Comment mettre la droite K.-O. en 15 arguments - Jean-Francois Lisée

I'm back from an almost semester-long hiatus! The reading hasn't stopped... however, most of the reading I have done during this period was school stuff that may or may not have been relevant to blog about. Not to mention that working upwards of 30 hours, going to school full time and participating in extra-curricular stuff had the best of me. But that's all behind now, and I plan on doing some catch-up during the Christmas break. 

Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, said the following: "If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles." I read this book to know my enemy. Enemy might look like a strong word, but if politics is a civilized and institutionalized struggle between forces competing for power as I believe it is, then the usage of the word would be exact. Jean-Francois Lisée is pretty much a polar opposite in terms of political alignment: separatist and Parti Quebecois bigwig, leans left of center, union sympathiser, you get the idea, not exactly my kind of stuff.  Seeing as this book sold quite a lot and that I have heard it been used as reference before in friendly arguments, I thought I'd better read it myself; if the likes of him and the likes of me are ever going to debate something, I'd better be prepared.

The gist of the book is that it is a response to criticisms often levelled against Quebec and what is called the "Quebecois model", our welfare states system which has a heavy hand in things like employment, culture, health, social issues and business. Most of these criticisms are presented by think-tank-ish organisations like Chambers of Commerce and various institutes centered around business, and are more often than not centered around statistical data. In this book, Lisée attempts to fight fire with fire by responding with different interpretations of statistical data, either by putting things in perspective to delegitimize claims which he (and the left, mostly) believe are blown out of proportion, or by showing that numbers don't necessarily reflect reality. In certain cases, he cites statistics from other sources and pits them against what is usually presented, showing potential biais.

The effort is noble, but the method is flawed. The left, specially in Quebec, when confronted with empirical evidence about the failure of their model, often offer qualitative responses citing collective choices ("choix de societé", referring to some type of social contract that never was) or ideals which are to be attained, regardless of the costs. While I generally disagree with the left, I can appreciate any politic choice made on solid philosophical grounds... which is why any argument I have with political opponents generally ends up with a discussion on the traditional philosophical problems like the nature of freedom. I hate arguing with statistics; they are the tools of technocrats and pencil pushers, veils with which true political issues are hidden away from sight. I hate to see statistics make policy; the pursuit of goals in the form of numbers alienates humanity, replaces the debate on the ends of human existence with a endless debate on the means of attaining a superficial goal. Governance through statistics is one of the hypermodern heads of the hydra that modernity created, a beast which is killing it's maker. But I digress, more on that on an other post maybe. 

This book presents statistical data, which like all statistical data, has to be interpreted to make any sense. What Lisée considers the right has presented interpretations, Lisée responds with another. Often, while underlining errors in interpretation, he commits the same in his rebuttle: using small-N surveys as proof, rehashing numbers to include this or that factor, and when all else fails, the falling back on those "choices" we made as a society. Here's an oft-discussed example: fiscal burden. The right argues: fiscal burden is horrendously high. Lisée's answers: not so when the services are considered, when an arbitrary evaluation of the cost of services is included in the calculation, the fiscal burden is actually negative! This is flawed in two ways: first of all, a negative average fiscal burden means that we are receiving more than we can buy... which means we are collectively buying it on credit. Secondly, the total fiscal burden after services point is moot: the issue is not what you're getting for your money, it's that you don't have a choice over what you're getting. By discussing the issue of tax burden through numbers, Lisée offers a quantitative indicator of how well our system works, which totally ignoring both the root problem, and problems highlight within his own demonstration. That's hardly a constructive effort. 

All 15 arguments presented are discussed in this way, each touching on different socio-economic indicators. The conclusion is the one you'd expect from a PQ hard-liner: hurray Quebec, we're the best, vive le Quebec libre, etc etc. Did Lisée's book definitively address the socio-economic problems of our province and create unshakeable consensus by definitely pinning down every opinion right of center as it's title implies? The answer is no, of course. It's just another instance of the dick-showing through statistics that's been going for ages. Doctrinal hard-liners like Lisée don't adresse problems: they show you how the problems don't actually exist according to their vision of things. I would have better liked a book on solutions. 

Read it, don't read it, whatever. If you learn anything, it's going to be numbers, abstractions derived from empirical data which can be shaped into pretty much anything, and therefor useless in the grand scheme of things. 

