In Search Of Stillness

Canadian author Yann Martel is perturbed. On a local radio program last week, he spoke about his personal intellectual crusade against Prime Minister Harper. What about, you ask? Martel, oddly enough, is upset Harper refuses to tell him what he's reading.

You betcha.

And the motivation for it? Martel is not happy about Harper's decision to cut some funding to some arts programs. What kind of man would do such a thing? Hence, I must know what he's reading. If I were Harper I would have emailed back, "I'm reading 'Mad.'"

As far as I can tell he's formulated the following equation: Art = humanism and enlightenment. That Harper doesn't admit he reads leaves Martel uncomfortable. He wants to know more about Harper's moments of "stillness." Until Harper "proves" to him he has no choice but to conclude Harper is but a fricken frigid conservative with ice veins running through his dead corpse. At least, that's how I interpreted it.

Unsurprisingly, given Doctor Hope's symbolic to liberals, Martel kept harping about how much Obama reads and how he discloses it publicly. I wonder how "humanistic" Obama was when he turned down the Dalai Lama (hero to all) when the poor spiritual monk asked to meet with him in Washington.

As Mr. Martel kept talking about Harper, I kept thinking to myself,  "So wha? Wha happened?"

Some of the smartest people I ever met were dumb as crooked screws. They weren't grounded in any realism; constantly living in an abstract world of moving targets. Point out critical fallacies in their arguments? Good luck. What passes for facts to them passes a logical fallacies to others.

Martel does have a point about reading. Reading is crucial in the development of our minds and by extension world view. Unfortunately, some of what he was conveying came off as typical self-absorbed liberal presumptuousness that passes as critical thinking. In a nutshell, he takes the obtuse position that people in the arts are more humanistic to life than - well - conservatives.

To find, les mots justes, erm, let's see. How can I put this? Oh. Bull shit!

I've met many artists labeling themselves as humanists but were really judgmental hipster cranks who were all too willing to censure and wail against opinions that ran against their grain.

At one point, a caller asked, "why are so many artists left-wing?" Martel replied, "what makes you think I'm left-wing?" The host of the show then asked, "are you?" Martel then proceeded to make the following vague claim, "I'm a "small l" liberal. I have a humanist outlook." Whack!

Which begs the question: Can a "small c" conservative be  humanistic?

Again. Bull shit.

Whenever I hear this sort of stuff, I'm reminded of the movie 'Demolition Man.' If we don't watch ourselves we'll become exactly like the peace-loving-understanding, naifs with no sense of humor living in a world of self-delusion. A world where swearing is "verbal harassment" and caffeine, alcohol contact sports and smoking are illegal because "they're not good for you." In other words, a friendly police state run by a benign big brother.


Harper is the Prime Minister of a nation; in this case, Canaduh. If he deems it appropriate to cut a few dead beat arts programs (of which I've witnessed first hand how useless they really are), then so be it. It won't kill Canadian culture and if it were to be the case, that didn't say much about our culture to begin with.

Harper owes Martel nothing. If he chooses to not answer that's his business.

Oh, one last thing. Harper plays the piano. He played "With a little help from my friends." Google it. Moreover, he's part of the Society for Hockey Research which lead him to this.

Bestill my revolving mind. Indeed, the head spins.