{"id":6241,"date":"2016-01-03T01:29:04","date_gmt":"2016-01-03T06:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=6241"},"modified":"2018-08-24T14:50:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T18:50:43","slug":"some-thoughts-of-a-year-of-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=6241","title":{"rendered":"Some Thoughts on a Year of Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"16-01-02<\/a>It\u2019s been an aver\u00adage year of read\u00ading. 160 books and about 500 aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic papers, arti\u00adcles, short sto\u00adries and oth\u00ader short items. His\u00adto\u00adry and anthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgy dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded the book read\u00ading, as usu\u00adal, with an empha\u00adsis on Aus\u00adtralia, the Pacif\u00adic, the Cana\u00addi\u00adan North and West, and the ideas of 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry Cana\u00addi\u00adan demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic reform\u00aders. I became par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00aded by the 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry con\u00advict colonies of Aus\u00adtralia and the French Pacif\u00adic pos\u00adses\u00adsions, and I ampli\u00adfied pre\u00advi\u00adous read\u00adings (such as Robert Hugh\u00ades ven\u00ader\u00ada\u00adble The Fatal Shore<\/em>, and the eye-open\u00ading but lit\u00adtle known Australia\u2019s Birth\u00adstain<\/em>, by Babette Smith). Thomas Keneal\u00adly, giv\u00ading Hugh\u00ades a run for his mon\u00adey in A Com\u00admon\u00adwealth of Thieves<\/em>, cov\u00aders the gen\u00ader\u00adal sub\u00adject with extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnar\u00adi\u00adly vivid prose, and Si\u00e2n Rees makes a clos\u00ader case study in The Float\u00ading Broth\u00adel \u2014 The Extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary True Sto\u00adry of an Eigh\u00adteenth- cen\u00adtu\u00adry Ship and Its Car\u00adgo of Female Con\u00advicts<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bulk of the con\u00advicts sent to Aus\u00adtralia were pick\u00adpock\u00adets or pet\u00adty thieves from the slums of Lon\u00addon, poach\u00aders from the West Coun\u00adtry who snared a hare on some aristocrat\u2019s estate, or ser\u00advants who pil\u00adfered han\u00adker\u00adchiefs or stock\u00adings from their mas\u00adters. Their exile to Aus\u00adtralia was con\u00adceived of as \u201cbleed\u00ading heart lib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism\u201d \u2014 most of them had been con\u00addemned to death, or had been rot\u00adting in the prison hulks for years. It is hard for a mod\u00adern read\u00ader to grasp that the British courts of the time rou\u00adtine\u00adly con\u00addemned small chil\u00addren to death by hang\u00ading for steal\u00ading a spoon, with the judges stern\u00adly lec\u00adtur\u00ading the pub\u00adlic about the need to be tough on crime, and the con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary equiv\u00ada\u00adlent of Fox News scream\u00ading that the courts were too lenient. Si\u00e2n Rees describes the case of a woman who was con\u00addemned to be pub\u00adlicly burnt alive because she had shared a room with a coun\u00adter\u00adfeit\u00ader. She was held to be guilty of the same crime mere\u00adly for giv\u00ading the coun\u00adter\u00adfeit\u00ader lodg\u00ading. He was only hung, but the law, unchanged since the Mid\u00addle Ages, required a woman to be burned at the stake. She wit\u00adnessed anoth\u00ader woman burnt before her sen\u00adtence was com\u00admut\u00aded to trans\u00adporta\u00adtion. She sur\u00advived the long voy\u00adage (many did not), served her term, and even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly became pros\u00adper\u00adous and respect\u00aded in Aus\u00adtralia. Over two cen\u00adturies, Aus\u00adtralians have had an ambiva\u00adlent atti\u00adtude to the trans\u00adportees, with some gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions strain\u00ading to cov\u00ader up the \u201cstain\u201d of con\u00advict ances\u00adtry, and oth\u00aders roman\u00adti\u00adciz\u00ading them into \u201cwork\u00ading class\u201d heroes, nei\u00adther atti\u00adtude hav\u00ading much to do with real\u00adi\u00adty or com\u00admon sense. Most of the trans\u00adportees were guilty of noth\u00ading more than being poor, but among them were some cut\u00adthroats and ruf\u00adfi\u00adans. Few were ready for fron\u00adtier life, but most prob\u00ada\u00adbly end\u00aded up bet\u00adter off in the long run than they would have if they had stayed in England.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the trans\u00adportees were some of the African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcans who had fought with the British in the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion. In the north\u00adern colonies, many African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcans fought on the rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary side, but in the south\u00adern states the new Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Repub\u00adlic was deter\u00admined to keep them enslaved, and made this per\u00adfect\u00adly clear with a bru\u00adtal reign of ter\u00adror on the plan\u00adta\u00adtions. Britain offered them eman\u00adci\u00adpa\u00adtion, and many heed\u00aded the call. But they were ill-used when Britain, lick\u00ading its wounds from a bun\u00adgled lost war, let many end up unem\u00adployed and starv\u00ading in Lon\u00addon. Some of them were trans\u00adport\u00aded to Aus\u00adtralia. Cas\u00adsan\u00addra Pybus tells their tale in Epic Jour\u00adneys of Free\u00addom \u2014 Run\u00adaway Slaves of the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan<\/em> Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion and Their Glob\u00adal Quest for Lib\u00ader\u00adty<\/em>. But per\u00adhaps the odd\u00adest group were French Cana\u00addi\u00adans, who were among the few real \u201cpolit\u00adi\u00adcal pris\u00adon\u00aders\u201d trans\u00adport\u00aded to New South Wales. Their sto\u00adry is lit\u00adtle known, even in Cana\u00adda. In 1837\u201338, there were simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous rebel\u00adlions against British rule in (most\u00adly) Eng\u00adlish-speak\u00ading Upper Cana\u00adda [now Ontario] and (most\u00adly) French-speak\u00ading Low\u00ader Cana\u00adda [now Que\u00adbec]. In both cas\u00ades, a large\u00adly egal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan soci\u00adety of self-suf\u00adfi\u00adcient farm\u00aders was fed up with being ruled by a tiny coterie of self-styled aris\u00adto\u00adcrats \u2014 in Upper Cana\u00adda, the \u201cFam\u00adi\u00adly Com\u00adpact\u201d and in Low\u00ader Cana\u00adda, the \u201cChateau Clique.\u201d Hard\u00aden\u00ading oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion to rea\u00adson\u00adable demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic reforms led even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly to out\u00adright rebel\u00adlion, in both cas\u00ades crushed by well-trained British forces and Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive ele\u00adments in the colonies. The lead\u00aders of both rebel\u00adlions eas\u00adi\u00adly slipped across the bor\u00adder to exile in the U.S., lat\u00ader to come back and go on to suc\u00adcess\u00adful careers. But imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly after the rebel\u00adlion, in Low\u00ader Cana\u00adda, tri\u00adumphant Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives used mar\u00adtial law to round up quite a large num\u00adber of less\u00ader \u201ctrai\u00adtors\u201d who did noth\u00ading more than attend a rebel meet\u00ading, or per\u00adhaps were incon\u00adve\u00adnient busi\u00adness com\u00adpeti\u00adtors, or owned a juicy lit\u00adtle prop\u00ader\u00adty that could be expro\u00adpri\u00adat\u00aded. Hun\u00addreds were tried in kan\u00adga\u00adroo courts and exiled to the Aus\u00adtralian prison colonies. Their sto\u00adry is told by Bev\u00ader\u00adley Bois\u00adsery in A Deep Sense of Wrong \u2014 The Trea\u00adson, Tri\u00adals, and Trans\u00adporta\u00adtion to New South Wales of Low\u00ader Cana\u00addi\u00adan Rebels after the 1838 Rebel\u00adlion<\/em>. Unlike most of the Eng\u00adlish and Irish con\u00advicts, even the poor\u00adest Cana\u00addi\u00adens were