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Just cruising through another first world crisis.
An economic one, based on fabricated facts and much ado about nothing. A crisis that will disproportionately affect, as all conjured crises do, those lower on the economic ladder and their marginalized compatriots.
It has also resulted in a historic shift in national feeling towards the parties vying for power. Those previously emboldened by Trump-like rhetoric and lofty promise-making now find themselves in a hole. Those recalibrating to the center have resurrected their relevance. And others... are struggling with their footing.
Why yes, a general election has been called in Canada, and many of us will be voting in the coming month. Technically, election day is April 28. But in a country where early voting options are varied and accessible, a sizeable percentage will cast their ballot well in advance.
Fun fact: voter turnout has not cracked 70% since 1993, a bar easily cleared by most general elections prior to then (dating all the way back to the establishment of the confederation). As I have discussed on the blog before, complacency does not serve democracy. (Commentary here and here.)
The ongoing trade wars and U.S. threats of military engagement globally have injected life into the federal race. As the nonsensical tariffs and other policy posturing continue, let us see if the voting base becomes more animated. Yours truly thinks we get close to that 70%, but do not quite crack it.
Anyway, updates to the blog made in March, for your casual interest:
Blame Canada
"A twenty-six-year-old cartoon satirizing censorship, unintentionally reflecting the zenith of U.S. foreign policy in 2025."
The Explainer
A previously promised backgrounder on how the weekly article lists on the blog are compiled.
A Comment on Material Consumption
"Everyone has so much stuff.
I am blown away by it all. Every time I enter someone’s home. The amount of clothes, furniture, dishes, glassware, stationary, art, greenery, drapery, tools, toys, and collections. Piles of paper spilling over each other. The electronics! Appliances, devices, consoles, and ‘smart’ tech adorning surfaces. Boxes hidden away in corners or stashed atop shelves unseen. Things on the walls, ground, running along baseboards or dangling from cords. Objects slowly shifting around, following seasonal motions akin to planetary retrogrades. Their whirring, ticking, clicking, rattling, and cuckooing punctuating the enclosed din. A cozy clamor to which most are conditioned.
Stuff stuffing abodes, each a menagerie inviting a sift-through by Walter Benjamin wannabes. For this onlooker, genuinely mystifying stuff."
To an eventful month ahead,
Pratyush |