Plaques in Parks, The Global Road System, Left-Wing Militias, CanCon, and Russian Children - Dinner Table Digest № 52
The Dinner Table Digest is an intermittent collection of interesting material from around the internet, curated by Peter Thurley at Dinner Table Don'ts. Subscribe today!
The 52nd Dinner Table Digest is packed with great content, including some commentary from yours truly on how history has always been in the process of being re-written, as new information becomes available that can offer a more complete picture. Also included is a fantastic visual of the world’s road network, a Rolling Stone piece on left-wing armed militias, a critical evaluation of the Canadian government’s latest Canadian content regulations, and to finish us off, a courageous piece of journalism that explores the thoughts of Russian children towards the invasion of Ukraine.
Sections:
Parks Canada Rewrites History / The World’s Roads / Anti-Fascist Militias / Canadian Content Online / When Your Mom is an Ogre: Russian Children on the Invasion of Ukraine
Parks Canada to Re-Write More Than 200 Plaques - Global News
The document says that out of 2,192 historic sites, about two-thirds of plaque texts are fine. Of the remainder, more than 200 are considered high priorities for change.
Reasons include ignoring Indigenous contributions or using antiquated language, such as “Indian” or “Eskimo.” Another issue is controversial beliefs held by historical figures.
The most common reason for rewriting — covering plaques for French explorer Jacques Cartier, Alberta’s Bar U Ranch and Nunavut’s Kekerten Island Whaling Station — are “colonial assumptions,” the document says.
“Plaque texts can be described as ‘Whiggish’ in character,” it says. “This refers to a form of history where the progress of western civilization is understood as inevitable.
“Earlier assumptions about Canadian history that have excluded Indigenous people, among others, can no longer be accepted.”
There is going to be inevitable backlash to this process led by Parks Canada from the right-wing, who often complains that progressives are bound and determined to erase history. But, remembering that the written word is extremely powerful, it is worth understanding that the great power in being the one to write a plaque is found not only in what is included, but also in what is excluded. No historical account can capture an event or person from all angles, and what is excluded is often determined by hidden political or social assumptions held jointly by those in power, and the benefactor for whom the account is being written. To see how this works, let’s go a bit further back in time.
Medieval and Renaissance chroniclers, just like their predecessors in the Greek and Roman worlds, were paid by a patron or benefactor to tell a particular story about current events. Inevitably the character, intelligence, military prowess, and sexual conquests of the patron would be embellished, while those of the benefactor’s enemies would be diminished, if not excluded from the chronicle altogether. In order to get a more accurate picture of what was going on at the time, professional historians have had to search for and analyze as many different historical tellings as possible. Even then, the record is often patchy, as the poor and oppressed classes were illiterate and could not write out their own histories, let alone afford to pay anyone to do so.
The reality is that this form of history telling is still de rigeur, it just looks different. In the United States, for instance, Florida’s over-arching bans on anything and everything pertaining to LGBT people, along with successful attempts to minimize or eliminate the history of Black oppression by white Americans, is roundly supported by the far-right moneyed classes, namely the ones who will be funding his Presidential campaign. Indeed, FL governor Ron DeSantis was once pro public health, until he realized that those who were funding his political career were not.
This is why it’s important that reviews like the one Parks Canada has conducted be done regularly, and that they should continue despite political and financial pressures to stand down.
History is not the story of one person, one place, or one people. It is the story of hundreds of billions of human beings throughout space and time. It goes back to the time before we could read or write, and to the time before that. Most of human history will never be known to us, let alone processed with the intention of learning from it. We should always be making an effort to make sure that the historical stories we tell are as accurate as possible.
Sometimes this means making major changes to the accepted written record.
The World’s Roads - Visual Capitalist
Major roads in White, Secondary roads in Yellow, and Tertiary roads in Red
Anti-Fascist. Armed to the Teeth - Jack Crosbie - The Rolling Stone Magazine
This is a fascinating romp through the world of armed left-wing militants. I use the word ‘militants’ with great hesitancy, because these groups don’t tend to fit the profile of your typical militant group, either on the far left or the far right. And yet, they’re armed and ready to use their weapons.
But the far right aren’t the only ones showing up armed. Across the country, marginalized individuals are forming groups like the John Brown Gun Club and Socialist Rifle Association that claim to be devoted to the idea of community defense. Their rationale is informed by the massacres at Colorado’s Club Q and Florida’s Pulse nightclub, and tempered by a long cultural distrust of the police, who they say have repeatedly failed to protect them from — and in some cases even perpetuated — right-wing hate.