lit\u00ader\u00adate, and many were well-edu\u00adcat\u00aded, tech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly skilled, and used to hard pio\u00adneer\u00ading work. Some kept jour\u00adnals, pro\u00advid\u00ading the only his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal souces for the con\u00advict sys\u00adtem writ\u00adten from the prisoners\u2019s point of view. Once in Aus\u00adtralia, they beavered away, mak\u00ading the best of it, even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly win\u00adning the Aussies\u2019 respect with their sober work eth\u00adic. But they all had friends and fam\u00adi\u00adly wait\u00ading for them back in Cana\u00adda, and an aston\u00adish\u00ading num\u00adber of them even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly got back home from the oth\u00ader side of the planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fail\u00adure of the rebel\u00adlions in Cana\u00adda led even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly to the emer\u00adgence of two remark\u00adable men, both of whom deserve to be dis\u00adcussed at length, because the trend of their think\u00ading clear\u00adly led to the Cana\u00adda that exists today, and at the same time rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded an aston\u00adish\u00ading alter\u00adna\u00adtive path to what the rest of the world was tak\u00ading. And my learn\u00ading about this can be traced to a gift I received from my friend Peter Svi\u00adlans. He ran across an old book in New\u00admar\u00adket, a town 55km north of Toron\u00adto, and think\u00ading it might appeal to me, gave it to me. It turned out to be a 1793 Eng\u00adlish verse ren\u00adder\u00ading of Les aven\u00adtures de T\u00e9l\u00e9\u00admaque, <\/em>a work writ\u00adten in 1699 by Fran\u00e7ois de Sali\u00adgnac de la Mothe-F\u00e9nelon. It was a superbly appro\u00adpri\u00adate gift choice, con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading my inter\u00adests. F\u00e9nelon is large\u00adly for\u00adgot\u00adten, now, but he had an enor\u00admous impact in his time, and he could best be described as the open\u00ading canon-shot of the Enlight\u00aden\u00adment. His T\u00e9le\u00admaque<\/em> was a \u201cdidac\u00adtic epic\u201d recount\u00ading the sto\u00adry of Telemachus from the Odyssey, but most\u00adly focus\u00ading on the advice the boy is giv\u00aden by a sage Men\u00adtor (who turns out to be real\u00adly Min\u00ader\u00adva, the God\u00addess of Wis\u00addom). Such a thing would have nor\u00admal\u00adly been writ\u00adten in verse, but F\u00e9nelon chose to write it in sim\u00adple ver\u00adnac\u00adu\u00adlar prose, with the aim of mak\u00ading it acces\u00adsi\u00adble to every\u00adone, includ\u00ading women and chil\u00addren. It was imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly rec\u00adog\u00adnized as a fierce attack on the pre\u00advail\u00ading autoc\u00adra\u00adcy and the con\u00adcept of \u201cdivine right of kings\u201d, and F\u00e9nelon was prompt\u00adly exiled to a coun\u00adtry parish for the remain\u00adder of his life. The book denounced auto\u00adcrat\u00adic rule and mer\u00adcan\u00adtil\u00adism, advo\u00adcat\u00aded par\u00adlia\u00admen\u00adtary gov\u00adern\u00adment and con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal monar\u00adchy, and argued that war should be avoid\u00aded by nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtions in a fed\u00ader\u00adal coun\u00adcil of nations. It pret\u00adty much laid out the basic pro\u00adgram pur\u00adsued by Enlight\u00aden\u00adment thinkers in the next gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. It was a favourite of Mon\u00adtesquieu and Rousseau, and Thomas Jef\u00adfer\u00adson is said to have re-read it many times. A French his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan has called it \u201cthe true key to the muse\u00adum of the eigh\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry imagination.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, what does this have to do with rebel\u00adlions in Cana\u00adda? Well, the failed rebel\u00adlions had a trans\u00adform\u00ading impact on two young men who were both ardent demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic reform\u00aders, Louis-Hip\u00adpoly\u00adte Lafontaine in Low\u00ader Cana\u00adda, and Robert Bald\u00adwin in Upper Cana\u00adda. Both men had come to the con\u00adclu\u00adsion that the rebel\u00adlions led by fire\u00adbrands like Louis-Joseph Pap\u00adineau and William Lyon Macken\u00adzie, which they had ini\u00adtial\u00adly sup\u00adport\u00aded, had been more destruc\u00adtive than pro\u00adduc\u00adtive of reform, and that a more ratio\u00adnal strat\u00ade\u00adgy was required. Lafontaine still had faith in the demands made by the Patri\u00adotes<\/em> in the rebel\u00adlion: demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic gov\u00adern\u00adment by uni\u00adver\u00adsal male suf\u00adfrage, with prop\u00ader\u00adty qual\u00adi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtions abol\u00adished; equal\u00adi\u00adty of Eng\u00adlish and French as legal and gov\u00adern\u00ading lan\u00adguages; tri\u00adal by jury in all crim\u00adi\u00adnal and most civ\u00adil cas\u00ades; abo\u00adli\u00adtion of the death penal\u00adty for all crimes except first degree mur\u00adder; equal rights for all abo\u00adrig\u00adi\u00adnal peo\u00adples \u201cthe same as any oth\u00ader cit\u00adi\u00adzen\u201d; guar\u00adan\u00adtees of free\u00addom of speech and the press; free\u00addom of reli\u00adgion and total sep\u00ada\u00adra\u00adtion of Church and State; abo\u00adli\u00adtion of seigneur\u00adal tenure and rem\u00adnant \u201cfeu\u00addal\u201d prac\u00adtices; a free mar\u00adket in land; pub\u00adlic edu\u00adca\u00adtion. It should be not\u00aded that these demands, made in 1837, went much fur\u00adther in the direc\u00adtion of mod\u00adern democ\u00adra\u00adcy than any\u00adthing con\u00adtem\u00adplat\u00aded else\u00adwhere. But the rebel\u00adlions had only brought about a tri\u00adumphant Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive reac\u00adtion, with mas\u00adsive abus\u00ades of civ\u00adil rights. In 1841, the two colonies were con\u00adsol\u00adi\u00addat\u00aded, after this was urged by the inves\u00adti\u00adgat\u00ading emis\u00adsary from Britain, Lord Durham. There would be an elect\u00aded assem\u00adbly for the new \u201cUnit\u00aded Cana\u00adda\u201d, but the inten\u00adtion was to dilute the pow\u00ader of the French-speak\u00ading major\u00adi\u00adty in Low\u00ader Cana\u00adda, with a long-term goal of \u201cassim\u00adi\u00adlat\u00ading\u201d French Cana\u00addi\u00adans into obliv\u00adion. While there were some con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal gains, the assem\u00adbly hav\u00ading more pow\u00ader on mon\u00adey bills than before, there were obvi\u00adous loss\u00ades. Low\u00ader Cana\u00adda had actu\u00adal\u00adly rejoiced in a degree of women\u2019s suf\u00adfrage: women who met the prop\u00ader\u00adty qual\u00adi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtions had the vote, and these qual\u00adi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtions were low enough that they applied to a sub\u00adstan\u00adtial num\u00adber of women. There was, in fact, noth\u00ading like it in any oth\u00ader place in the world. In one con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary doc\u00adu\u00adment I ran across, it is casu\u00adal\u00adly men\u00adtioned to a vis\u00adi\u00adtor that \u201cin our coun\u00adtry, women are the polit\u00adi\u00adcal equals of men.\u201d This female suf\u00adfrage would be abol\u00adished by the new Unit\u00aded Cana\u00adda. In Upper Cana\u00adda, the auto\u00adcrat\u00adic pow\u00ader of the Fam\u00adi\u00adly Com\u00adpact was strength\u00adened, and reform stymied. Lafontaine and Bald\u00adwin, both ardent democ\u00adrats, looked upon the ash-heap left by the rebel\u00adlions and tried to think out a strat\u00ade\u00adgy to bring the reform move\u00adment back to life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lafontaine<\/a>

Lafontaine &<\/span> Baldwin<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

