Author Archives: Michelle Burtnyk-Horn

Is it time to bring back Mincome?

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Who knew that a small town in Manitoba would be the site of one of the Canada’s most controversial – and paradoxically unheard of – social experiments? On the other hand, many controversial “social experiments” do get swept under the rug, especially if millions of dollars were spent on it, with no analyzed results or final report to speak of.

Have I piqued your interest? Any guesses? No, Dauphin, Manitoba was not the site of experiments testing the medical or psychological benefits of LSD – although the experiment did take place in the 70s. Nor was it a desert-come-prairie North of the border Area 51 – although that would have been pretty darn cool. No, Dauphin, Manitoba was the site of the Mincome Experiment.

Mincome was a program that ran from 1974 to 1978 and was jointly funded by the Federal and Provincial Governments. It guaranteed a minimum annual income to residents of Manitoba, and was administered by a Negative Income Tax (a tax refund to anyone whose income fell below a cut off line, to bring it back above the line). The experiment was run as a randomized controlled trial in Winnipeg, meaning that participant families were chosen randomly and were compared against other randomly selected “control” residents who did not receive income support. Dauphin was a special site – all residents were guaranteed income support if their incomes fell below a certain support rate.

I’m incredibly surprised how few Canadians I’ve spoken to are aware of Mincome – it’s probably due to the fact that the data was shoved into 1800 boxes, archived away, and duly forgotten … until now. An ambitious researcher by the name of Dr. Evelyn Forget has dug up the old data and has been crunching the numbers – with some surprising results.

While she had not yet been given permission to analyze participant surveys and interviews (which are held by archives Canada), she has spent the last few years looking at census and other information for Dauphin during the Mincome days. Some of her findings? Kids stayed in school longer during this period, hospital admissions (including admissions for mental health issues) dropped for those in Dauphin against a control group, and accidents and injuries declined. While these findings do not imply causation, they do suggest ample reason to look further at the data, look elsewhere to see if there are any similar programs that have worked, and find out if there is any research to create a supportive theoretical basis for the findings.

Looking globally, for instance, there is a pilot project taking place in Namibia right now that provides every resident in a Namibian village a basic monthly income. This project has been underway for just over a year, and initial results show significant positive effects: a significant decrease in rates of malnourishment, increased school attendance, decreased crime, decreased poverty rates, and decreased unemployment, to name a few.

A very strong base of evidence, much of it coming from Canada, also exists that supports the link between income and employment, education, and health. Level of income has been shown to affect overall living conditions, psychological functioning, and health-related behaviours such as quality of diet, physical activity, and tobacco use. Income also has an impact on food security, housing, and other basic prerequisites of health. Additionally, evidence suggests that it’s not just how much income one has but the degree of income equality in a society that is important –more equal income distribution is one of the best predictors of better overall health of a society. And what better way to achieve more equal income distribution that guaranteeing a minimal annual income for all?

The unstable economic and employment conditions in both the U.S. and Canada, and the unsustainable and inequitable health care system in America could potentially benefit from such an initiative – whether such an initiative could ever be entertained – well, that might be just as plausible as alien experiments taking place in small town “area 51″ Manitoba.

City Chase – Post Chase Reflections

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John and Kurt, duelling to the death and having fun with it!

Two days ago, a group of us Gumbooters participated in one of the coolest events in the city, the Mitsubishi City Chase. We laughed, yelled, ran and hobbled to the finish line, and have all thankfully lived to tell tales of fun and adventure.

For those of you who don’t know much about the event: City Chase is a city wide (and international!) obstacle/ scavenger hunt. In teams of two, you have to decipher clues and make your way – on foot or public transit only – to various chase point locations, where you have to complete a task to get a chase point. Once you get 10 points you race your way back to the finish line. Considering ourselves relatively young, fit Vancouverites, we didn’t really do much to prepare. In hindsight, a bit of training or even, ahem, taking part in the pre-chase warm-up would probably have helped us out a bit in the race. Ok. Probably not. But, it probably would have helped us out a the day after the race, which found us all moving as little as possible, complaining about how much everything hurt. Full disclosure: Two days later, everything still hurts. Despite that, I can confidently say that it was worth every second of post-race pain – the event was truly memorable and one heck of an adrenaline rush. 

