The new three Rs
It’s interesting to note how things have changed. When many of us were young we learned the three Rs: Reading, Writing and “Rithmetic.” Now it seems that these have been replaced by Rewrite, Rename and Recreate. It’s sad that some people, advocating for the current trend of social fundamentalism and woke ideology seek to destroy rather than to amplify or create. In the midst of the current social milieu, however, what else can we expect?
What do I mean? Let’s take a look at the first R…Rewriting history or established new narratives by de-emphasizing important groups, misrepresenting historic eras or scrubbing documents. This serves no one and only distorts and dishonours our heritage. Inclusion is fine, but not erasure, and we have a duty to provide an accurate picture of our past. We can see this process in action with the book banning currently going on in Toronto and other places in our fair nation, not to mention statue removal and vandalism. It’s reprehensible.
The second R…Renaming schools, buildings, public spaces and perhaps even provinces is just as damaging to truth and our national heritage. It too is often unnecessary and serves a political purpose. It’s just as reprehensible and just as sad as the first R, the more so since it is being done in the name of the same fundamentalism that established cancel culture and political correctness. Most People understand that this is happening. The public isn’t stupid, but they are too frightened of losing their jobs, friends and social networks to say anything. Somehow, the image of East Germany comes to mind.
The last R may, indeed, be the worst of all. Recreating for the sake of doing so, or because you have an axe to grind is equally despicable and, like the first two Rs, it has little or no regard for truth. In the end the truth is all we really have. It’s time to ignore the three new Rs and focus on a fourth: Return… to reasonableness, logic and common sense. Without that the future will definitely be bleak.
Perry Foster
Duncan