At this point, Lafontaine gave a speech in his home rid\u00ading of Ter\u00adre\u00adbonne, where he was run\u00adning for the new par\u00adlia\u00adment. He told the crowd that the best strat\u00ade\u00adgy was not to boy\u00adcott the new regime, as many advo\u00adcat\u00aded, but to embrace it, use all the polit\u00adi\u00adcal pow\u00ader they could muster, and win reforms step by step. Foil the plans to assim\u00adi\u00adlate French Cana\u00adda by becom\u00ading the colony\u2019s most adept par\u00adlia\u00admen\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adans. Win through grit and deter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion what the rebels had failed to win with arms. Lafontaine would eas\u00adi\u00adly have been elect\u00aded to his rid\u00ading, but Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive hooli\u00adgans, beat\u00ading and intim\u00adi\u00addat\u00ading vot\u00aders, kept him out of office.<\/span><\/p>\n

News of these events reached Robert Bald\u00adwin in Upper Cana\u00adda. The young man, whose equal\u00adly young wife had just died of ill\u00adness, had with\u00addrawn into a twi\u00adlight of grief. His father, also a life-long reformer, told him he must find a new strat\u00ade\u00adgy for reform, and pur\u00adsue it, or wal\u00adlow use\u00adless\u00adly in self-pity. He sug\u00adgest\u00aded that Lafontaine\u2019s speech held the key. The elder Bald\u00adwin resigned from his seat in the Assem\u00adbly, forc\u00ading a bi-elec\u00adtion in the rid\u00ading of New\u00admar\u00adket. Robert Bald\u00adwin wrote to Lafontaine, invit\u00ading him to come to Upper Cana\u00adda and run as a Reform can\u00addi\u00addate in New\u00admar\u00adket. This was the first step in what turned out to be a life-long col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion and inti\u00admate friend\u00adship. Bald\u00adwin was even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly to learn French, and send his daugh\u00adters to be edu\u00adcat\u00aded in Low\u00ader Cana\u00addi\u00adan schools. Lafontaine, unwill\u00ading\u00adly child\u00adless, lived with the Bald\u00adwins in New\u00admar\u00adket and came to think of them as fam\u00adi\u00adly. Both men were prodi\u00adgious read\u00aders. Even before his arrival, Lafontaine sent a gift with his \u201cyes\u201d to the Reform\u00aders\u2019 pro\u00adpos\u00adal: a copy of F\u00e9nelon\u2019s Les aven\u00adtures de T\u00e9l\u00e9\u00admaque<\/em>, the sym\u00adbol\u00adism of which would be obvi\u00adous to the book\u00adish Baldwin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I know this because it is men\u00adtioned in the first let\u00adter from Lafontaine to Bald\u00adwin in their col\u00adlect\u00aded cor\u00adre\u00adspon\u00addence. I had been led to Lafontaine\u2019s writ\u00ading by a total\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent line of inquiry. Upper Cana\u00adda passed its Act Against Slav\u00adery in 1793, mak\u00ading it the sec\u00adond gov\u00adern\u00adment in the world to do so (they were pre\u00adced\u00aded by a few years by Ver\u00admont, which did so dur\u00ading it\u2019s peri\u00adod of sov\u00ader\u00adeign inde\u00adpen\u00addence between 1777 and 1791). Low\u00ader Cana\u00adda fol\u00adlowed suit with\u00adin a few years. There had nev\u00ader been a large num\u00adber of slaves in Cana\u00adda, but they were owned by the rich and influ\u00aden\u00adtial, and it was tes\u00adti\u00admo\u00adny to their deeply felt pop\u00adu\u00adlar hatred of slav\u00adery that Cana\u00addi\u00adans were able to get such leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion passed in a polit\u00adi\u00adcal sys\u00adtem rigged to sup\u00adport the inter\u00adests of the rich. While inves\u00adti\u00adgat\u00ading this peri\u00adod, I came across Lafontaine\u2019s De l\u2019esclavage en Cana\u00adda<\/em>, in which he sought to bring to light every doc\u00adu\u00adment con\u00adcern\u00ading slav\u00adery in Cana\u00adda. Read\u00ading this lit\u00adtle known doc\u00adu\u00adment led me to read his bet\u00adter-known works, the Deux giri\u00adou\u00adettes, ou l\u2019hypocrisie d\u00e9masqu\u00e9e<\/em>, the Address to the Elec\u00adtors of Ter\u00adre\u00adbonne<\/em> and the cor\u00adre\u00adspon\u00addence of Bald\u00adwin and Lafontaine [My Dear Friend: Let\u00adters of Louis Hip\u00adpoly\u00adte LaFontaine &<\/span> Robert Bald\u00adwin<\/em>, ed. Yolande Stewart].<\/span><\/p>\n

I will indulge in some wish\u00adful think\u00ading. I like to think that the copy I now pos\u00adsess of F\u00e9nelon\u2019s T\u00e9l\u00e9\u00admaque<\/em> is the one that Lafontaine gave to Bald\u00adwin. This par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar edi\u00adtion is very rare. I could find no copy list\u00aded in any Cana\u00addi\u00adan pub\u00adlic or uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty library, not even in the Thomas Fish\u00ader Rare Book Library or the Library of Par\u00adlia\u00adment, which con\u00adtain many arcane trea\u00adsures. The only copy, oth\u00ader than my own, which I could trace, is in the British Nation\u00adal Library. It\u2019s not like\u00adly that there was ever more than a sin\u00adgle copy in Cana\u00adda. My friend Peter found it in New\u00admar\u00adket, Ontario, with\u00adin a mile of Robert Baldwin\u2019s fam\u00adi\u00adly home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bald\u00adwin and Lafontaine are far more impor\u00adtant char\u00adac\u00adters than Cana\u00addi\u00adan his\u00adto\u00adry books would indi\u00adcate. In their writ\u00adings and cor\u00adre\u00adspon\u00addence, you see the emer\u00adgence of a set of ideas that were unprece\u00addent\u00aded. Cana\u00addi\u00adan his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans are most\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00aded in the fact that their activism even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly led to the cre\u00adation of the Cana\u00addi\u00adan Con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion in 1867, but do not notice the pro\u00adfound orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adi\u00adty of their polit\u00adi\u00adcal think\u00ading. At the time, most polit\u00adi\u00adcal reform and rad\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adism was built on the premis\u00ades of roman\u00adtic nation\u00adal\u00adism. It was tak\u00aden for grant\u00aded that the nation<\/em> was the nat\u00adur\u00adal unit of pol\u00adi\u00adtics, and even where polit\u00adi\u00adcal move\u00adments envi\u00adsioned demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic gov\u00ader\u00adnance, this was seen as sec\u00adondary to the mys\u00adti\u00adcism of the nation as a col\u00adlec\u00adtive agency. The \u201cnation\u201d embod\u00adied bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal descent, and required \u201cuni\u00adty\u201d \u2014 con\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adty of lan\u00adguage, faith, and cus\u00adtom. No Euro\u00adpean intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal of the peri\u00adod, that I can find, val\u00adued diver\u00adsi\u00adty or felt that it was a good thing to com\u00adbine dif\u00adfer\u00adent lan\u00adguages, faiths, or eth\u00adnic\u00adi\u00adties into the same poli\u00adty. It was seen as a defect that might have to be tol\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded, but not as some\u00adthing of pos\u00adi\u00adtive val\u00adue. Pro\u00admot\u00aders of empires con\u00adsid\u00adered diver\u00adsi\u00adty the weak\u00adness of their realms. Pro\u00admot\u00aders of nation\u00adal inde\u00adpen\u00addence envi\u00adsioned their \u201clib\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded\u201d states as cul\u00adtur\u00adal\u00adly uni\u00adform units.