Simulacres et simulation - Jean Baudrillard

I had one more week to read something not related to my university work, and I decided to go hard in the proverbial paint. I've been wanting to read this since I've heard about it on a documentary showing off the philosophical content of the Matrix trilogy, and as it turns out it was a very pertinent read that I will probably cite and use in my 20th Century Political Ideas course. I think I've talked about French intellectuals and their tendency to write non-linear, elusive works much harder to digest than their english counterparts, and Baudrillard definitely fits right into this phenomenon. The theme central to the book is the constant cultural contact of modern westerners with "hyperreality", an augmented reality where the latter is transformed through emulation or replaced by simulacrum, the copy of an original which never existed. This theme is faint throughout the book, and addressed by demonstrating the presence of the phenomenon of hyperreality in various aspects of life, socialization, arts, politics, etc.

As with any critical work, it is important that the reader take some and leave some when reading: Baudrillard goes to great lengths to interpreting many things in his chapters, and sometimes, you've gotta wonder what the hell this guy was smoking. Most of the analyses seems honest and grounded, but some of it definitely smell like conspiracy theory in certain parts. Mentions of "the system" are repeated over and over in many chapters, which at times evokes Kafka-esque uncoordinated systemic oppression, other times just sounding like the leftist conspiracy theorist. At some point, the author discusses how the attempted murder of figures of power confirms their power (that much I get), and goes and to say that Kennedy HAD to die, because he incarnated real power which is proscribed in the world of simulacrum in which we live; as if all events were to be blamed on this system of simulacrum, bar none. Forcing events to coincide with theory a posteriori is too easy, and Baudrillard does it throughout his essay. You have to stay on guard for the nonesense, yet with open-minded enough to read between the lines; this is exactly what makes it a pretty difficult read.

This book seems to be generally regarded as quite left-field even in it's genre, since the university classified it in a code reserved for general literature, and not with the other works on philosophy. It's real merit is it's originality, predating Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent (which I will not doubt be reading very soon) and other serious works on media imperialism by a couple of years, but also it's audacity in pushing the logic hyperreality to the furthest it can go. Some of the passages on mass culture and reality TV are even eerily prochronistic, perfectly applicable to the media environment of today with it's social media and user-powered (inspired?) web.

Bottom line, if you can find a copy, definitely read it. It's the kind of book you that you can grab when you reek of scotch at the of the night and want to talk metaphysical nonsense with a lady friend. It's that book you mention right after you can use to say "meh, I've read worst" after going through something particularly stiff. It's also great bookshelf fodder. But buy it used... prices are getting a little bit insane, as reprints probably haven't been done in a while.

Ethique à l'usage de mon fils - Fernando Savater

Another CEGEP read from my flat-mate's bookshelf... the next book to be review is a quite rough read, so I had to read something lighter. While I didn't learn much from this book, I'm still glad I got my hands on it.

As it's title implies, this book is a treaty on ethics, from a father to his son. This implies many things: first and foremost, the tone is quite different from other works of philosophy, as you'd expect. First off, it's terribly cheesy: maybe it's the fact that this book was written in the 90's, or the way is was translated, but some passages are totally cringe-worthy. We've all been through "serious" talks with out parents: were babies come from, why you shouldn't smoke, money and how to spend it; that kind of awkward. Secondly, examples are abundant, and more often than not are very personal: Savater Jr. probably was really big into motorcycles, because that definitely came up a lot. Thirdly, the book cites occasionally, but generally refrains from laying down statements as if they were facts. As a descendant to existentialism with regards to the notion of freedom that the book exposes, Savater presents his content more as guidelines and pointers rather than rules, being obviously sensible to giving his progeny a free mind, one that through reason and experience  can come to it's own truth, and forge it's own ideas.

This is the first work on ethics that I have read cover to cover, having only read bits and pieces of Aristotle, Epicurus and the likes. Because of it's intent, I don't feel like I have learnt too much; the flipside of the expository nature of this book is that the basics are brought back, important things like the different between ethics and moral, their place in the wider spectrum of philosophy and the implications of elaborating one's ethical code. In both form and content, it is an excellent primer the philosophy of our time, with it's implied agnosticism and tendency towards concepts relating to secular humanism; the perfect book to spark interest in philosophy in the heart of a young adult.

Really hoping I can steal this book off my buddy. I'm of the opinion that a general grasp of philosophy is essential for any cultured individual, and I'd love to give this to my own son some day.

A History of Modern Lebanon - Fawwaz Traboulsi

This is a book on historical facts about Lebanon, hence very hard to review since I am far from being an expert on Lebanon. As such, this post will not be a review, but rather a discussion on a contradiction that the history of this still nascent and politically unconsolidated country highlighted for me: the delicate balance of freedom and political power in it’s weberian sense.

Je ne voulait pas en venir à ça. Le sujet m’emmerde profondément, parce que sous sa forme actuelle il s’agit plus de shit-disturbing de souverainiste plus qu’un enjeux véritable. Je doit tout de même l’adresser parce que l’ampleur du débat (ou plutôt du bruit produit de part et autres) l’exige: la charte de la laïcité de PQ.