Monthly Archives: October 2020

Community, Inspiration, People

Hedley Saga Continues To Unfold

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Trisha Mills and Bill Carmichael at the entrance of their future home.

When the iconic Hitching Post restaurant went up in flames the night of October 23,2018 it marked the beginning of a Hedley community saga that is ongoing to this day. Since the fire, the story of Bill Carmichael and Trisha Mills, the loss of their business and health, and their courage in the midst of calamity has been unfolding mostly behind the scenes. Also largely behind the scenes has been the response of some in our community. It’s an intriguing and inspiring chapter in local history and deserves to be passed on to the next generation.

When Linda and I visited Bill in the Penticton hospital shortly after the fire, we were appalled at his multiple serious injuries. Trisha had been taken to the Kamloops hospital with equally devastating injuries. Although Bill expressed hope for the future, we feared they might both be confined indefinitely to wheelchairs. Many in Hedley rallied to their cause, contributing to a gofundme site set up to help them with initial living and medical expenses. The insurance company has been resistant and for most of two years Bill and Trisha have lived in a 22 foot motor home with their dog Dexter.

In spite of significant continuing pain, they have struggled to regain their ability to walk. Often I have seen them hobbling down the alley behind our home, steadying themselves with their walking sticks. Unless asked, they don’t talk about the extreme discomfort, or the loss of income and possessions. “We talk every day about our plans for the future,” Bill said. “We want to again provide a food service to Hedley,” Trisha added. “How that will look will depend on what our bodies allow us to do.” This summer they purchased a food truck business as a first step toward achieving that goal. This helped sustain them financially over the summer but with colder weather, they have suspended the business until next year. “My body requires double digit temperatures to function in the food truck,” Trisha said.

Putting the food service on hold doesn’t mean they will relax over winter. Needing a home, they decided to erect a metal structure on their lot behind the restaurant site. “It’s less expensive, and it won’t burn,” Bill said. “I put one up about 25 years ago, with the help of a rugby team. There was lots of scaffolding and quite a few ladders. I was planning to do it again. Several men from the community offered to help.”

He’s amazingly gritty but much more limited physically now. Realizing this would be an extremely difficult project for Bill, Dennis Matson, pastor of the local church, suggested he bring in a contractor with a mechanical lift. “We don’t have the funds for that,” Bill said. Dennis talked with a Princeton contractor and obtained a considerable reduction in price. The church contributed some funds, bringing the cost down to an affordable level.

Dennis Matson, pastor of the local church, suggested Bill bring in a contractor with a mechanical lift to erect the structure.

Prior to erection of the metal structure, I visited Bill at the building site. With a shovel and wheelbarrow he was distributing a large pile of coarse gravel fill around the perimeter. For about an hour I loaded the wheelbarrow and he pushed it and dumped the fill. The terrain was uneven and I saw that he needed to call on deep inner reserves of determination and perseverance to do the work. He didn’t groan or complain, but admitted that he and Trisha have “clenched bodies” at the end of each day.

When I showed up the following morning to help complete distributing the fill, Trisha was there and had already finished the project. I expressed concern that she was pushing her injured body so hard. “It’s o.k,” she said. “It needed to be done.” The metal portion of the structure is now in place, but it needs to be insulated and the ends enclosed.

Bill and Trisha both live with pain every day. Bill still needs three more surgeries. I consider their story important because they are showing our community it is possible to call on deep inner reserves and forge ahead in spite of adversity.

Their story is also a reminder that in this time when communities are struggling with increasingly complex issues like covid-19, opioid deaths, homelessness, poverty and much more, we need to stand by individuals and families in distress. When the people of a community reach out to those in need, everyone benefits.

Societal Issues

Conspiracy Theories, A Challenge

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Microsoft Founder Bill Gates, Does He Want To Control COVID-19 Vaccinations Around the Globe?
Photo: en.wikipedia.org

Conversations with my friend Ike are becoming increasingly challenging. I first met him when we were in a car pool to SFU where he was immersed in studying philosophy. Our paths diverged and I didn’t hear from him until he came across my blog and contacted me. We renewed our friendship but I quickly learned our thinking had followed radically different paths. Over the years he became disenchanted with our institutions, system of government, religion, and much more. He had become enmeshed in a variety of conspiracy theories and now embraces them passionately.

Tall, gangly and skinny, Ike lives with his partner Elaine near Williams Lake. Elaine wears granny glasses, has her hair in a bun, and is as keen as he in pursuing theories about everything wrong in our society. They each have a laptop and, sitting side by side, devote many hours to perusing websites that expound on who and what is to blame for the issues troubling our country and our planet. Their lives revolve around conspiracy theories.

It soon became clear to me that Ike considers his knowledge to be irrefutable. Initially I raised several arguments against his current favourite theory. “If you believe that it just proves you are one of them,” he responded. “It shows how crafty people with power are. They work in the shadows behind the scenes, duping the public into believing lies. If people knew what we know, they’d be worried.”

Ike has huge regard for the views of James Corbett, whose website contains innumerable accounts of individuals and corporations allegedly misleading people. Currently Microsoft founder Bill Gates is receiving a lot of Corbett’s attention, (and therefore Ike’s).

Corbett is convinced Bill Gates is manipulating the covid pandemic with lock downs and other strategies to push untested vaccines for economic benefits. He also claims Gates is seeking to establish population control with microchip implants. Some believers claim these will be in the vaccine. “He is scheming to leverage his immense wealth,” Corbett contends, “to control the fates of billions of people.”

