afterwards.

We have no identity. No one knows who we are, except for maybe our flag. This has been excellently illustrated by Rick Mercer's special "Talking to Americans" report. Not even our neighbours to the south can name the capital of our country, while our own children could name a dozen states south of the border.

We have had few leaders that inspire us like the modern political superstar Barack Obama. We have few TV shows that are made and acted in by Canadian prodigies. All of our well-educated youth go south of the border to make their bucks, and as a result our country is worse off.

Those students see little reason to stay. America is the land of opportunity. It's where the money is, the power is, and where real life is.

I want Canada to be a great nation. I want us to have international respect, and I want us to do and build a great global community. For a country that regularly tops the Human Development Index, we have so much that we can offer our neighbours, and the rest of the world.

We should draft education legislation that encourages Canadian students to stay in Canada to live and work before trucking south. We should modify our defense budget and legislation so that we can have armed forces we can be proud of. We should separate our foreign policy from that of the United States and actively pursue it so we can find our own place in the world. We should make ourselves aware of what we have accomplished, and set a fire in the heart of every Canadian to do great things.

I don't like feeling disappointment in my country. It's political leaders, it's reputation abroad, any of it.

And I'll bet that you don't either.

So go out there and demand it.

Another Rant by J-Ray

Rant/Poem #1

I'm holding a small amount of rest ransom
The state will have to pay 99 million dollars for it's release
And I know that they won't pay me
But that's okay
'Cuz rest has no quarters in my quest
My campaign
My rebellion
My revolt
Revolution
Evolution
Civil Disobedience
Protest, Protest March
Salt MarchGandhiGreatSoulProphet
Whoa!

Slow down.

Let me tell you about my ambition.

You know how I mentioned Gandhi before?
One of his more famous quotes was
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
The bible tells us to live by holy virtues of peace and love
And Jesus told us the important virtue
"Love your neighbour as yourself."
Your parents have told you,
Your teachers have teachers have taught you,
And the world has asked us to be good and respectful and responsible

So many things are there for men and women to live by
Trust
Peace
Duty
Loyalty
Honour
Dignity
Courage
Hope
Kindness
Compassion
Empathy
Friendship
Love
To name but a few.
And we're supposed to try and live by these, right?
That's what the world has been telling us for all our lives
I think.

Let's all think
For a second.

I see a video game on a shelf
Featuring a soldier and a gun
And this supposed to promote peace

I hear someone exchanging a snide comment to a friend
Behind someone else's back
Maybe mine
And this is supposed to foster trust

I feel the excitement when someone tells me they'll be there for me
And then later give me some lame excuse that they forgot or were doing something else.
And I thought we valued responsibility and loyalty.

I see boys and girls toy with a weaker student
Bombarding them with sarcastic remarks and disgusted expressions
And I see no honour, courage, dignity or kindness.

The I hear it as I walk by
The manipulation
The petty high school politics
And I do nothing.
Why?
I can feel my own lack of compassion
Lack of empathy.

Our friends can be made up of people who hardly even know us
And turn their backs on us without a moment's notice

And love is like a curse word
Only squeaked out when we see a cute stuffed animal or a small child

This is the problem.

No actually, this is part of the problem

You want to know what the second part of the problem is?
My throwing a little rock in your pond might cuase a few ripples
But eventually the black glass calms again
And goes back to the same old,
"Oh hum, let's just exist through our lives and not care about anything except what applies to us."

The water doesn't move
I could throw a boulder in
And the resulting gwoosh
Would send a few drops onto the shore
Dry land

Reality.

But the only thing that's going to get that swamp to drain is either massive human caused drainage
Or the oil sands in Fort McMurray

And we can't do a lot about that one.

So break out the plumbing gear folks
Because though the world we live in is actually pretty good
It could be a whole lot better

Tommy Douglas said,
"Fear not my friends. 'Tis not too late to change the world."
So don't lose hope.
One small voice can teach the world a song.

Do it for that kid who sits by themselves at lunch
Do it for that homeless guy rolling joints down on Yates and Government
Do it for that friend of yours who is going through a tough time right now
Do it for that teacher that nobody likes
Do it for that person who betrayed you
Do is for that incorrigible gossip who degrades society when it isn't looking

Or at the very least, do it for me.
Why?
Here's another quote by a Pope from the Renaissance:
"I have loved justice and hated inequity, and so I am condemned to misery."
Don't let me be like him.

Bring back the fad of virtuousness.
Chilvalrousness
P's and Q's-ness
Thank you vey muchness
Have a nice dayness
And sorry, excuse me-ness

Do it for me.
Do it for them.

Or be like Nike
And just do it.

Or better yet,

Do it for you.

Free Verse by J-Ray

Ironies
by Jordan Ray

Do you ever find it funny?

Funny that this school system
While trying to prepare us for the real world
Sometimes just seems to protec us from it instead?
I mean, when prohibit some things in schools
We don’t really become prepared for what’s really out there
So kids go to find it somewhere else

I find it funny that 1000 years ago
Kids were considered adults from the time they could bear a sword or children,
Depending on gender
Nowadays we have to spend about a quarter of our total life span
In institutions
Not allowing for the fact of course
If you end up going insane later in life
And have to spend the rest of your days in one of those lovely jackets with belts in the back

I find it funny that we have a course called Planning 10
That makes students think about what they are going to do when they graduate
Instead of letting them go out and live it
Hasn’t it ever struck you that the best parts of school are when you do something new
Or different
Like going on a field trip somewhere
Or learning about something whilst not behind a desk?
Ask kids in our band program about what their favorite part of the course is
And I’ll bet you that the majority will say the trips

How old was Alexander the Great when he got command of an army?
He was still a teenager
Winston Churchill did poorly in school
And yet went on to become one of the most celebrated leaders in history
Einstein failed math in school
And yet is considered to be one of the most brilliant men that ever lived
I’m not suggesting that everyone is like these great leaders
Only that people cannot all be expected to grow up at the same time
And trying to standardize the way that students mature was a poorly thought out idea

Because everyone is different
And as a country that was founded on the idea of preserving and celebrating the things that make us unique
We shame ourselves by promoting the idea of conformation
By promoting protectionism of our children beyond a certain point
I mean, take France
They have no minimum drinking age
And I’ll bet you that incidents involving alcohol are the same or lower than ours in Canada
Because the worst thing that you can do to child to protect them from it is to say that they can’t have it
Like that box of cookies or that shiny toy
With their curiosity ignited, they will not stop until they’ve got it
So you want to get rid of the rebels?
Take away the things that make them rebellious

Let us face the world on our own
And I think that you’ll find we do pretty well
Have faith in us
And we won’t disappoint you
If we need a lifeline, we’ll let you know
And some of us will screw up
Probably all of us, actually
So you’ll see us again
But if you don’t let us screw up
We’ll never learn how to do it right

So give us wings
And let us show you how to soar
Don’t keep us clipped and pampered inside of some gilded cage
As much as you love us and want to protect us
The biggest thing that we want is to show you
That we can fly too

We want you to be proud of us
And it’s not enough to just bring back an A+ or two on our report cards
Because not even everyone can do that
Or holds value in those ink symbols on paper
We want to free fall
Hurtle towards the earth
Pull the cord and land on our feet

And when tell you that we did it
We want you to beam with pride
Tell us how proud you are of us
While we beam with pride too

Let us scale every mountain
Swim every channel
Run every marathon
Fight every battle
And face every challenge by staring it down without fear
Let us show the world what we’re made of
And emerge with victory.