Alienation in a Nation of Aliens
Fransisco d'Anconia, John Galt and Ragnar Danneskjold all attended at the Patrick Henry University and were considered the best pupils of its engineering program under the tutelage of Hugh Akston and Robert Stadler.
There is little doubt that Patrick Henry University was a fictional Harvard, and it would seem, that like Patrick Henry, John Harvard's institution has taken to exporting leadership around the world. On top of Iggy, we now have Dr. Oscar Kashala. He hasn't lived in the Congo since 1987, but he went home a lot. Sounds familiar, no? Apparently in Africa is it acceptable to live far away and come back to seek power provided you were exiled.
I have yet to have an informed conversation about the Liberal Leadership race without hearing that the major criticism of Michael Ignatieff is "how can he expect to run the country because he hasn't lived in it for the last 30 years?" Well, I thought I could run the country when I was 18. By mathematical definition...
Frankly, I don't care that he wasn't here for 30 years. Manchester is about as different from the UoT campus as Belleville is different from Red Deer. Not to put to fine a point on it, but if there was a place in America that was like Canada, Manchester Massachusetts would be it. It is full of well educated, industrious people from all over the world who are trying to make a better life for themselves then they had before.
In the past 30 years, he has lived in numerous different places like London, Vancouver (that is still in Canada, right?), Paris, San Francisco and Manchester. He also used to be a broadcast journalist. Sound familiar? He is an academic- by his very nature he lived everywhere and regardless of where he lived, he was in an ivory tower anyway. If he taught at UoT or York his world view would be identical but his students would be dumber. Bravo. I can say that because I got accepted to all three. $35,000 a year (in 1997) and they think they are smart? Go Mustangs.
If "residency requirement" is the key issue that bars Iggy from higher office, I am disappointed with Canada. More than 1/3 of the people who live in Canada were not born here, and 2/3 of the people left over have not lived in the same "community" their whole lives. We are a community of communities, with each one more disparate from the next. We are as affected by world issues as any place on the planet- if not directly, in our minds and hearts. Mr. Bissoondath would tell you that our unshared history has been vital to forming our collective identify of tolerance towards foreign ideas and culture in more than a superficial "culture fair" way. The fact that Iggy has lived in so many diverse and rich cultures is an argument as to why he is better suited to lead Canadians not the opposite.
The sarcastic way of articulating the opposite is "on principle, I am unable to support any leader that does not come from the North End of Ottawa Centre or the airport end of Ottawa South. I can't identify with Kanata and Orleans, let alone Vancouver or Halifax."
It might be true that he can't identify with the ordinary Canadian but that has nothing to do with not living here. Most PhDs and tenured professors of international renown can't identify with Canadians. I bet I could take the first Jeff Foxworthy fan I find in Macon, Georgia and drop him into either Belleville or Red Deer and he could find an army of people who would agree with him on various important debates, including the exhausting "tastes great"vs. "less filling" or a shared loathing for showers and the "no shirt - no service" rules at Walmart.
As best as I can tell, Iggy's biggest legitimate knock against him is that he isn't actually a Liberal. He supports the war in Iraq, let alone the continued military mission in Afghanistan. Pearson would not be proud. He also looks like a cross between John Kerry (also from MA, must be the water) and the Grinch who stole Christmas. He is the son of foreign aristocracy and as such is entitled to lead.
Ug. If Bill Clinton showed up tomorrow and declared his candidacy, I would support him despite the fact that he has spent less time in Canada then Iggy, or Iggy Pop, has. To be fair, Slick Willy has probably spent more time in Canada then our sovereign, the Queen of Canada has. Get it?
There is little doubt that Patrick Henry University was a fictional Harvard, and it would seem, that like Patrick Henry, John Harvard's institution has taken to exporting leadership around the world. On top of Iggy, we now have Dr. Oscar Kashala. He hasn't lived in the Congo since 1987, but he went home a lot. Sounds familiar, no? Apparently in Africa is it acceptable to live far away and come back to seek power provided you were exiled.
I have yet to have an informed conversation about the Liberal Leadership race without hearing that the major criticism of Michael Ignatieff is "how can he expect to run the country because he hasn't lived in it for the last 30 years?" Well, I thought I could run the country when I was 18. By mathematical definition...
Frankly, I don't care that he wasn't here for 30 years. Manchester is about as different from the UoT campus as Belleville is different from Red Deer. Not to put to fine a point on it, but if there was a place in America that was like Canada, Manchester Massachusetts would be it. It is full of well educated, industrious people from all over the world who are trying to make a better life for themselves then they had before.
In the past 30 years, he has lived in numerous different places like London, Vancouver (that is still in Canada, right?), Paris, San Francisco and Manchester. He also used to be a broadcast journalist. Sound familiar? He is an academic- by his very nature he lived everywhere and regardless of where he lived, he was in an ivory tower anyway. If he taught at UoT or York his world view would be identical but his students would be dumber. Bravo. I can say that because I got accepted to all three. $35,000 a year (in 1997) and they think they are smart? Go Mustangs.
If "residency requirement" is the key issue that bars Iggy from higher office, I am disappointed with Canada. More than 1/3 of the people who live in Canada were not born here, and 2/3 of the people left over have not lived in the same "community" their whole lives. We are a community of communities, with each one more disparate from the next. We are as affected by world issues as any place on the planet- if not directly, in our minds and hearts. Mr. Bissoondath would tell you that our unshared history has been vital to forming our collective identify of tolerance towards foreign ideas and culture in more than a superficial "culture fair" way. The fact that Iggy has lived in so many diverse and rich cultures is an argument as to why he is better suited to lead Canadians not the opposite.
The sarcastic way of articulating the opposite is "on principle, I am unable to support any leader that does not come from the North End of Ottawa Centre or the airport end of Ottawa South. I can't identify with Kanata and Orleans, let alone Vancouver or Halifax."
It might be true that he can't identify with the ordinary Canadian but that has nothing to do with not living here. Most PhDs and tenured professors of international renown can't identify with Canadians. I bet I could take the first Jeff Foxworthy fan I find in Macon, Georgia and drop him into either Belleville or Red Deer and he could find an army of people who would agree with him on various important debates, including the exhausting "tastes great"vs. "less filling" or a shared loathing for showers and the "no shirt - no service" rules at Walmart.
As best as I can tell, Iggy's biggest legitimate knock against him is that he isn't actually a Liberal. He supports the war in Iraq, let alone the continued military mission in Afghanistan. Pearson would not be proud. He also looks like a cross between John Kerry (also from MA, must be the water) and the Grinch who stole Christmas. He is the son of foreign aristocracy and as such is entitled to lead.
Ug. If Bill Clinton showed up tomorrow and declared his candidacy, I would support him despite the fact that he has spent less time in Canada then Iggy, or Iggy Pop, has. To be fair, Slick Willy has probably spent more time in Canada then our sovereign, the Queen of Canada has. Get it?
posted by Atlas Hugged at
11:52 a.m.
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