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lafontaine and Bald\u00adwin had come to the oppo\u00adsite con\u00adclu\u00adsion, putting them into a dif\u00adfer\u00adent cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry from oth\u00ader reform\u00aders of the era. They explic\u00adit\u00adly advo\u00adcat\u00aded a mul\u00adti-lin\u00adgual, mul\u00adti-eth\u00adnic, mul\u00adti-reli\u00adgious state, held togeth\u00ader by a com\u00admit\u00adment to share a polit\u00adi\u00adcal com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty with\u00adout con\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adty. In their view, democ\u00adra\u00adcy and the rule of law formed an abstract frame\u00adwork of val\u00adues that could allow free\u00addom to pros\u00adper with\u00adout need\u00ading any of the tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal defin\u00ading fea\u00adtures of nation\u00adhood<\/em>. As they saw it, and stat\u00aded explic\u00adit\u00adly, this diver\u00adsi\u00adty con\u00adsti\u00adtut\u00aded a strength, not a weak\u00adness, just as they had found in their per\u00adson\u00adal friend\u00adship. But this was not some\u00adthing that any sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant num\u00adber of intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals were advo\u00adcat\u00ading. The only avail\u00adable prece\u00addent was Switzer\u00adland, which had just gone through a civ\u00adil war, and accom\u00adplished some\u00adthing sim\u00adi\u00adlar with an intense com\u00adpart\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adism. Europe would go on to more extreme and dis\u00adas\u00adtrous man\u00adi\u00adfes\u00adta\u00adtions of Uni\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan\u00adism. The colo\u00adnial empires of Britain, France, Spain, Por\u00adtu\u00adgal and Ger\u00admany left no doubt that there was to be noth\u00ading equal about the eth\u00adnic\u00adi\u00adties, lan\u00adguages and cus\u00adtoms with\u00adin them. The Unit\u00aded States strug\u00adgled with a schiz\u00ado\u00adphrenic her\u00aditage, the implied val\u00adues of the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion in con\u00adstant con\u00adflict with the urge to cre\u00adate a uni\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan state, immi\u00adgrants under con\u00adstant pres\u00adsure to \u201cmelt\u201d into con\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adty. But in Cana\u00adda, the ideas of Bald\u00adwin and Lafontaine became the main\u00adstream shap\u00ading the country\u2019s des\u00adtiny. Con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion in 1867 was clear\u00adly found\u00aded on them. Wil\u00adfrid Lau\u00adri\u00ader, our Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter between 1896 and 1911, tried to bad\u00adger the British Empire into accept\u00ading this vision, pic\u00adtur\u00ading a broth\u00ader\u00adhood of equal nations, and strug\u00adgled hope\u00adless\u00adly against the Empire\u2019s relent\u00adless march toward the First World War. Time and again, some ver\u00adsion of these ideas has brought out the \u201cbet\u00adter angels of our nature\u201d [Charles Dick\u00adens wrote this phrase in Barn\u00ada\u00adby Rudge<\/em> in 1841. He seems to have got\u00adten it from Shakespeare\u2019s Oth\u00adel\u00adlo<\/em>. Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln used it when fac\u00ading up to the schiz\u00ado\u00adphre\u00adnia I have just men\u00adtioned]. When inter\u00adviewed while wel\u00adcom\u00ading Syr\u00adi\u00adan refugees to Cana\u00adda, a few weeks ago, Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Justin Trudeau pret\u00adty much stat\u00aded them as if they were obvi\u00adous. But they are by no means obvi\u00adous to most of the world, or there would be no refugees to wel\u00adcome. So read\u00ading Lafontaine and Bald\u00adwin, see\u00ading these ideas being born, was emo\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly, as well as intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly satisfying.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anoth\u00ader pecu\u00adliar case of pre\u00adscient think\u00ading in 19th<\/sup> cen\u00adtu\u00adry Cana\u00adda came to my atten\u00adtion through anoth\u00ader friend, Tim Kyger, an author\u00adi\u00adty on the his\u00adto\u00adry of the space explo\u00adration. William Leitch was an astronomer and dean of an Ontario uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty, who seems to have been well-versed in the most advanced physics and astron\u00ado\u00admy of his time, and incor\u00adpo\u00adrat\u00aded them into a book called God\u2019s Glo\u00adry in the Heav\u00adens<\/em> in 1862. Because of the title (Leitch was a Pres\u00adby\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan min\u00adis\u00adter), the book remained in the\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy sec\u00adtions of libraries and archives, rather than astron\u00ado\u00admy col\u00adlec\u00adtions, and its impor\u00adtance was only recent\u00adly real\u00adized. It dis\u00adcuss\u00ades some ideas in physics that had emerged only months before the book\u2019s pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion, and one amaz\u00ading pas\u00adsage hints at Einstein\u2019s rea\u00adson\u00ading for rel\u00ada\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty. But what has caught the atten\u00adtion of schol\u00adars is that he pro\u00adposed that space be explored with the use of rock\u00adets, giv\u00ading per\u00adfect\u00adly good rea\u00adsons why they would be the only prac\u00adti\u00adcal method. This was decades before sim\u00adi\u00adlar sug\u00adges\u00adtions by Tsi\u00adolkovsky, God\u00addard and Oberth, though he does not, as they did, demon\u00adstrate the math.<\/span><\/p>\n

I final\u00adly got around to read\u00ading Simon Schama\u2019s Cit\u00adi\u00adzens : A Chron\u00adi\u00adcle of the French Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion. <\/em>Yes, I know, I should have read it long ago. But I tend to fol\u00adlow my enthu\u00adsi\u00adasms where they take me, and obvi\u00adous choic\u00ades get shunt\u00aded aside. The book sat on my shelf for years. Well-writ\u00adten, as all his books are, but I don\u2019t think it presents a major re-think\u00ading of the peri\u00adod. His virtue is large\u00adly in omit\u00adting the ten\u00adden\u00adtious abstract claims that have been made for the French Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion as the foun\u00adtain\u00adhead of this or that idea. But you do see, clear\u00adly enough, the prece\u00addents for all the dis\u00adas\u00adtrous total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan \u201crev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtions\u201d that fol\u00adlowed. Long before Robespierre\u2019s ter\u00adror, there were already wealthy aris\u00adto\u00adcrats order\u00ading the arrest and exe\u00adcu\u00adtion of poor peas\u00adants while denounc\u00ading them as \u201ccounter-rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary aris\u00adto\u00adcrats.\u201d What \u201crev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d in the two cen\u00adturies since then, hasn\u2019t abound\u00aded in that<\/em> hipocrisy?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A fan\u00adci\u00adful con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary wood\u00adcut por\u00adtray\u00ading Jeanne Baret<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

There were some enter\u00adtain\u00ading biogra\u00adphies in this year\u2019s read\u00ading. Gly\u00adnis Ridley\u2019s The Dis\u00adcov\u00adery of Jeanne Baret \u2014 A Sto\u00adry of Sci\u00adence, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Cir\u00adcum\u00adnav\u00adi\u00adgate the Globe<\/em> was part of my Pacif\u00adic read\u00ading. This tru\u00adly remark\u00adable woman, who accom\u00adpa\u00adnied Bougainville\u2019s explorato\u00adry voy\u00adage in the South Pacif\u00adic dis\u00adguised as a boy, seems also to have been a first rate botanist. Rid\u00adley care\u00adful\u00adly takes apart the doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary evi\u00addence and demon\u00adstrates that the account of her \u201cunmask\u00ading\u201d in Tahi\u00adti, which I had read in numer\u00adous his\u00adto\u00adry books, was prob\u00ada\u00adbly a fab\u00adri\u00adca\u00adtion. What\u2019s most remark\u00adable is that Baret was a peas\u00adant girl from a small French vil\u00adlage, whose adven\u00adtur\u00adous and event-filled life far sur\u00adpassed rea\u00adson\u00adable expec\u00adta\u00adtions. Anoth\u00ader book about the Pacif\u00adic was In the South Seas \u2014 The Mar\u00adque\u00adsas, Pau\u00admo\u00adtus and Gilbert Islands<\/em>, a nar\u00adra\u00adtive made by Robert Louis Steven\u00adson of his first encounter with Poly\u00adne\u00adsia. Ben MacIntyre\u2019s Josi\u00adah the Great, the True Sto\u00adry of the Man Who Would Be King<\/em> tells the sto\u00adry of Josi\u00adah Har\u00adlan, an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan adven\u00adtur\u00ader who became Prince of Ghor in Afghanistan, among the con\u00adtentious Haz\u00adari, and before the dis\u00adas\u00adtrous British occu\u00adpa\u00adtion of that coun\u00adtry. In fact, he end\u00aded up fight\u00ading against the British. It is said that Harlan\u2019s check\u00adered career inspired Rud\u00adyard Kipling to write The Man Who