You Better Believe It!

I spend most of my time with Canadians since retiring, and rather little with Americans. My old Dept had a fair number of Americans in it, as NAFTA meant that if you were going to hire foreigners into any academic position, it was easier to hire Americans than Europeans or other nationalities. And, given the scarcity of Canadians with PhDs in Econ, it was pretty much necessary to hire non-Canadians to fill vacant positions. So, I spent a lot of time in a world swimming with Canadians and Americans, and we all got along just fine.

Living in this – shall we say – more purely Canadian environment since retirement has caused me to notice more the rather knee-jerk tendency of Canadians to rag on the US and Americans. Not on me, personally, just on the country and the way ‘those folks’ go about things. This hit me in particular at the last session of my retiree learning group, which is what got me thinking about writing this piece. Well, that and another thing. See below…..

Any regular reader here will know that I am neither an apologist nor a cheerleader for the US of A. Their current President is an arrogant asshole, and the country has plenty to answer for going back decades.

That being said, the US has also had some excellent ideas at times, and just as importantly, has managed to avoid taking on some truly terrible ones. In particular, there is no such thing as a ‘hate crime’ in the US, nor do they have any so-called Human Rights Tribunals.

Which brings me to the other igniter of this article: John Cleese.

Yes, that John Cleese – one of the funniest men to ever walk the planet. If he had done no more than be part of Monty Python’s Flying Circus we would owe him much, but of course after that he went on to some great TV and movie roles (A Fish Called Wanda, anyone?) and a career as a stand-up comedian.

What does this funny Brit have to do with anything – I know you’re wondering.

This morning’s National Post included a story with the headline Cleese opts to avoid BC over gender ideology.

Yes, Mr. Cleese is about to do a comedy concert tour of Canada, and has gone on record as saying he would do no shows in the lovely province of British Columbia.

Why? Well, the BC Human Rights Tribunal decided on February 18 that one Barry Neufeld, a former school trustee, should pay the amount of $750,000 to ‘an unnamed consortium of transgender teachers’ because he has questioned the province’s policy that an individual’s gender is whatever he or she declares it to be.

The Tribunal decision apparently goes on for 143 pages, noting, among other things, that Neufeld  had engaged in ‘extremely serious and damaging speech’.

I know nothing of Mr. Neufeld, but unless he is massively wealthy, that amount is bankruptcy territory.

The NP story also notes that the terms of the decision do not specify that it was Neufeld’s role as a trustee that generated this penalty. Anyone in BC who were to express the same view would be subject to the same sanction under the BC Human Rights Code. The same dollar amount? I expect that would depend on the case, and the attitude of the BC Human Rightists regarding it.

Hence, we have Mr. Cleese’s decision. The NP article notes that he once wrote in a post that ‘deep down, I want to be a Cambodian police woman. Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic?’ I find that funny, and on point. The BC Rightists would not, I expect.

So, I guess he figured it was either sanitize his jokes to avoid running afoul of the BC Human Rightists, risk a fine, or just stay away; he picked door number three. Probably wise.

Here is my absolute favourite quote from the Rightist Tribunal’s decision in the Neufeld case, as quoted by the NP:

A person does not need to believe in Christianity to accept that another person is Christian. However, to accept that a person is transgender, one must accept that their gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth.

What that first sentence does not say, but we know, is that if you choose to not believe a person’t claim to be a Christian, the Rightists will not come after you. That is to say, if someone you think is a mendacious asshole says ‘I am a Christian’ and you reply ‘The hell you are’, they will get nowhere filing a complaint with the BC Rightist Tribunal. Substitute ‘Muslim’ for ‘Christian’ in that sentence and….well, I dunno. ‘Indigenous’? Hard to predict. I wouldn’t chance it if I were you.

What the second sentence makes clear, without quite completing the syllogism, is that we must believe whatever someone says about their gender. Disbelief is not an option if you don’t want trouble. Well, just as in the Soviet Union in days of yore, you don’t actually have to believe it – just don’t say so. It was, after all, Mr. Neufeld’s speech that was ‘extremely serious and damaging’.

Which brings us full circle. In the US of A, you are free to believe any damn fool thing you like. And other people, hearing of your belief, are free to tell you that you are full of shit.

Call me a non-Rightist, but I think that’s the way it should be.