Listening to Ike’s mini lectures, I’ve concluded he and other conspiracy theorists are suspicious of most official accounts of events. Many harbor a deep distrust of experts in all realms, including scientific and medical. Even in phone conversations, I sometimes sense that Ike’s eyes are glazing over when I raise an objection. He’s so steeped in conspiracy theory ideology, so certain he’s right, he seemingly cannot grasp the possibility that there could be an alternate perspective.

I have observed repeatedly that Ike and Elaine reinterpret random events to show they are part of a broader, insidious pattern. “People in high positions in government and corporations are conspiring to take away our freedoms and our way of life,” Ike has told me several times. “There’s a new world order and it already rules our planet.” According to a European Commission website, “there is a belief among conspiracy theorists that certain situations are secretly manipulated behind the scenes by powerful forces with negative intent.”

Ike has an answer for all contrary evidence. Not wanting him to close his mind to our friendship, I don’t ridicule his views. I do at times question the accuracy of his sources. Occasionally I agree with him concerning a particular issue. Certainly not all is well in our country or on our planet. Wealthy individuals and corporations are contaminating our environment and our values for the sake of profit and power. Governments too often develop policies that undergird destructive enterprises.

Although conspiracy theories are frequently built on speculation, conjecture, suspicion, faulty information and partial truth, they do have, in my opinion, a useful role. That role is to prod us to consider and question what is happening in our institutions, communities and nation. Those in power and authority at high levels know that most citizens are preoccupied with personal pursuits and rarely take notice of developments or conditions around them.

Conspiracy theorists have a knack for unsettling us and attracting our attention with their disturbing views. Although I prefer facts over speculation and rumour, I’ve come to realize that individuals like Ike and Elaine at times provoke me to be less complacent and trusting concerning what is being done behind the veil of government or corporate double talk and intrigue. Certainly conversations with Ike tend to be stretching, but also stimulating. They challenge me to search for truth.

Politics

Puzzled By Support For Trump

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Heeding the example and words of Donald Trump, his supporters seem not to understand they are endangering themselves by not wearing masks or social distancing. (photo David Todd McCarty, Unsplash)

After a memorial service recently, I chatted with two brothers I have known many years. George, the older, more sophisticated one, enjoyed considerable success running programs at CBC Television, then selling real estate, and currently as owner of several highly lucrative enterprises. Harry is a muscular, no nonsense home builder. They wanted to talk about Donald Trump, and I was astonished to learn both are committed, no holds barred admirers.

I can somewhat understand why marginalized people place their hope in Trump. They believe the politicians and institutions of America are not serving them well. They had been waiting for a strong disruptive leader who would kick Washington in the solar plexus. Donald Trump was the “messiah” they had been longing for. In “The Age of Voter Rage,” pollster Nik Nanos suggests that “for those on the margins, Trump was a vehicle to punish the establishment.”

For me, George and Harry’s motivation is an enigma. I find it equally mystifying that numerous American evangelicals have eagerly flocked to Trump. They virtually worship him, even though fact checking prior to the 2016 election revealed only 4 percent of his statements were true. (Hillary Clinton fared somewhat better at 25 percent).

Nanos believes at the heart of what is happening in some democracies, including Britain and France, is a hearty dose of anti-establishment sentiment. During the Brexit upheaval in Britain, for example, Boris Johnson and other “Leave” proponents claimed the country was sending 350 million pounds to the EU weekly. In the week before the referendum, polls showed 47 percent of voters accepted this contention as true. After the vote this claim was proven to be false. Many voters had disbelieved what was true and embraced what was not true.

Nanos says “when citizens become enraged they are more willing to be led by their emotions and to take risks.” He says further “Trump stoked the negative emotions of citizens and rode their anger to the presidency. Fake news is entering the mainstream and a key source of information for an increasing number of citizens.”

Several weeks ago I listened to a CBC radio interview with an American Trump supporter. Her words revealed a total naivete concerning Trump’s promises and accomplishments. When the CBC host pointed out that her information was incorrect, she blithely continued her poorly informed praise.

I’m very aware not all Canadians share my sense of dismay at the acrimony, discord and bitterness flowing so freely in America. More than a handful of Canadians apparently approve of Donald Trump’s numerous abrasive tweets, his refusal to condemn white supremacy groups like the Proud Boys, and his utter disdain for those who disagree with his policies. Like my friends, George and Harry, some of his admirers are well positioned in our society. They drive Mercedes and live in gated communities. I ask myself, do they understand what is happening in America, or are they mesmerized by this president because he is unconventional and delights in creating havoc in the political system?

Probably the majority of Canadians are troubled at seeing our valued neighbours in such a state of bitter divisiveness and rancor. We have long considered America a powerful bulwark against forces seeking to undermine democratic institutions around the globe, including in Canada. It’s disturbing that Donald Trump has at times expressed admiration for the practises of dictators and seems to have adopted their “play book.” Equally unsettling is his refusal to say he will accept a peaceful transfer of power if he is not the choice of voters in the coming election.

Is there a danger the disruption in American politics will spill over into Canada, and possibly impact even the interior of BC? We tend to feel quite assured that our political leaders will not stray too far from democratic values. In spite of this confidence, I do sometimes wonder how our system of government would hold up if a charismatic, power hungry Prime Minister was determined to stay in office after being rejected at the polls. Certainly party bosses could strip their leader of power, but would they have the will and integrity if it meant they would no longer form government? In America Republican leaders have demonstrated an unwillingness and inability to hold Trump in check.

Nik Nanos says “expecting politicians to self correct is delusional. Citizens need to learn to differentiate between fact and fake news. And they must hold the government accountable.”