Would Be King<\/em>. I would also have to count as a \u201cbiog\u00adra\u00adphy\u201d the 15th Cen\u00adtu\u00adry chron\u00adi\u00adcle La chronique du bon duc Loys de Bour\u00adbon<\/em>, writ\u00adten by Jean Cabaret d\u2019Orville in 1429. There is no Eng\u00adlish trans\u00adla\u00adtion of this work, and my friend Steve Muhlburg\u00ader, a renowned schol\u00adar of chival\u00adry, is pro\u00adduc\u00ading one. But trans\u00adlat\u00ading medieval French is not easy, and Steve has farmed out some of the research leg\u00adwork to me. This is noth\u00ading like the mod\u00adern French lan\u00adguage, obsessed with pre\u00adci\u00adsion, clar\u00adi\u00adty and the mot juste<\/em>. French was then a dis\u00ador\u00adder\u00adly hen\u00adhouse of region\u00adal dialects and sin\u00adgle words used in a hun\u00addred ways. Often one can only guess at what D\u2019Oronville was say\u00ading, by sys\u00adtem\u00adat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly com\u00adpar\u00ading it to uses of the same words or phras\u00ades in oth\u00ader medieval texts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Young Pelton\u2019s The Hunter, the Ham\u00admer, and Heav\u00aden \u2014 Jour\u00adneys to Three <\/em>Worlds Gone Mad<\/em> didn\u2019t offer me any sur\u00adpris\u00ades, but it was a good read. Pel\u00adton spe\u00adcial\u00adizes in going to dan\u00adger\u00adous places, and the three he deals with in this book are Sier\u00adra Leone, Chech\u00adnya and Bougainville. I don\u2019t envy him. I\u2019ve found myself in such places by acci\u00addent, rather than design, and don\u2019t find pants-piss\u00ading ter\u00adror or over\u00addos\u00ades of adren\u00ada\u00adlin to my lik\u00ading. It isn\u2019t this aspect of the book that inter\u00adests me, but his fair\u00adly acute obser\u00adva\u00adtion of peo\u00adple and his real\u00adis\u00adtic appraisals of motives and sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions. There is only one place in the book with which I can com\u00adpare some first-hand expe\u00adri\u00adence, and every\u00adthing in that sec\u00adtion rings true, so I\u2019m guess\u00ading that the oth\u00ader parts are reli\u00adable, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark McCormack\u2019s The Declin\u00ading Sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance of Homo\u00adpho\u00adbia \u2014 How Teenage Boys are Redefin\u00ading Mas\u00adculin\u00adi\u00adty and Het\u00adero\u00adsex\u00adu\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty<\/em> out\u00adlines a social trend (for a change, it\u2019s a good social trend) that seems to be more advanced in Britain than in North Amer\u00adi\u00adca, but does man\u00adi\u00adfest itself here \u2014 at least it does in Toron\u00adto. It\u2019s inter\u00adest\u00ading to com\u00adpare it to the curi\u00adous book After the Ball: How Amer\u00adi\u00adca Will Con\u00adquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the \u201990s <\/em>by Mar\u00adshall Kirk &<\/span> Hunter Mad\u00adsen, writ\u00adten in 1989 (I read it in 2007) which made some prac\u00adti\u00adcal points, but, with typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly Amer\u00adi\u00adcan opti\u00admism, gross\u00adly under\u00ades\u00adti\u00admat\u00aded the strength of the oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion. Kirk and Mad\u00adsen assumed that hatred of gays was more or less the prod\u00aduct of unfa\u00admil\u00adiar\u00adi\u00adty and mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00ading, all of which would be straight\u00adened out by the open\u00adness and vital\u00adi\u00adty of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan soci\u00adety. There was no under\u00adstand\u00ading that there is also a hard core of vile peo\u00adple who are moti\u00advat\u00aded by actu\u00adal evil, and in the end, gays will have to fight for their free\u00addom, not just let it evolve.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dou\u00adglas Stone\u2019s Ein\u00adstein and the Quan\u00adtum<\/em> straight\u00adened out some con\u00adfu\u00adsion I had about the role Ein\u00adstein played in the devel\u00adop\u00adment of Quan\u00adtum The\u00ado\u00adry. It has become a clich\u00e9 that Ein\u00adstein said \u201cGod does not play dice\u201d about Heisenberg\u2019s work, and there is a wide\u00adspread impres\u00adsion that he reject\u00aded quan\u00adtum physics and gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly behaved like an old fud\u00addy-dud\u00addy in lat\u00ader years. But this does not appear to be so. Ein\u00adstein always had a pro\u00adfound inter\u00adest in quan\u00adtum effects, and in fact did much of the ground\u00adbreak\u00ading work that led up to mod\u00adern Quan\u00adtum The\u00ado\u00adry. He strug\u00adgled for much of his life\u00adtime to find an inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion of quan\u00adtum mechanix that would sat\u00adis\u00adfy him. He was, in fact, as much one of the founders of mod\u00adern Quan\u00adtum The\u00ado\u00adry as were Heisen\u00adberg, Schr\u00f6dinger, Dirac and von Neumann.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which brings me to the short\u00ader non-fic\u00adtion read\u00ading of the year, most\u00adly of aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic jour\u00adnal arti\u00adcles. One of these stands out from the oth\u00aders in impor\u00adtance, but I had to read it three times, months apart, to under\u00adstand why. I\u2019m refer\u00adring to Jean-Paul Gagnon\u2019s Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic The\u00ado\u00adry and The\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal Physics<\/em>, which appeared in the obscure Tai\u00adwan Jour\u00adnal of Democ\u00adra\u00adcy, and will no doubt take years to sift upward to vis\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty and influ\u00adence. Gagnon pub\u00adlished Evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary Basic Democ\u00adra\u00adcy: A Crit\u00adi\u00adcal Over\u00adture <\/em>in 2013, which attempt\u00aded to make sense of the maze of ill-defined and con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adto\u00adry notions that appear in the cur\u00adrent glob\u00adal dis\u00adcus\u00adsion of democ\u00adra\u00adcy. To say that this project was ambi\u00adtious is gross under\u00adstate\u00adment. I think Evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary Basic Democ\u00adra\u00adcy<\/em> is a very good book, and it deserves to be wide\u00adly read. But it did not entire\u00adly clear up the epis\u00adteme\u00adl\u00adog\u00adi\u00adcal fog. Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic The\u00ado\u00adry and The\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal Physics <\/em>moves much clos\u00ader to doing this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gagnon has long held a posi\u00adtion that is dear to my heart, that democ\u00adra\u00adcy is a phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnon with broad and ancient roots in human cul\u00adture, going back, in fact to the ear\u00adli\u00adest evo\u00adlu\u00adtion of hominids, and is not some\u00adthing that should be arbi\u00adtrar\u00adi\u00adly pinned to some par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar human com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty or cul\u00adture. As Steven Muhlberg\u00ader and I argued as far back as 1993, the roots of democ\u00adra\u00adcy are glob\u00adal, cross-cul\u00adtur\u00adal, and root\u00aded in basic human rela\u00adtions, as well as a tran\u00adscen\u00addant moral\u00adi\u00adty that is not mere cus\u00adtom or tra\u00addi\u00adtion. It has tak\u00aden decades for any sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant num\u00adber of schol\u00adars to escape from the provin\u00adcial\u00adism that dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded democ\u00adra\u00adcy schol\u00adar\u00adship, and the process is still ongo\u00ading. You still hear prat\u00adtle about \u201cthe West\u00adern con\u00adcept of democ\u00adra\u00adcy.