2010 - The Year of Living Dangerously

In a year-end statement, Stephen Harper offered that 2010 was the year that Canada "shined" on the world's stage. That was a bit of a stretch, but a quick scan of similar statements by other world leaders boasted much the same fare. Regardless of the progress, or lack of it, in specific nations, collectively we are entertaining policies that are in the process of turning the world into a more dangerous place. Some examples:Somehow, despite all the money flowing in so many directions, things went badly awry. The juggernaut of globalization not only came to a screeching halt but in many ways began reversing itself. For that past 30 years we have been hearing of the merits of free trade, mobile investment transfers, and the ability to shut down jobs in one place only to transplant them to another. Most of us in the industrialized world went along with it, believing that things were in the process of getting better. And while many Western citizens displayed a deep concern and commitment for the poorest regions of the world, the majority of us were too caught up in our blessings and problems to notice that what we then called the Third World was transforming its poverty into anger, often directed at the privileged nations. In Canada itself, as with the U.S., Britain, and many parts of Europe, the internal gap between rich and poor has ever-widened, despite our riches. This was the year we learned we won't even come close to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Jobs continue to disappear at troubling levels and yet still we never question whether we took the right turn in the road following the 1980s and 1990s. And every time policymakers and investors messed up, it was taxpayers who had to bail out the corporate blunders, only to observe us going back to business as usual. Those chickens are now coming home to roost.This was also the year that nations began the gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan as citizens grew tired of the war and troubled by the body count. Fair enough. The overriding concern following 9/11 about our security is not as urgent for us. While security threats remain stubbornly high, we are withdrawing from those locations where terrorism inevitably breeds. While our pulling back is inevitable and understandable, our lack of attention and international presence could create a more troubling world. International security comes at a cost, one which we are no longer willing to pay.The lack of security and poverty go hand-in-hand and 2010 provided a troubling brew. As Canada froze its aid budget for the next five years, and as most nations failed to invest in lifting the plight of the world's poorest by missing the MDGs, the seed beds for conflict will inevitably fill the vacuum.2010 was the fateful year the world backed off from serious action on climate change. Of all developed nations, Canada proved to be the worst laggard, but many other nations admitted that they had failed to live up to the promises of previous years. As the physical climate made its presence felt through more calamities than we had witnessed in a generation, the ethical and moral fibre required to deal with the deeper sources of the problem were not to be found in political, bureaucratic, corporate or media leaders. Citizens were no help either, as a large enough political mass required to make the democratic changes necessary couldn't be mustered.And in the political arena, 2010 saw the overall growth of right-wing governments and ideological partisanship. A generation that had worked through international venues and global ideals was slowly passing away in favour of an ideology much more parochial. The fabric of global realism and cooperation is tearing and the rise of more self-centered foreign policies could well result in new divisions as former global influencers, like Canada, begin the long retreat. So, no, we didn't shine, and neither did most other nations. Twelve months of deeper insecurity hardly make for anything to crow about. And judging from emerging developments, heading into 2011 provides thin comfort.