We Can Have Good Things!

Bye-Bye Victor Orbán

Dear friends,

Let Hungary be the poster child for that moment when good things can unexpectedly appear after far too many years of bad. Let Hungary be the poster child for how the power of the people who are sufficiently pissed off with authoritarianism turn up in droves to create change where change seemed impossible. After sixteen years of oppressive and wildly corrupt rule, rigging the system so he could remain forever, the fine folk of Hungary showed Viktor Orbán the door last week, and it looks like his opponent Pétar Magyar is making no bones about his intention to rid the government of Orbán's corrupt cronies. While Magyar is far from being a radical leftist, he looks like he will certainly be a vast improvement on his predecessor, and is hellbent on dismantling and punishing the obscene corruption embedded in Orbán's long reign. The really great part about all this, of course, is all of the millions of Hungarians who came together to take power from a man who believed he was invincible. Good things are happening in Hungary.

Carney! Carney! He's our guy!

Or, at least he's THE man for this moment. There are a lot of Carney policies that make me wince (not the least of which is his enthusiastic support for the oil & gas industry), but there are also so many things I'm appreciating about him these days. I think what I'm really grateful for is his incredible relationship building skills. Every day there seems to be media posts about Carney meeting with this head of state or that one, building strong bonds with countries all across this planet, while making it clear to the American Toddler-in-Chief that Canada is distancing itself from its closest neighbour. While the Trump regime has made it their top priority to alienate every other nation, Carney is out there embracing the world, and the world is embracing him (us) back. Make love, not war, eh?

Mayor Zohran Mamdani - Now THAT'S my kinda leadership!

Like most of you, I am constantly astounded at the perplexing tendency for non-fascist leaders to cling to Centrism as if it's a good thing. It ain't, and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is proving that every day. I watch Mamdani's press conferences like someone watching feel-good movies in dark times. He ran on being a Democratic Socialist, and, even with his clearly leftist policies, he won handily with his seriously impressive grassroots campaigning. And, in just over 100 days in office, Mamdani is already coming through with his campaign promises. Mamdani and his team have got the ball rolling on free childcare, city owned grocery stores, millionaire taxes, repaired potholes, and more. Zohran Mamdani's mayorship is living proof that we can have good things and we don't need to settle for centre (or worse) status quo leadership. I often find myself marvelling that in a city/state/country with so many people, the usual lineup of losers on the ballot is the best we can do. Mamdani gives us hope that we can do better, and we are rewarded with good policies when we elect good leaders.

Pope Leo - what a mensch!

Pope Leo, the Pope of Peace, what's not to love? I've never been a big fan of the Catholic church, but this new guy is winning hearts everywhere as he doubles down on his call for peace while calling out the faux Christian warmongers. While Hegseth attempts to portray his idiot assaults on Iran as a holy war, spouting prayers not from the Bible, but from the ultra-violent movie Pulp Fiction (oh, for gawdsake! How dumb can he be???), il Papa is out there spreading the good word on peace. While Vance openly questions Leo's understanding of theology, Leo is out there preaching peace. While the Mobster-in-Chief publicly threatens Pope Leo, Pope Leo from Chicago makes it perfectly clear that he is not afraid of thugs, and still speaks of peace. This little friction between the White House and the Vatican is also proving very useful in sweeping much of the Catholic vote away from the Warmonger-in-Chief, and that is definitely a good thing!

We make things good with our own hands, not with AI.

I don't know about you, but AI makes me feel real queazy. I first really noticed it 2 years ago when I was visiting San Francisco where I saw ginormous billboards encouraging businesses to replace their human employees with AI. Gross. And, of course, not only is AI stealing our humanity, but it's an environmental nightmare. AI data centres consume obscene amounts of fresh water to spew out unnecessary and often dangerous slop. As someone who is deeply committed to human connections and a livable planet, everything about this feels so, so bad.

Apparently, I'm not alone in my determination to shun the AI takeover and to make a deliberate return to a human made, handmade world. Crafting is making a remarkable resurgence in popularity as we choose to come back to a calmer, simpler reality from the insanity being flung at us every day. As an obsessive crocheter, I can assure you that creating beautiful things with our hands can provide much-needed therapy in these disruptive times.

And crafting is being used as a powerful form of resistance. We can make good politics while making beautiful things! While the crazed resident of the West Wing latches onto AI imagery, publicly humiliating himself further with each new post, protesters are hand-making wonderfully witty signs, and rage knitters are making hats while raising funds for immigrants who are under siege. Quilters, cross-stitchers and embroiderers are delicately stitching bold messages for this moment, for this movement. My friend Sandra Sawatzky spent nine years hand embroidering a 67 meter long tapestry depicting the history of oil (wow!).

Ultimately, it's all of us who make things good, who make good things. Whether we are making food, making art, making community, or electing leaders who will lead with care and integrity (and holding them accountable once they're in office), we are the change makers. We can have good things. We deserve good things. We can make good things. We can make things good.

With gratitude - Jessica (she/her)