\u201d But most democ\u00adra\u00adcy advo\u00adcates all too eas\u00adi\u00adly con\u00adcede that their propo\u00adsi\u00adtions do not hold the same kind of valid\u00adi\u00adty as a physicist\u2019s state\u00adments about the nat\u00adur\u00adal world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schol\u00adars in the \u201csocial sci\u00adences\u201d often suf\u00adfer from \u201cphysics envy\u201d \u2014 a yearn\u00ading to make their dis\u00adci\u00adplines look more like phys\u00adi\u00adcal and bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal sci\u00adences, which they feel will enhance their pres\u00adtige among the hoi poloi. But in their attempts to do so, they often show a pro\u00adfound mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00ading of how the phys\u00adi\u00adcal and bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal sci\u00adences actu\u00adal\u00adly work. For exam\u00adple, there have been gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions of archae\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists, soci\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists (and some his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans) who have tried to force human soci\u00adeties into schemes of \u201csocial evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d, sup\u00adpos\u00aded\u00adly par\u00adal\u00adlel to bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. How\u00adev\u00ader, they mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand what biol\u00ado\u00adgists actu\u00adal\u00adly think about bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, and try to make \u201csocial evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d cor\u00adre\u00adspond to a grotesque car\u00adtoon ver\u00adsion of it, in which many of the con\u00adcepts are dis\u00adtort\u00aded or down\u00adright wrong. There were decades of talk about nec\u00ades\u00adsary pro\u00adgres\u00adsive stages of social evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, when no actu\u00adal biol\u00ado\u00adgist ever con\u00adceived of evo\u00adlu\u00adtion as embody\u00ading nec\u00ades\u00adsary pro\u00adgres\u00adsive stages. Anoth\u00ader mis\u00adtake is evi\u00addent when schol\u00adars assume that demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic the\u00ado\u00adry can nev\u00ader be dis\u00adcussed with the rigour of phys\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adry, assum\u00ading that Physi\u00adcists are pos\u00adsessed of a kind of absolute cer\u00adtain\u00adty that, in fact, they do not profess.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

In Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic The\u00ado\u00adry and The\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal Physics<\/em>, Gagnon looks at the actu\u00adal meth\u00adods that physi\u00adcists use to bring forth, elu\u00adci\u00addate, and accept the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00adstructs of the phys\u00adi\u00adcal world, and shows that phys\u00adi\u00adcal ideas are encased in very much the same epis\u00adteme\u00adl\u00adog\u00adi\u00adcal puz\u00adzles as those that plague schol\u00adars of democ\u00adra\u00adcy, but that they have long accept\u00aded these puz\u00adzles as \u201cthe cost of doing busi\u00adness\u201d in con\u00adstruct\u00ading phys\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adry. Physi\u00adcists work with\u00adin para\u00adme\u00adters of (quot\u00ading Gagnon) \u201csym\u00adme\u00adtry, uni\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion, sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty, and util\u00adi\u00adty\u201d to sug\u00adgest a the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal solu\u00adtion, then devel\u00adop paths of inquiry that enrich and test the the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00adstruct, main\u00adtain\u00ading it as long as it fat\u00adtens up on its diet of evi\u00addence, while always look\u00ading for weak\u00adness\u00ades and oth\u00ader angles. As a col\u00adlec\u00adtive endeav\u00adour, physics occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly under\u00adgoes a sea-change of fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal the\u00ado\u00adry, but always main\u00adtains a degree of con\u00adfi\u00addence in a real world out there that the math and spec\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtive con\u00adstructs have some\u00adthing to do with. Gagnon is con\u00adfi\u00addent that his for\u00admu\u00adla\u00adtion of \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary basic democ\u00adra\u00adcy\u201d meets the same sort of cri\u00adte\u00adria, and that we can start step\u00adping a lit\u00adtle beyond the cur\u00adrent state of \u201cI like democ\u00adra\u00adcy because, well, ya know, like it\u2019s cool, but I don\u2019t know what the hell it is.\u201d I agree with him. These issues have to be sort\u00aded out in this gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion, because sow\u00ading epis\u00adte\u00admo\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00adfu\u00adsion among those who seek rea\u00adson\u00adable ends is a stan\u00addard tac\u00adtic of those whose ambi\u00adtion is to achieve unrea\u00adson\u00adable ones. Peo\u00adple who would like to see their soci\u00adeties be more demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic, or wish to pro\u00adtect what democ\u00adra\u00adcy they have, are often drawn to a kind of epis\u00adte\u00admo\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal and cul\u00adtur\u00adal rel\u00ada\u00adtivism that can eas\u00adi\u00adly be turned against them. Soon they find them\u00adselves sell\u00ading the farm to total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adans, because, after all they can\u2019t prove<\/em> that its bet\u00adter to be free than a slave, and that a con\u00adcen\u00adtra\u00adtion camp isn\u2019t moral\u00adly equiv\u00ada\u00adlent to a Sun\u00adday pic\u00adnic. And unless they find the equiv\u00ada\u00adlent of the work\u00ading tools used by physi\u00adcists, they will be for\u00adev\u00ader fail\u00ading to cre\u00adate democ\u00adra\u00adcy because they fear they can\u2019t define it.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read sev\u00ader\u00adal arti\u00adcles about the Komi rein\u00addeer herders of arc\u00adtic Rus\u00adsia, most\u00adly by Kir\u00adill Istomin and Mark Dwyer. They have pro\u00adduced a wealth of knowl\u00adedge about the dynam\u00adics, eco\u00adnom\u00adics and soci\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy of herd\u00ading rein\u00addeer, and an equal amount of insight into sub\u00adjects like alco\u00adholism and school per\u00adfor\u00admance, all com\u00adpiled with enor\u00admous care and a huge invest\u00adment in the hard\u00adest kind of anthro\u00adpo\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal work \u2014 the kind where you spend weeks in the bush in \u201140 weath\u00ader. This kind of social sci\u00adence is not a com\u00adfy desk job. Since much of what they write could equal\u00adly apply to the Cana\u00addi\u00adan Arc\u00adtic, with which I have some famil\u00adiar\u00adi\u00adty, it\u2019s all been a plea\u00adsure to read.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read a lot of papers about the evo\u00adlu\u00adtion of lan\u00adguage in ear\u00adly humans, but I\u2019m par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly pleased when some\u00adone brings a skep\u00adti\u00adcal and inci\u00adsive scalpel to trends and spec\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions that rest on mea\u00adgre evi\u00addence. Rudolf Botha\u2019s The\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal Unde\u00adpin\u00adnings of Infer\u00adences about Lan\u00adguage Evo\u00adlu\u00adtion: The Syn\u00adtax Used at Blom\u00adbos Cave<\/em>, Bon\u00adny Sands &<\/span> Tom G\u00fcldemann\u2019s What Click Lan\u00adguages Can and Can\u2019t Tell Us about Lan\u00adguage Ori\u00adgins<\/em>, Karl C. Diller &<\/span> Rebec\u00adca L. Cann\u2019s Evi\u00addence Against a Genet\u00adic-bases Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion in Lan\u00adguage 50,000 Years Ago<\/em>, Wil Roe\u00adbroeks &<\/span> Alexan\u00adder Verpoorte\u2019s A \u201cLan\u00adguage-fee\u201d Expla\u00adna\u00adtion for Dif\u00adfer\u00adences between the Euro\u00adpean Mid\u00addle and Upper Pale\u00adolith\u00adic Record<\/em>, James R. Hur\u00adford &<\/span> Dan Dediu\u2019s Diver\u00adsi\u00adty in Lan\u00adguages, Genes, and the Lan\u00adguage Fac\u00adul\u00adty <\/em>all fit that description.