canada-us relations, arts organizations, decolonization, Social media 

Season 5 

Note: I wrote this facebook posting this morning (February 11, 2025) that I’m repurposing as a calm presence essay and as a bonus episode of conscient. *Hi,We need social media spaces that are non profit, with decent values and ethics, community spirit and maturity. This will come. In the meantime we have extractive behemoths like Meta, that are nonetheless the product of human ingenuity and that are useful to help connect (even though I think having coffee with a friend or chatting by a fire is better.)This morning I was reading a column in The Maple called ‘Your comments on the American Menace’ by Alex Cosh. This comment resonated :Canadian politicians understand that this national formation is in an inherently frail state [...] I would propose that Canada has fundamental weaknesses in its institutional memory and cultural identity that Canadians feel on a subconscious level. In my opinion the basis for this is the obvious compatibility of our society with American monoculture via settler-colonialism [...] The retreat to mythologies and consumerist nationalism cannot serve as a long-term alternative to actual nation-building projects such as reconciliation and constitutional reform [...] The things we grasp onto in moments of anxiety are merely symbolic; what is required is a real and tangible national project that serves to mend the foundational fracture at the base of Canadian society stemming from the relationship between Indigenous peoples, settlers and the land. Window dressing is not going to cut it.Gratitude to the author of this comment, whose name I don’t know. I would add that in the context of the climate emergency, massive change is in the air anyway. I’m excited by this window of opportunity to ‘mend the foundational fracture’ of life on Turtle Island.Many organizations and artists have been working on this kind of revisioning. Now is their time. *Photo: Adawe Bridge on Rideau River, February 11, 2025
*END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020 on un-ceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory (Ottawa). It’s my way to give back.In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads or BlueSky.I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 26, 2025 

https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/a-calm-presence---mending-structures