Open Space: Stop worshipping false deities of celebrityThe gods are dead. Jehovah, Zeus, Venus, Vishnu. Shadows of these once universally worshipped deities may drift through our present time, but their great influence has faded into the umbra. With the fall of these champions of immortality, we had almost escaped the basic human requirement they provided: the need to worship. To this end, […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Don’t let risk-taking become a forgotten artHitchhiking has developed a bad reputation, bringing to mind greasy, smelly hippies or murderous rapists looking to steal your car and harm your person. I don’t believe these fears are grounded and I maintain an indiscriminate policy on picking up hitchers. I don’t have altruistic motives. I pick them up because sometimes they give me […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Culturally appropriating costumes have got to goLions, tigers, and bears are fine, but dust off that “sexy harem girl” costume this Halloween and we’re going to have a situation. There’s a problem in today’s society where people still think it’s appropriate to mimic the cultural traditions of others for their own personal enjoyment. Whether people want to admit it or not, […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Victoria not so bike friendlyI recently migrated to Victoria from Quadra Island and was very excited about the prospect of being able to use my bike for transportation. I’ve visited Victoria a number of times over the years and have noticed a definite increase in bicycle traffic, designated lanes, and friendly road signs that say things like “share the […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Keeping Pride politicalGay pride? What about the rest of us!? No, I’m certainly not one of those people who actually uses not having “straight pride” as an arguing point. What I mean is: what about the majority of individuals in the queer community who aren’t cisgender homosexual men? What started out as a radical political riot led […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Canada’s cops a light in the darkThe year is 1968, and Chicago is rioting after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Er, maybe it was 1992, with people in Los Angeles rioting to express anguish at their perception of racist policing. Wait, no, it was London in 2011. No, scratch that, too. I’m thinking of last week in Ferguson, Missouri. […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: So-called border crisis raises questionsIn the past few weeks, the US has been facing what has been called a “border crisis.” What’s essentially happening is that information on US immigration reform is being lost in translation, and citizens of poverty-stricken Latin American nations are sending their children north in hopes that they will receive papers upon crossing the border. […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: For a better Canada with politicians who serveThere are fundamental injustices in our very own government that affect all of us on a very basic level. What’s most troubling is that the population has accepted these injustices as if they are something that can’t be changed. The truth is that government is a body that was built in service to us and, […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Mental health no longer a shunned topicMental illness is perhaps the least understood, the most highly stigmatized, and the most neglected of all illnesses. Despite recent advances in standardized diagnostic criteria and increasingly well-researched treatments, stigma continues to cloud mental health. If you disagree, Victoria-born Ted Talk presenter Kevin Breel challenges you with this question: “Would you rather make your next […] Continue Reading |
Open Space: Feminism is realityYou hear the “f word” on college campuses a lot these days. Between Tumblr’s social justice warriors and Social Science majors, feminism has been getting a lot of press. It’s not like that’s a new thing: the fight for gender rights has been raging for years. Still, this new breed of feminist has everyone talking. […] Continue Reading |