Many sources interviewed for this story — particularly those who conceal their identities at protests — asked to use pseudonyms, in fear of being targeted or doxxed by the far right. Others were happy to share their names, judging that their public presence — or concealed-carry permits — shield them from harm. All of them, however, agree on one thing: The other side has guns and is willing to use them. The only answer is to be prepared to shoot back.
“We are a response,” one JBGC member says. “We exist as a response to violence.”
Ready, Fire, Aim: Eleven Thoughts on the CRTC’s Bill C-11 Consultations - Michael Geist
Michael Geist is a well-known expert on the effects of government regulation on continued internet freedom of the average citizen. He is often consulted by government, but his suggestions are rarely heeded. Now seemingly on the outside looking in, Geist explains why the latest attempt to regulate Canadian content online is a disaster. As someone who does curatorial journalism (most of my posts are curated lists of content that I think others would benefit from reading), this paragraph caught my eye:
7. The CRTC claims to be focused exclusively on online undertakings, which it is careful to say does not include users. While it clearly includes streaming services worldwide – as well as the yet-to-be defined social media services – the Commission also puts the prospect of regulating curator and aggregators on the table. The consultation asks:
What is the role of content curators and aggregators, and playlists, in assisting with promotion and discoverability?
To the extent it is thinking about playlists on the large streaming services, the question makes sense. But the reference to curators and aggregators suggests that it is thinking bigger, focused on aggregation services, review sites, and the many other intermediaries that often drive traffic to particular content. Does the CRTC believe it has the power to regulate these services? On what basis would they qualify as online undertakings? The question highlights the complexity for how users engage with audio-visual content and why the notion that the government can simply regulate discoverability represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how content is discovered and promoted online.
When Your Mom Is an Ogre - Yulia Yakovleva - holod.media
This is a fascinating piece of journalism about the war in Ukraine that took courage to complete, both on the part of the author and those interviewed for the piece. Through interviews with a number of children ranging from 5 years old to 17 years old, Yulia Yakovleva describes what Russian children are thinking about their country’s invasion of Ukraine. As has been constant throughout history, truth and justice is often found in the mouths of children.
“Just don’t tell mom.”
“If you want, we can take that [what you said] out altogether,” I suggested then.
“No, we don't have to take it out. Let it be. Just don’t tell mom.”
“Mom will be upset.”
Each of them had already seen how vulnerable their parents were. How a distant war was punching holes in what seemed so reliable, boring, forever, and now was faltering. For many children, this was the first time this had happened.
“I had never seen that look on my mother’s face.”
“Dad shouted, and it’s not that it happens rarely—it just never happens. You know, never.”
“When we found out that mom had been detained, we started laughing wildly. Then we calmed down and started thinking.”
“Mom said: ‘Don’t talk about it at school. Don’t tell anyone else, they’ll think we say that at home.’”
“I deleted my accounts on social media altogether. You see, I’m responsible for mom, for dad, for grandma, for grandpa.”
I felt like shouting: “When you’re 12 (13, 14, 15), your responsibilities are mostly your homework, they are in no way all the adults in your family, the government in the country, or the end of the war.” But in Korea, they have this legend: when a secret is pushing you from inside, you need to find a tree with a hollow, tell the secret into that hollow and then cover it up. This is why I didn’t say much. I was the tree, and they were speaking into me. Although sometimes I felt more like a lightning rod catching their lightnings.
No conversation lasted less than an hour.
And then there are what Yakovleva calls the ‘ambivalents:’
I think all my interviewees were against the war because all kids are against the war. So let’s talk about the “ambivalent.”
“Well, it is bad but it is the right thing to do.” “Why is it the right thing to do?” “They would have attacked us themselves sooner or later.” “Wait, can you explain? Who are ‘they’?” “America.” “Wait, I am losing it. What do you mean, America? How do you explain this? This is all happening in Ukraine!” “America supports them.” “Who do you support?” [Quickly and defiantly:] “I support my country.” “Do you express your support in any way?” “No.” “Why not?”
Long pause.
“Well…”
Long pause.
“Do I have to answer?”
“No, you don’t have to answer every question. Shall we move on?”
He nods. We move on. The unanswered question is left behind but is not going anywhere. It is like a splinter in a finger.
The propaganda does not answer the so-called “childish” questions of adolescents, who need clear and precise answers. “If I’m against the war, does that mean I’m against Russia and don’t like my country? Then what, am I in favor?” It’s a vicious circle.
“I try not to think about it, to get away from this subject.”
“I try not to get too engaged.”
“We discussed this with my friends.” “What did you decide?” “Either Putin is a fool or Zelensky is a fool. Both are responsible. And peaceful people are not responsible.”
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