In the words of Chris...

Overheard en route to a rally:

Protester A: So where did these cuts or budget crisis originate from? 

Protester B: I think it's part of an effort by the government to balance the budget or cut the deficit or whatever... There's probably more to it though.

(Silence)

Protester A: Is it simply delayed maintenance and chronic under-funding?

Protester B: Not sure. 

Protester A: Did this suddenly come from the feds, or from the provincial level? 

Protester B: Dunno.

Protester A: Why all at once in a big catastrophe? 

Protester B: (shrugs)

Protester A: It really makes one wonder about competency, doesn't it?

You know, it's one thing to be jarred by the perceived incompetence of public servants.

It's another thing entirely to be jarred by the incompetence of residents. 


As they're beginning to wax voluminous about the incompetence of public servants. While they're grabbing pitchforks and torches and screaming for blood, preparing to march...without seemingly having a firm grasp of the facts.

What am I talking about? Comments read so far about the upsetting-to-some HWDSB headquarters relocation and school closings.

And because so much of all what unfolds has sure looked and sounded like righteous indignation, high dudgeon or just plain rage, I'd like to share something offered to me on this very subject by someone who has a far better up-close-and-personal grasp on 'public reaction' than I would ever claim to:

"What we're seeing looks a lot more like 'wrath' than anything else I can describe. And while I'm all for pitchforks and torches, I feel that this illustrates a number of pitfalls of this process. Not only does it overly personalize the issue (ie: Judith), but it also tends to lead to knee-jerk reactions. As a part of a larger, participatory political culture, it's normal and even functional. In a disjointed arena like ours, dominated by a few powerful interests, it generally only makes things worse.

In and of itself, such wrath does little to engender broader political involvement. Unlike most kinds of activism, which are skillfully designed to engender further involvement and development, wrath needs only a political lever by which to punish someone. It doesn't articulate a deeper analysis, it doesn't seek popular involvement and at best it leads to a replacement of one or two politicians, which changes very little structurally. What it does accomplish is making sure that neighbourhoods who already have the most influence are able to exert more.

There are constructive ways to rage. You broaden and deepen the critique, build networks, link issues and treat every event and action like a training course for the next. Struggle and conflict are some of the most potent organizing tools out there, and I doubt Hamilton will truly see a mass/popular organizing campaign until we're given a really compelling reason to do so. These school closures might be that issue, but even if they aren't, they'll feed a general sense that more input is needed." 

So while I applaud the 'S.O.S.' movement and all manifestations of reaction to the HWDSB situation, I'm compelled to bring up two pieces published this year. The first is an op-ed I posted here almost a month ago, dealing with what our 'starting point' seems to be regarding 'civic engagement'. Anger. Wrath. Rage. 


The second was featured on the Spec 'Opinions' page, originally entitled 'The 8-Ball and The Curve: Why Are We Always Behind One or The Other?'


And I'll leave it at that. For now. 

M Adrian Brassington