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the hun\u00addreds of papers I read are fine work, but usu\u00adal\u00adly I am not expert enough to have any spe\u00adcial opin\u00adion about them, or they are so straight\u00adfor\u00adward in their pur\u00adpose as to need no com\u00adment. When I pick one to men\u00adtion, it\u2019s usu\u00adal\u00adly for a tanden\u00adtial rea\u00adson. For exam\u00adple, P. Thami\u00adzoli &<\/span> Ignatius Prabhakar\u2019s Tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal Gov\u00ader\u00adnance Sys\u00adtems of Fish\u00ading Com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties in Tamil Nadu, India: Inter\u00adnal Man\u00addate, Inter\u00adfac\u00ading and Inte\u00adgrat\u00ading Devel\u00adop\u00adment<\/em> con\u00adfirmed a sus\u00adpi\u00adcion I had, based on oth\u00ader times and places, that fish\u00ading vil\u00adlages have often been shield\u00aded from the inter\u00adnal intru\u00adsions and pow\u00aders of the State by the spe\u00adcial nature of their economies and inter\u00adnal orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion. The same pat\u00adterns seem to pop up in places as diverse as India, Indone\u00adsia, Japan, Scot\u00adland, and Atlantic Cana\u00adda. Sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly, William D. Hop\u00adkins, et al\u2019s The Neur\u00adal and Cog\u00adni\u00adtive Cor\u00adre\u00adlates of Aimed Throw\u00ading in Chim\u00adpanzees: A Mag\u00adnet\u00adic Res\u00ado\u00adnance Image and Behav\u00adiour\u00adal Study on a Unique Form of Social Tool Use<\/em> backs up some of the spec\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions I dis\u00adcuss in Yes, We Have No Savan\u00adnah<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fic\u00adtion has not been neglect\u00aded. I always read a sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion nov\u00adel when I want to un-stress, usu\u00adal\u00adly chos\u00ading an old one. I\u2019ll either re-read an old favourite, or final\u00adly get to one that I always meant to read. I start\u00aded out the year by re-read\u00ading H. G. Well\u2019s The Time Machine<\/em>, and then read The Chron\u00adic Arg\u00adonauts<\/em>, a short sto\u00adry that Wells wrote in 1888, which con\u00adtained the germ of The Time Machine<\/em>. But this ear\u00adli\u00ader sto\u00adry was only humor\u00adous bur\u00adlesque, a kind of shag\u00adgy dog sto\u00adry padded out with Welsh jokes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>

Peter S. Bea\u00adgle, grown up.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Some\u00adtimes turn\u00ading to old paper\u00adback SF<\/span> books, with their won\u00adder\u00adful cov\u00ader art and nos\u00adtal\u00adgia-induc\u00ading molder\u00ading paper smell, can be a dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adment. For exam\u00adple, I\u2019ve always want\u00aded to read Poul Anderson\u2019s World With\u00adout Stars<\/em>, because the con\u00adcept of a plan\u00adet orbit\u00ading a lone star in the vast empti\u00adness between two galax\u00adies is just, well, deli\u00adcious. But Ander\u00adson wast\u00aded it on a rou\u00adtine, assem\u00adbled-from-an-Ikea-kit adven\u00adture sto\u00adry, and it didn\u2019t have a par\u00adti\u00adcle of \u201csen\u00adsa-wun\u00adda.\u201d The oppo\u00adsite can be said of Peter S. Beagle\u2019s 1960 fan\u00adta\u00adsy nov\u00adel A Fine and Pri\u00advate Place<\/em>. I have no idea how it is that I nev\u00ader read it. It\u2019s an acknowl\u00adedged clas\u00adsic, and its been sit\u00adting on my shelf for decades. Now I\u2019ve read it, and I\u2019m pissed off. It\u2019s a fuck\u00ading mas\u00adter\u00adpiece, and Bea\u00adgle wrote it when he was twen\u00adty. Writ\u00aders ain\u2019t got no busi\u00adness writ\u00ading that well when they\u2019re twen\u00adty. It just makes the rest of us look bad. If I ever meet him (he\u2019s on my face\u00adbook page) I\u2019ll shake his hand, then punch him. Kurt Siodmak\u2019s Donovan\u2019s Brain<\/em>, writ\u00adten in 1942, has held up rea\u00adson\u00adably well, and inspired me to watch the 1953 screen adap\u00adta\u00adtion. Thomas Bur\u00adnett Swann\u2019s The Weir\u00adwoods<\/em> is one of the best of his mytho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal fan\u00adtasies, just ooz\u00ading with a gen\u00adteel eroti\u00adcism. I have writ\u00adten of his work in The Sen\u00adsu\u00adal Fan\u00adtasies of Thomas Bur\u00adnett Swann<\/a><\/u>. L. Sprague de Camp col\u00adlect\u00aded some amus\u00ading short sto\u00adries in The Pur\u00adple Ptero\u00addactyl \u2014 The Adven\u00adtures of W. Wil\u00adson New\u00adbury, Ensor\u00adcelled Financier. <\/em>Samuel R. Delany\u2019s The Jew\u00adels of Aptor<\/em>, a very ear\u00adly work, shows some of his future fire, but is basi\u00adcal\u00adly con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal. Daniel M. Pinkwater\u2019s Alan Mendel\u00adsohn, The Boy From Mars<\/em> is a sur\u00adpris\u00ading\u00adly intri\u00adcate SF<\/span> com\u00ade\u00addy-dra\u00adma writ\u00adten for kids. It would have appealed only to the bright\u00adest ones. David Mitchell\u2019s Ghost\u00adwrit\u00adten<\/em> has con\u00advinced me to try out his oth\u00ader, more famous nov\u00adels. It uses some tech\u00adniques that I hope to bring into my own fic\u00adtion. [Yes, I write fic\u00adtion. Been bad\u00adly burnt. Pre\u00adfer not to talk about it.] I sup\u00adpose you would count as fan\u00adta\u00adsy-read\u00ading my re-read\u00ading of Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight<\/em>, this time in three sep\u00ada\u00adrate ver\u00adsions, one of them in untrans\u00adlat\u00aded Mid\u00addle English.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the main\u00adstream fic\u00adtion I read, what stood out were Mar\u00adguerite Yourcenar\u2019s M\u00e9moires d\u2019Hadrien<\/em>, Shyam Sel\u00advadu\u00adrai\u2019s rather grim autho\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal nov\u00adel Hun\u00adgry Ghosts<\/em>, set in Sri Lan\u00adka, Toron\u00adto and Van\u00adcou\u00adver, Jonathan Safran\u2019s Extreme\u00adly Loud &<\/span> Incred\u00adi\u00adbly Close<\/em> which felt like a 1960s-70s book, and two by the Nor\u00adwe\u00adgian nov\u00adel\u00adist Per Pet\u00adter\u00adson: Out Steal\u00ading Hors\u00ades [Ut og stj\u0153le hes\u00adter]<\/em> and In the Wake [I kj\u00f8l\u00advan\u00adnet]<\/em>. I much pref\u00adered Out Steal\u00ading Hors\u00ades<\/em>. While read\u00ading them, I noticed that much of the atmos\u00adphere and style would be famil\u00adiar stuff to Cana\u00addi\u00adan read\u00aders, and won\u00addered if Nor\u00adwe\u00adgian writ\u00aders read Cana\u00addi\u00adan books. Then, in one of the two nov\u00adels, the main char\u00adac\u00adter men\u00adtioned that his favourite writer was Alice Munro, and went on to ana\u00adlyze her work.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry by itself, I would have to put Fran\u00e7ois Mandeville\u2019s This Is What They Say \u2014 A Sto\u00adry Cycle Dic\u00adtat\u00aded in North\u00adern Alber\u00adta in 1928,<\/em> ed. and tr. from Chipewyan by Ron Scol\u00adlon [\u142f\u1455\u1420\u1422\u140a\u1427 \u14aa\u1420\u144c\u1431\u1506 \u1401\u1422\u14c2]. Chipewyan is a Dene-Atha\u00adpaskan lan\u00adguage of the Cana\u00addi\u00adan arc\u00adtic, remote\u00adly relat\u00aded to Nava\u00adho and Apache, and com\u00adplete\u00adly unre\u00adlat\u00aded to the Cree and Ojib\u00adwe lan\u00adguages that are in my turf. But the hunt\u00ading lifestyle is sim\u00adi\u00adlar, and the Dene peo\u00adple will dance Cree-style dances and recite Cree sto\u00adries, albeit always dis\u00adtin\u00adguish\u00ading them from their own. Ancient sto\u00adry cycles have been kept alive until this gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion by the Dene peo\u00adple, and this one seems to have come down from the old times with\u00adout seri\u00adous alteration.<\/span><\/p>\n

