Today, I'll be meeting with a cousin and his wife who have been evacuated from the Northwest Territories. It seems strange that you and I have the luxury of writing--and they have much bigger problems to deal with. We are indeed lucky--even when if we can't make $5 a day from the work we love to do. At least we have opportunity.

The political labels we like to throw around mislead us. We like to think there is an omniscient ideology out there that can fix all things. So we join the movement that best suits our own vision of the world. But every one of these 'isms is lacking. Human affairs are quite complex, often dependent on time, place, and previous history.

As I mentioned previously, the radical conservatives in Alberta has learned how to leverage themselves politically. And yet, they seem unable to remove any of the social programs they so detest.

The term "democracy" struggles to define itself. The term gets thrown around as if everyone understands it, yet there are so many definitions, which are often in conflict with each other. If you ever have the time, find Patrick Watson's documentary series "The Struggle for Democracy," which was produced circa 1990.