Socialist or Capitalist? Here's Your Kid

I wasn't expecting this to happen, and other articles

I wasn’t expecting my daughter’s daycare provider to ask “Which system do you prefer; socialism, capitalism, or fascism?” This was at 9 in the morning as my bouncy three-year-old, donned in her customary princess outfit, hopped around happily at our feet. I stood there shocked for a moment, sputtering “Umms” and “Errrs” like an old car.

The question got me thinking. Which system DO I prefer? Ultimately, I like the one that leaves me alone the most. Today, none of them seem content to do that. Socialists have draped themselves in the ever-infuriating flag of identity politics. They are in my face constantly about being a white man. On the other hand, capitalists have driven up prices and created such inequity that I can barely afford to keep a roof over my children’s head. And don’t get me started on fascists. Goddamn, they shouldn’t even be a contender.

I believe in the primacy of the individual, not the collective. So I knew that socialism was out. But I also believe society has an obligation to take care of the less fortunate, whether through health care or public education, or social services. I can’t be a cut-and-dry capitalist. What the heck DO I believe in?

All of that went through my head as I stood outside my daycare provider’s door, not even sure of my own political leanings. Ultimately, I want everyone to be happy and free. What system is that? Certainly not one we have right now.

She’s from Colombia and has seen rampant corruption and violence first-hand. She much prefers Canada’s system, particularly our health care, to anything she saw in South America. I’m not sure where she stands on the political spectrum if there even is one anymore. So I stammered and admitted that I have no idea. Damnit if I haven’t stopped thinking of that discussion ever since. Where DO I stand? Is there a “leave me the fuck alone” AND a “help the people” system? That’s my stance.

With that said, here’s a roundup of some of my more popular articles over the past few months:

The Lonely Journey to Traditional Publishing

Want to know a secret? It may offend you, so be prepared. My secret is that I don’t consider self-publishing as a badge of honour. People who self-publish are not “authors,” in my books. Sure, they are writers, but I only consider an author to be someone who has written something good enough to be chosen by a traditional publishing house for publication. Am I an elitist? Perhaps.

Why is that?

For starters, if anyone can do it, it’s not art. Writing a book is art. In fact, writing a book so good that a team of profit-motivated people want to take on the financial risk of selling it is high art. A single self-published author takes on some risk, but not on the scale of a publisher. Also, digital ebooks are fine, but when a printing press mass-produces a book, and that book shows up on shelves in book stores, libraries, and in official archives, you’re dealing with something different. There’s no comparison between whipping up an ePub on Kindle and hitting “publish,” and going through the process of getting published. The former is a writer, the latter is an author.

Right off the bat I’ll let you know that I’ve self-published. It was a hard process, and marketing my work has been even harder. I’ve been met with a satisfactory amount of success. My mini ebook, Opus Tsunami, delivers some cash to me every month and enjoys a solid five-star rating on Kindle. And although I spent nearly a year researching, planning, writing, and getting all the settings just perfect, I still don’t consider myself an author. I’m a writer.

But I want to be an author, even one who doesn’t make any money…

5 Ways Ethereum Will Power Small Businesses of the Future

Have you ever stopped to wonder what businesses of the future will look like? After all, blockchain technology continues to evolve at a phenomenal rate. But we don’t need to look too far ahead, because Ethereum is already powering small businesses today.

Of course, it’s Ethereum. No other crypto offers the customizability and multi-role use that Ethereum provides. That’s because Ethereum is more than just a cryptocurrency tied to a blockchain. In fact, the currency side of Ethereum is simply a byproduct.

Take a look.

You may be wondering why Ethereum, and not Bitcoin’s blockchain? What about the thousand other blockchains that have arisen in the wake of Bitcoin?

For starters, Ethereum does what none of the others can do. It manages data and not just money. That is, it’s more than a currency platform. Sure, Ethereum rewards miners with ether tokens, and people can invest in ether. But that’s a result of the platform and not the purpose of it.

13 Best Books for Men, Written by Canadian Men

Up here in Canada, there’s a certain stereotype attached to maleness. Whether it be the rugged lumberjack who fights bears with his hands, or the stoic Mountie, bravely protecting the innocent and upholding the Crown’s law.

Most Canadian men, however, are simply normal people with families to support and homes to keep. But we love stories of those brave lumberjacks and Mounties, and the tales of those who served in our extremely proud military. The best books for men contain some version of this.

So why not lose yourself in books for men written by Canadian men? I’ve got 13 of them here for you to check out, all with strong male protagonists, and all written by a man from Canada.

I Went Back to School, and Dr. Seuss Saved Me

I went back to school to learn some new skills. Way back in 1998 I started post-secondary in a journalism program. 22 years later and I’m in a new school, getting part-time credits towards a new degree.

I haven’t quite figured out where I’m going with this yet. My official program is “Environmental Studies” but as I’m part-time, taking courses credit by credit, I’m pretty much free to build my own degree. Part of me wants to go with an English degree, while another part of me wants a degree in economics. After all, I didn’t take all those remedial high school math courses for nothing!

I’m a writer. So obviously English would help me the most. But I want to actually write about something useful, and economics mixed with environmental studies definitely has a future. That said, I’ll be closer to 50 when I graduate, so do I really need to think about a “career?” Part of me says to get a Ph.D. in English and become a tenured professor. Go all the way. I’ll need longer hair and stinkier cardigans.

But that’s beside the point.

Going back to school has been strange. My first course, English Composition, so far involved learning about proper source citations, proper academic expositions, reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, writing long post-colonial critiques of Frankenstein, and tearing apart Shakespeare’s King Lear.

And then we hit poetry. Groan.

I despise poetry. I have nothing against people who like it, or poets themselves. But I find most poetry wishy-washy and pretentious. So studying it is painful.

That said, for my most recent project I had to find my favourite poem and then tear down its mechanics. What imagery did it use? What sort of meter? How did the author use alliteration as a device? You know, really useful stuff.

I had been putting that one off for nearly a week. I browsed a few poems here and there and discovered that I still don’t like poetry. The deadline for that project was fast approaching and I still hadn’t begun. Procrastination wasn’t helping me.

But get this.

Every night I read a couple of books to my kids. There’s nothing cozier than all of us cuddled under a blanket in bed with the soft glow of the lamp illuminating the room. My kids usually have a cup of warm milk with a bit of honey in it. It’s a comfort drink before bed. I love my kids and I love spending calm moments like these with them.

On this particular night, after a long day of not writing anything about poetry, I chose Dr. Seuss’s The Cat In The Hat as our bedtime book. My kids love Dr. Seuss and the tale of the naughty cat is a favourite. And as I read this story, I couldn’t help but notice the literal imagery, the anapestic tetrameter rhythm of the story, and the genius of how it was constructed.

Damn!

That poetry unit had won! Suddenly, I realized that I had my poem. The Cat In The Hat is a classic work of poetic genius. Dr. Seuss writes “It is fun to have fun / But you have to know how” (Dr. Seuss, 1957)