I read Eugene O\u2019Neill\u2019s play Long Day\u2019s Jour\u00adney Into Night<\/em>, then watched the dyna\u00admite 1962 film pro\u00adduc\u00adtion with Katharine Hep\u00adburn, Ralph Richard\u00adson, Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Final\u00adly, a word on Damon Run\u00ady\u00adon. I read A Trea\u00adsury of Damon Run\u00ady\u00adon<\/em>, edit\u00aded by Clark Kin\u00adnaird, which put togeth\u00ader what appears to be a bal\u00adanced selec\u00adtion of Runyon\u2019s sto\u00adries. Run\u00ady\u00adon is one of those Amer\u00adi\u00adcan writ\u00aders that was once oblig\u00ada\u00adtory read\u00ading, but has drift\u00aded away into the cor\u00adner where you\u2019ve heard the name but feel no urgency to read. The New York City that Run\u00ady\u00adon wrote about so lov\u00ading\u00adly is now so dis\u00adtant and alien that it might as well be on anoth\u00ader plan\u00adet. You get bare\u00adly com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsi\u00adble whiffs of it from slang-filled 1930s gang\u00adster films and come\u00addies. Even by the 1950s, his sto\u00adries had mutat\u00aded into the broad\u00adway musi\u00adcal Guys and Dolls<\/em>, and were already hazy nos\u00adtal\u00adgia. By the 1960s, it was get\u00adting dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to under\u00adstand the archa\u00adic slang, and the sto\u00adries were large\u00adly read for their quaint\u00adness. Today, I can\u2019t imag\u00adine what a new read\u00ader would make of them. After a few sto\u00adries, how\u00adev\u00ader, you start to be able to trans\u00adlate the slang. Run\u00ady\u00adon had a knack for pulling you in and keep\u00ading you going until you reach the sat\u00adis\u00adfac\u00adto\u00adry denoue\u00adment, and it still works, despite the con\u00adfus\u00ading patch\u00ades. His char\u00adac\u00adters were most\u00adly pet\u00adty crim\u00adi\u00adnals, gam\u00adblers, shop girls, gang\u00adster \u201cmolls\u201d and flat\u00adfoot cops, and they talk in a kind of clipped, frag\u00adment\u00aded, near\u00adly stream-of-con\u00adscious\u00adness pat\u00adter with plen\u00adty of interup\u00adtions and diver\u00adsions. Here\u2019s a sample:<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I am going by the jock\u00adey house on my way home, think\u00ading how nice its that Hymie Ban\u00adjo Eyes will no longer have to live with Mahogany, and what a fine thing it is to have a loy\u00adal, ever-lov\u00ading wife such as \u2018Lass\u00ades, who risks her nerves root\u00ading for her husband\u2019s horse, when I run into this dizzy Scroon in his street clothes, and wish\u00ading to be friend\u00adly, I say to him like this: \u201cHel\u00adlo, Frankie,\u201d I say. \u201cYou put up a nice ride today.\u201d \u201cWhere do you get this \u2018Frankie\u2019?\u201d Scroon says. \u201cMy name is Gus.\u201d \u201cWhy,\u201d I say, com\u00admenc\u00ading to think of this and that, \u201cso it is, but is there a jock called Frankie in the sixth race with you this after\u00adnoon?\u201d \u201cSure,\u201d Scroon says. \u201cFrankie Med\u00adley. He rides Side Burns, the favorite; and I make a suck\u00ader of him in the stretch run.\u201d But of course I nev\u00ader men\u00adtion to Hymie Ban\u00adjo Eyes that I fig\u00adure his ever-lov\u00ading wife roots her\u00adself into a dead faint for the horse that will give her to Brick McCloskey, because for all I know she may think Scroon\u2019s name is Frankie, at that. <\/em>[That Ever-Lov\u00ading Wife of Hymie\u2019s]<\/span><\/p>\n

To a read\u00ader of today, the sto\u00adries hov\u00ader uncom\u00adfort\u00adably between cyn\u00adi\u00adcism and sen\u00adti\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty. Bank rob\u00adbers are saved from death by stray kit\u00adtens, there are (implied) hook\u00aders with hearts of gold. But at the same time, almost every\u00adbody is dou\u00adble-deal\u00ading almost every\u00adbody else, and the under\u00adcur\u00adrent of vio\u00adlence is always there:<\/span><\/p>\n

The moment the train got under way good, Soup\u00adbone says: \u201cNow my pret\u00adty boy, you\u2019re such a \u2014good trav\u00adel\u00ader, let\u2019s see you jump off this train!\u201d The kid thought he was josh\u00ading, but there wasn\u2019t no josh about it. Soup pulled a gun. The Shine, with his own gun in hand, crawled clear on top and lay flat on the cars, try\u00ading to steady his aim on Soup\u00adbone. The kid was plead\u00ading and almost cry\u00ading, when Soup\u00adbone sud\u00adden\u00adly jumped at him, smashed him in the jaw with the gun bar\u00adrel, and knocked him off the train. The Shine shot Soup\u00adbone in the back, and he dropped on top of the train, but didn\u2019t roll off. As the Shine was going down between the cars again, Soup\u00adbone shot at him and broke his arm. He got off all right, and went back down the road to find the kid dead \u2014 his neck broke.<\/em> [The Infor\u00admal Exe\u00adcu\u00adtion of Soup\u00adbone Pew]<\/span><\/p>\n

Damon Run\u00ady\u00adon is now thought of as a light-weight writer of com\u00adi\u00adcal sketch\u00ades from a bygone era. Well, that\u2019s sort of true. But the com\u00ade\u00addy is icing on a cake of pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been an aver\u00adage year of read\u00ading. 160 books and about 500 aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic papers, arti\u00adcles, short sto\u00adries and oth\u00ader short items. His\u00adto\u00adry and anthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgy dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded the book read\u00ading, as usu\u00adal, with an empha\u00adsis on Aus\u00adtralia, the Pacif\u00adic, the Cana\u00addi\u00adan North \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,946,951],"tags":[1258,1232,1269,1248,1188,1183,1182,1224,1196,1243,1222,1197,1199,1191,1195,1256,1226,1218,1286,1185,1285,1250,1267,1268,1270,1213,1231,1198,1238,1284,1214,1260,1235,1228,1192,1239,1278,1194,1205,1187,1206,1282,1271,1220,1217,1102,1276,1234,1252,1281,1236,1249,1237,1221,1266,1277,1225,1245,1240,1259,1263,1202,1207,1210,1273,1241,1230,1233,1274,1255,1200,1280,1279,1257,1201,1179,1246,1208,1181,1223,1229,1242,1193,1265,1275,1186,1219,1272,1212,1227,998,1203,1204,1211,1251,1180,1262,1283,1261,1184,1216,1244,1253,1189,1190,1209,1264,1247,1254,1215],"class_list":["post-6241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-b-reading","category-bk-reading-2016","tag-a-fine-and-private-place","tag-after-the-ball","tag-alan-mendelsohn","tag-alexander-verpoorte","tag-australian-history","tag-australias-birthstain","tag-babette-smith","tag-ben-macintyre","tag-beverley-boissery","tag-bonny-sands","tag-bougainville","tag-canadian-rebels","tag-canadians-in-australia","tag-cassandra-pybus","tag-chateau-clique","tag-chronic-argonauts","tag-chronique-du-bon-duc-loys-de-bourbon","tag-citizens-a-chronicle-of-the-french-revolution","tag-clark-kinnaird","tag-commonwealth-of-thieves","tag-damon-runyon","tag-dan-dediu","tag-daniel-m-pinkwater","tag-daniel-pinkwater","tag-david-mitchell","tag-de-lesclavage-en-canada","tag-declining-significance-of-homophobia","tag-deep-sense-of-wrong","tag-democratic-theory-and-theoretical-physics","tag-dene-people","tag-deux-giriouettes","tag-donovans-brain","tag-douglas-stone","tag-doronville","tag-epic-journeys-of-freedo","tag-evolutionary-basic-democracy","tag-extremely-loud-incredibly-close","tag-family-compact","tag-fenelon","tag-floating-brothel","tag-francois-de-salignac-de-la-mothe-fenelon","tag-francois-mandeville","tag-ghostwritten","tag-glynis-ridley","tag-gods-glory-in-the-heavens","tag-homophobia","tag-hungry-ghosts","tag-hunter-madsen","tag-ignatius-prabhakar","tag-in-the-wake","tag-instein-and-the-quantum","tag-james-r-hurford","tag-jean-paul-gagnon","tag-jeanne-baret","tag-jewels-of-aptor","tag-jonathan-safran","tag-josiah-the-great","tag-karl-c-diller","tag-kirill-istomin","tag-kurt-siodmak","tag-l-sprague-de-camp","tag-les-aventures-de-telemaque","tag-louis-hippolyte-lafontaine","tag-lower-canada","tag-marguerite-yourcenar","tag-mark-dwyer","tag-mark-mccormack","tag-marshall-kirk","tag-memoires-dhadrien","tag-neural-and-cognitive-correlates-of-aimed-throwing-in-chimpanzees","tag-newmarket","tag-out-stealing-horses","tag-per-petterson","tag-peter-s-beagle","tag-peter-svilans","tag-reading","tag-rebecca-l-cann","tag-robert-baldwin","tag-robert-hughes","tag-robert-louis-stevenson","tag-robert-young-pelton","tag-rudolf-botha","tag-runaway-slaves","tag-samuel-r-delany","tag-shyam-selvadurai","tag-sian-rees","tag-simon-schama","tag-sir-gawaine-and-the-green-knight","tag-slavery-in-canada","tag-steve-muhlburger","tag-steven-muhlberger","tag-telemachus","tag-telemaque","tag-terrebonne","tag-thamizoli","tag-the-fatal-shore","tag-the-weirwoods","tag-this-is-what-they-say","tag-thomas-burnett-swann","tag-thomas-keneally","tag-tim-kyger","tag-tom-guldemann","tag-traditional-governance-systems-of-fishing-communities-in-tamil-nadu","tag-transportation-of-criminals","tag-transportees","tag-upper-canada","tag-urple-pterodactyl","tag-wil-roebroeks","tag-william-d-hopkins","tag-william-leitch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6241"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9844,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6241\/revisions\/9844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}