CFN – I’m reading this op-ed in the NY Times this morning….reading the words carefully after looking at so many stories that are going on in the world. Protests, death, gross destruction of the enviornment, culture, and fundamental ways of doing things. If you take the media accounts at the surface it seems that a lot of people are upset.
Communism in theory is a truly great system. As George Orwell shared in Animal Farm and history has proven; in practice it didn’t quite work out. Democracy too; the best system around truly works in theory, but we people have this way of always finding the edge.
There are always people that will want to dominate; be Alpha, and not really care how they get what they want.
It happens at the top of the world and it happens in small towns; even groups of people.
Good people generally shrink back from corruption. It’s detestable and the historic way of confrontation of it usually is metaphorically a life and death struggle, and in extreme cases non-metaphorical.
I think though is that it all comes down to Corruption and Accountability. We have courts; laws, regulations because we need to have checks and balances in place so that good people don’t have to have confrontations with corrupt ones.
Sadly even that gets corrupted. What I have learned as a student of history is that even the most complex issues is to follow the money. Who benefits most from a question. Who makes money when something happens, and then it’s simply a matter if you’re curious enough to figure out how and why?
In the Great Depression there are many that made great fortunes while families and lives were utterly destroyed. Likewise in the Great Recession recently there are those that made obscene amounts of money; same with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I don’t have the answers to many of those questions and the ones I do have would corrupt the goal of this editorial. You, if you’re still reading this have to find your own answers.
I do know one thing that if we don’t find ways of limiting Corruption and Accountability at the top how can we ever expect to not have them rule the day from School boards, to Chambers of Commerce, to the way we do business and interact with each other?
It becomes a culture of Corruption. Is that truly how we want to live?
Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News
(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)
I do not want to live in a society where everyone follows the stay off the grass sign. We need people to take chances, some to create new things, some to create work for Police / Lawyers.
We may not be able to eradicate the corruption gene, but I agree that rules should be severe so we can live and work on more even playing fields.
lead or be led. Leadership has its privileges. Leadership = I’ll lead you ( even if it isn’t where you want to go) until you grow up and lead yourself.
“limiting Corruption and Accountability at the top” – uh?. That’s a head-scratcher, Jamie. Surely you mean limiting Corruption by insisting on Accountability – no?
Yes PJR, I do believe you’re correct on that one 🙂
Wow PJ, I didn’t even catch that. You not only read between the lines but you actually read the lines to start with.
Reg, ingrained habit from a previous life.
Jamie, On the other hand, you have a point: limiting Accountability at the top is a Harper speciality (e.g. Tony ‘gazebo’ Clement, Peter ‘helicopter’ McKay, Bev ‘insert NOT’ Oda, etc.etc.).
The question then becomes: who actually has the power to hold the money shufflers and policy manipulators of this world accountable?
PJR, are you saying that the Harper government is not accountable? Of course they are. They are the first Canadian government to have a Public Service Integrity Commission. Wasn’t Christiane Ouimet the first Commissioner?
For the record: What did Christiane Ouimet accomplish? Dick… other than harass her staff. And what has the first government in Canadian history to be found in contempt of Parliament achieved in the way of accountability?
Asleep on the watch, Watcher?
I’m sure Ouimet was hand-picked by Harper because of her “people skills”.
@PJR
You should know me better than that, PJR. Don’t you recognize a little “tongue in cheek” sarcasm?
For the record, Ouimet was let go with a $500,000 handshake after she was caught in her scam by Sheila Fraser, the Auditor General.
Hi Watcher: Glad to shake the hand of a kindred spirit across the ether. So many literalists around, colour of blue, I was fooled by your irony. As to Ouimet’s golden handshake on the public purse – Canada’s economic genius Big Bully rewarding a little bully in a time of recession – yes, good point.
(BTW sarcasm and irony: not the same.)
Following up: Irony vs Sarcasm: quick distinction.
Irony – tongue in (user’s) cheek. Sarcasm – fist in (victim’s) cheek.
Examples:– Irony: calling Harper, the Champion of Accountability = tongue in cheek, since the facts tell us he’s anything but. Sarcasm: Harperites calling Jack Layton ‘Taliban Jack’ for proposing talks with the Taliban = fist in cheek (Jack’s), since not only was it not true but also it was coupled with a direct and nasty attack on Layton’s patriotism.
From which one could generalize – but I won’t – that Sarcasm is the Harperite weapon of choice to destroy opposition, whereas liberal-minded people tend to use Irony typically to expose hypocrisy and deceit.
So PJR, if someone was to say that Harper is a devout Christian who confers regularly with Charles McVety, and therefore is an honest, moral and caring PM, would that be irony, sarcasm, or just freakin’ craziness?
Excellent question, Furtz. I would call the “and therefore” part of your example heavy irony. In other words, there are degrees or gradations of irony – light to heavy. Further, you could say when irony tips over into a desire to wound, you have sarcasm. So, yes, the two are connected; but while irony exposes a gap between reality and make-believe, sarcasm exploits the gap in order to inflict pain.
Take forms of wit: Irony a subtle form; Sarcasm commonly known as the lowest form …. therefore handy for Harperites and their ilk (aka people with small minds and little imagination).
Kudos to the Watcher for starting the conversation (that’s neither irony nor sarcasm, but a genuine tip of the hat).
Thanks PJR. From now on, I’ll try to lay off the sarcasm. I like the idea of a sliding scale between funny and nasty.
