NOT EVERYONE KNOW THIS

I have my own political and social biases, but I recognize when those who share my beliefs are laying it on a bit thick.

TRUTH OR FICTION

That was easy, wasn’t it? A clearly explained, rationally-detailed and chronologically-pristine chain of events complete with paper trail, names, and ironclad references. What’s not to believe? Except none of it is true.

Harmless? Yes, because the truth is here. But conspiracy theories, the big ones, evolve and mutate organically through social media’s lack of vigilance and supposed support of free speech. Pushed along by rampant confirmation bias, they have the potential to wreak irreparable harm, even cost lives.

THE POWER OF CREDIBILITY. THE FAILURE OF CRITICAL THINKING.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are an excellent example. These Tsarist-era historical document fabrications were initially intended as an inside joke for anti-Semites. They explained in excruciating detail, and quite convincingly, that a cabal of Jewish merchants and bankers pulled the strings on world events. In the early 1930s German schoolchildren were taught this as if it was fact.

There are other examples. Anyone with a turban stood a fair chance of being assaulted in immediate post-9/11 America, and the innocent owners of a pizzeria in Washington were targeted for assassination after their restaurant was identified as the headquarters of a nefarious ring of child abductors led by the Clintons.

IN THE END...

Conspiracy theories and theorists are not going away any time soon. They’re a necessary part of our culture of dissent – dissent is good. Many of the greatest advances in human history were encouraged by dissent. But dissent should never mean connecting dots that aren’t there, or blindly believing a rumour because it suits our own personal beliefs or helps us explain and make sense of a world where things sometimes just don’t make sense.

That’s not dissent, that’s lunacy. I have my own political and social biases, but I recognize when those who share my beliefs are laying it on a bit thick. By exposing myself to both supporting and opposing views, the mediocre middle ground of truth is exposed. Sadly, it’s not nearly as entertaining as a conspiracy, but at least it’s true. And the middle ground provides that one place where fact and belief are rarely contradictory. Mulder and Scully of The X-Files said it best: the truth is out there. It just might not coincide with what you want to believe.

Because something is believable doesn’t mean it should be believed. And rest assured, we’ve still got full sovereignty over the Northwest Passage.

NOT EVERYONE KNOWS THIS…

By John Chaput

John Chaput, born and raised in Montreal, eventually morphed into a Westerner. A retired writer and editor. he occupies much of his time as president of the Regina Little Theatre.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY KATE JOHANSEN

DECEMBER 14, 1542

Mary Stuart’s father, James V, dies and she becomes Mary, Queen of Scots. Not everyone knows this, but if Mary could have seen into the future, she might not have been keen on becoming a monarch. She married the Dauphin of France, who a year later became king, but a year after that died of an ear infection. Her second marriage to Lord Henry Darnley didn’t end any better when he died suddenly, probably at the hands of nobles embroiled in Catholic-Protestant intrigue. Inevitably, Mary was forced to abdicate and finally was executed by beheading after being found guilty of plotting to assassinate her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. Mary might have been spared all this had she prepared herself better upon ascending the throne, but foresight is rarely a gift bestowed on someone who is all of six days old.

(This segment sponsored by Hive Got a Secret – beekeeping supplies for people who don’t want others to know about their hobby.)

NOVEMBER 6, 1879

Thanksgiving is observed as a national holiday in Canada for the first time. Throughout the 19th century, the observance had been employed for various acknowledgements of public gratitude, such as the end of the War of 1812, the end of the Lower Canada Rebellion in 1838, and the recovery of the Prince of Wales from typhoid fever in 1872. Not everyone knows this, but Thanksgiving was quite the movable feast. Starting out as a November holiday unto itself, after the First World War it was held in conjunction with Armistice Day until 1931, when annual proclamations moved it to the second Monday in October. An exception was made in the midst of the Great Depression in 1935 because the government had called a general election, which must have made the population especially thankful. Legislation to maintain Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October was finally passed in 1957, thereby establishing 78 years as a baseline for having Ottawa make up its mind.

NOVEMBER 23, 1887

William Henry Pratt is born in Camberwell, England. The youngest of nine children, he is groomed to follow his brothers into the British civil service but he will drop out of university and head for Canada. There, he will work at a number of farming and other odd jobs until he discovers the theatre and takes up acting. In 1912 his performing company happens to be in Regina, survives the devastating cyclone that hits that city, and assists in rescue and cleanup efforts. Mr. Pratt will be the most famous person to be in Regina for that event, although not everyone – well, not anyone – knew it at the time. The stage name he adopted would not become universally recognized for another two decades, when Boris Karloff starred as the monster in the movie Frankenstein.

(This segment courtesy of Quaran-Teens, the newest spinoff of the Degrassi universe in which the students struggle to maintain social relationships while isolating at home.)

DECEMBER 18, 1892

The Nutcracker premieres in St. Petersburg, Russia. Not everyone knows this, but what has become probably the most performed ballet in history started out with a thoroughly mixed reception. Piotr Tchaikovsky’s music (which he had partially debuted months earlier with a 20-minute selection that became known as The Nutcracker Suite) was quickly and generally hailed as magnificent, but the dancing and story drew harsh criticism. Tchaikovsky would die a year later and, while The Nutcracker Suite and much of his work continued to be popular, The Nutcracker was staged sporadically – an English production in 1934 marked its first performance outside of Russia – and paled in reputation to other Tchaikovsky-scored ballets like Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. It wasn’t until 1954, when Maria Tallchief sparkled as the Sugar Plum Fairy with the New York Theatre Ballet, that The Nutcracker broke through and became, especially in North America, a staple of Christmas entertainment.

NOVEMBER 30, 1963

The British Columbia Lions, despite having homefield advantage at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium, lose the Grey Cup Game 21-10 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Overshadowing the result is the questionable hit that 275-pound Hamilton defensive tackle Angelo Mosca puts on 180-pound Lions halfback Willie Fleming just after Fleming is tackled on the sideline, knocking the Lions’ star out of the game. Fast-forward 48 years to 2011 and Mosca finds himself at a CFL Alumni fundraiser with Joe Kapp, the Lions’ quarterback in 1963. Kapp jokingly offers Mosca an artificial flower as a peace offering, an unimpressed Mosca whacks Kapp in the head with his cane, Kapp punches Mosca out of his chair, and YouTube shows the world what a couple of pissed-off 73-year-old scrappers look like. (For the most part, really clumsy.) Not everyone knows this, but Mosca donated that cane to a charity auction in 2012 and it pulled in a winning bid of $7,700.

NOVEMBER 9, 1989

Günther Schabowski, leader of East Germany’s Communist party and the government’s top spokesman, presides over probably the most poorly-prepared and inept press conference ever conducted. Over the past several weeks, East and West German authorities had been negotiating to loosen travel restrictions that had been strictly and sometimes brutally in force since the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Not everyone knows this, but there’s a reason why all the t’s are crossed and the umlauts are dotted before governments make official announcements. Not fully briefed on the contents of what was only pending legislation, Schabowski gets confused and states that open travel and permanent emigration between the two Germanies will be established almost immediately. Whoops! Within hours, millions of people swarm on both sides of the wall, tear it apart faster than Joshua or Pink Floyd could have imagined, and the Iron Curtain begins to disintegrate.

(Brought to you by Tokin’ Resistance, the support group for people trying to break the cannabis habit.)