I see the cynicism in young designers, most noticeable in those who came of age with an awareness of modernism’s failure to deliver on its promises. Mau ought not to confuse their cynicism with hopelessness or lack of ambition anymore than we should confuse his optimism with objectivity. Indeed, I suspect his practice could do with a little youthful cynicism. It might serve to temper his naïveté, and he might see that somewhere between his optimism and their cynicism is a real world and a host of problems that demand attention.
Ian Ross McDonald
Vancouver, BC
Economy of Truth
I was disappointed by Tim Murphy’s article on Paul Martin (“Noble Ambition,” January). What could have been a mea culpa for, or at least an explanation of, the spectacular failure of Martin and the Liberal Party is just more revisionist drivel about his former boss.
Never is this more apparent than when Murphy talks about the end of the Martin government last November. He blames the “pure opportunism” of the ndp and other opposition parties for bringing down the Liberal government, having already acknowledged that Martin promised to hold an early election one month after the February 1, 2006, release of the final report on the sponsorship scandal. Which was it? Did the ndp end the government “early” or was Paul Martin lying when he promised to hold an election?
Of course, the former account allows the Liberals to say that the ndp cost Canadians all the advancements they’d planned for the remaining weeks they hoped to govern—a cleaner environment, fairness for aboriginal peoples, and a national child-care plan. I, for one, am tired of hearing that the ndp cost us everything the Liberals failed to deliver in over a decade of government. In January 2006, Canadians threw the Liberals out because of such arrogance and inaction. Only months out of the Prime Minister’s Office, Murphy is now offering his political counsel to Stéphane Dion. For a party sorely in need of renewal, this is not an auspicious start.
Moya Crangle
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
Game On!
Daniel Sanger (“5, 6, Pickup Sticks,” January) writes that playing open-air pickup hockey is “that most sublime of Canadian activities.” He emphasizes the significance of “playing,” which is undertaken with childlike enthusiasm and freedom, embracing spontaneity within a set of arbitrary but agreed-upon rules. Canadians love playing the game of hockey, as opposed to working at it. The American historian Christopher Lasch wrote in The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations: “Games quickly lose their charm when forced into service of education, character development, or social improvement.” Nothing is as sublime on a winter’s day as striding down a sheet of ice, puck on stick, seeking the next deft deke or perfect pass. In the absence of referees and scorekeepers, on creeks, rivers, and natural ice rinks, I played the game with much greater joy than when padded up under the roof of an arena.
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