Sliding scale: sliding to nasty. Well put, Furtz
The source of corruption – Gen 6:5 -8 ” And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”
Human efforts, no matter how good it seems in our eyes, can not change the human heart for good. Miss diagnosis is the first problem. Can’t heal a problem that you refuse to acknowledge as the real cause – Jer 17:9 – 10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings”. God’s final verdict – Rom 3:10 -12 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one”.
God solution – Eze 36:25 -27 “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them”.
Luk 5:30 “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”.
Thank Gawd and his son, or at least the fear of them, for keeping us all from becoming evil monsters!
I think that would be sarcasm. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
Where’s the sarcasm here, Furtz? None that I can see. Sounds more like a playful take on the Psalmist: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm cxi, 10), intended for an audience of one, n’est-ce pas?
Come to that, I haven’t noticed sarcasm or a wish to hurt in any of your posts. Instead a playful spirit happy to puncture right-wing moralizing and self-importance. Exactly what we need in these angry anal-retentive times. So please don’t let the above musings on irony and sarcasm distract or stop you now!
Oh man, I really shouldn’t be encouraged to dump on the preacher. It’s so hard not to at times, and Jamie doesn’t like it, for good reason. Mocking the afflicted is a pretty low form of entertainment that even I have to resist in the interest of decency and good taste, most of the time anyway.
Even in a spirit of fun? Too often we take ourselves too seriously. Not good for stress levels or enjoying life. I note the preacher can lighten up…..sometimes.
You know what, Furtz. I believe the preacher is a joker in disguise. No one can keep up the fire and brimstone gig for long without breaking down and needing a spell in the funny farm. Decency and good taste, you say. I agree. How about signing up for tasteful humour in our postings.
The thing is, the preacher knows exactly what I think about his religion and himself personally, and it ain’t pretty. At this point, it probably makes sense for me to ignore his comments if I can.
PJR – you under estimate the power and grace of God!
Tom, Not at all. If God = the creative spirit, I am in awe. Trouble is many who “get religion”, such as notoriously G.W. Bush and his ilk, are destroyers and utterly without awe.
PJR – One who is really a child of God doesn’t “get religion”, nor do they become one with the “creator spirit”, but they get a living relationship with the Godhead, especially as they love and fellowship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. One who has Christ can not bear to see His honor and His Word laid aside. It is not about me, it is all about Him, and such will be overwhelmingly evident in one”s actions, words, and priorities, even if one was the president of the USA!
John 3:33 – 36 “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him”.
preacher if god made us in his own image, how come we are all not invisible?
Smee – just keep your eyes closed and you don’t have to worry about it!
hardly a credible answer preacher, do you give up or are you surfing the web to find an answer?
Tom – With respect, see what I wrote: not “creator” but “creative” spirit …by which I mean the miracle of creativity at work in the interconnectedness and renewal of all life. By awe I mean filled with breathtaking wonder and love. Tragically, organized religion too often shrinks and hardens the creative spirit and awe at it into a human power play with vested interests in controlling and exploiting. Hence fundamentalists of every stripe, who are anti-creative, blind to awe, filled with hate, and so essentially godless.
For creative in human terms, think poets, composers, scientists, painters, dancers, sculptors, preachers and political leaders such as Martin Luther King jr and Nelson Mandela — anyone who is on the side of life, whether famous like Mother Teresa or below the radar.
For godless in human terms, think dictators, power brokers, know-alls — anyone with an interest in exploiting or controling another human being or living thing. Not difficult to come up with names.
PJR – so it is the god within? Gen 3:4 -5 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”.
But Satan, the serpent lied! Being our own gods got us kicked out of the presence of God, and that to labor under the curse of God and the sentence of death. Mankind’s creativity has not saved us let? Actually it will never save us. Judgement day is coming!
Hi everyone; as interesting as some tangents can be I think it’s really important for the integrity of our viewers and site that we discuss and debate on topic. If you feel passionate about any topic feel free to send us a Letter to the editor and then you can exchange opinions on issue. After all we don’t want to devolve into what goes on in the Standard Freeholder….
Good point, admin. Here’s my link to your topic: fundamentalists/aka religious fanatics, dictators, and know-alls are CORRUPTED by their appetite for power, and in the process turn their backs on ACCOUNTABILITY.
Tom – I do believe we are on different wavelengths.
You’re right Jamie. Hijacking the original topic really isn’t cool. Maybe the preacher should submit a thoughtful and thorough letter trashing Muslims, Catholics, Jews, gays, medical marijuana users, environmentalists, animal lovers, horoscope readers, single parents, fornicators, alcohol drinkers, coffee drinkers, liberals, socialists, scientists, educators, thinkers, and everyone else who will be burning in hell.
If he could just get it all out in one screed, we could all jump in and have a jolly good time bantering back and forth.
Dr. Furtz writes “Hijacking the original topic really isn’t cool”. Note my original post –
The source of corruption – Gen 6:5 -8 ” And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”
Human efforts, no matter how good it seems in our eyes, can not change the human heart for good. Miss diagnosis is the first problem. Can’t heal a problem that you refuse to acknowledge as the real cause – Jer 17:9 – 10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings”. God’s final verdict – Rom 3:10 -12 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one”.
God solution – Eze 36:25 -27 “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them”.
Luk 5:30 “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”.
I gave the Biblical view to Jamie’s editorial! Hijacking it, not so! It was those negative responses to the Biblical view that Hijacked this post!