Winter is here this week. There are fewer birds at -13 outside at the end of the day. But we find them elsewhere and it’s funny and sad at the same time.
Almost light words this week to counter the disillusionment of a new year where we wished, briefly, that everything would be better.
With the children, when the time comes, we revisit viral videos chronically and annually which are as valuable as a sociology essay or a survey on our community. First, this recent audio extract from a woman, during a municipal council, who compared the situation of the deer in Longueuil with the war in Gaza. Phew, we say to ourselves! Longueuil is not that far away and there is a chance that one day, she and I will cross paths in line at Tim’s, where I often go and where people talk to me. Misery…
IMAGE FROM THE “A WORD FOR KEVIN” VIDEO
The “A Word for Kevin” video is a classic that celebrated its 15th anniversary of success last fall.
Historically, “A Word for Kevin1 », a classic which celebrated its 15th anniversary of success last fall, wins the Palme d’Or again and again, closely followed by “Dindon sauvage – Couch (the black turkey)2 », or that of a gentleman uncle who is a little too sure of himself who pinches his thumb in his crossbow (it’s all connected!)3. Certain covers of the late Doc Mailloux which reveals mind-blowing things about human behavior are also part of the prize list (I’m smiling here).
A few days ago, another gem appeared. It’s a little dated, but it’s tasty: “Fly found in a Tim Bit4 “. Not so much the story, because we tell ourselves that it’s possible. But that a media boss “assigned” a vehicle and a journalist-camera team to cover this fact is in itself a tragicomic revelation of what we are. In the news extract, after the fact, we interview the guy who bought the Timbit, whose testimony is essential (we guess that he probably called the tivi himself). Since when, and how, can a fly in a donut become news? It’s pretty thin and it’s more social media stuff.
And how, no joke, can we be surprised that Donald Trump has a strong chance of being re-elected in a few months. Have we really changed?
We should talk about democracy a little. You know this system; the “most best” scheme of the modern world to justify a just, free and equitable society.
If Trump or Poilievre – no amalgamation here – are elected, it is because a majority will have wanted it and voted for it. We saw it recently (Milei in Argentina, Italy not far away, India, even Sweden…). We agreed together, a long time ago, that the majority would be the norm. Either. This is what is being said publicly. A theory that we seek to defend with weapons and many also with bombastic, windy and vain speeches. A majority that we must respect, because we defend this value, even if we oppose the ideas. However, the media, in general, are opposed to populism even if a majority wanted it.
PHOTO REBA SALDANHA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Donald Trump supporters at a rally in New Hampshire last December. If Trump is re-elected, Marc Séguin recalls, it is because a majority will have wanted him and voted for him.
Well, I’m not being completely honest, in parallel with the viral videos, I’m also reading Frank Herbert this week (he’s the guy who wrote Dune, among other things, and this is where we learn that it was a book before a film). Herbert says, “Show me an area where everything is working perfectly and I’ll show you someone trying to cover up mistakes.” » Is this what explains why, recently, certain minorities in our democracy have succeeded in taking the entire society hostage? That the fact that a tiny part disrupts a majority is perceived as a deviation?
A dangerous doublespeak is taking place: we advocate democratic ideals in public which we mock in private (more and more people are rolling their eyes at this two-faced virtue).
Viral videos are both immensely funny and sad. We share social space with these people. They exist and vote.
And again Herbert echoes: “The failure of a civilization can be recognized by the gap which widens between public morality and private morality. The wider the divide, the closer civilization is to its final disintegration. »
They are no longer ditches, but rivers. What if this explains the current rise of what looks like fascism? Perhaps democracy has limits?
Beyond the laughter, I would like to thank journalists and amateur videographers for reminding us that we do not always live with the greatest intellectuals and thinkers (no cynicism here). Fortunately.
It helps us understand that things, even if we dream them differently, don’t really change. The truth is frayed by playing the flag too much. We love burlesque, but less when it’s real.