Instead of doing a breakdown of the events – and in order to not give away any clues for next year (I have this odd competitive streak that comes out sometimes), I’ll just give you a sampling of what we experienced: running … a lot of running, orienteering, drills (of the military variety), “Stroke! Stroke!”, dancing … for tips, parkour!, and porcine fare. 

My lovely and completely hardcore partner Alison and I, I’m excited to report, beat the boys’ teams. Refer back to John’s trash talk article and perhaps you’ll get a clue as to why … as suspected, banking on dinosaurs and new haircuts to win the race just didn’t cut it. We did learn some great techniques and tips that will definitely help us all out next year though – and because here at the ‘boot we’re all about community, we thought we’d share them with you fine folks: 

1. Don’t wear gumboots
Gumboots are great. Especially the Daily kind. But they’re not great for racing. Unless you want to lose to the girls, sprain your ankle and spend six hours in hot, smelly, gumboots and wet socks. 

We really, really should have taken the warm up more seriously

2. Take part in the warm-up
And save yourself days of post-race aches and pains. Biggest. Regret. Of the year. 

3. Don’t go to White Spot for lunch
I’m not saying that one of our teams chose to do this … but I’m not not saying that one of our teams chose to do this. Clearly, not a good tactic if you want to win (or, um, even finish) the race. 

4. Special Tip for the ladies: Wear nice underwear
As overheard by one participant in a … let’s say more exposed challenge … “I really, really wish I had worn a nicer thong” 

5. Enlist your friends. Make sure they’re near a computer and a phone
The Gumboot crew had a certain architecturally-inclined correspondent act as Central Command. We called him up to help us plan the best transit routes, decipher clues, and look up locations for us. Indispensible. 

So there you have it. Feel free to add your tips in, other Gumbooters and City Chase participants – and see you out on the course next year!

Artists, politicians, and the lost art of letter writing

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Last month, our book club* did something a bit different. Instead of the usual book club agenda, comprised of the reading and then discussing of a book (in addition to the not-so-usual quizzes, plays, and trophy bestowals), we wrote and shared letters. The inspiration for this letter writing was none other than Canadian author Yann Martel (of Life of Pi fame), and his book What is Stephen Harper Reading?

For those of you who are unaware of this ambitious endeavor – here’s a brief summary: In March 2007, Yann Martel and 40 other Canadian artists were invited to the House of Commons to celebrate 50 years of the Canada Council for the Arts, our national arts funding agency. Gathered in the visitor’s gallery, the artists waited patiently to be acknowledged for their collective contribution, representing all Canadian artists, to Canadian culture. And brief it was -  an address less than 5 minutes in length followed by a lackluster dusting of applause; a Prime Minister who did not even raise his head from the stack of papers sitting before him. And so begins Mr. Martel’s relentless pursuit: to find out what drives Stephen Harper. What makes him tick? What informs his soul, what type of art does he appreciate, what makes up his cultural self?

Barack Obama's letter to Yann Martel about his Book, Life of Pi. C'mon, Harper!

Biweekly since March 2007, Yann Martel has been writing Stephen Harper letters, with suggestions for books to read. And biweekly since March 2007, there has been no response from Mr. Harper – unless you count a few generic responses from his Communications Officers thanking him for his letter.

Tackling this in book club was a treat. We, of course, discussed Yann Martel at length – what continues to motivate him to write letters? Is this becoming a personal vendetta, or is it a clever, politically-driven, advocacy attempt to increase arts funding? Is it pretentious? We discussed the ideas in the letters – what role does art play in defining our identity as Canadians? Do business schools have a place in Canadian Universities? Should there be a required reading list for our prime ministers?

As interesting as the discussion was, the most  intriguing aspect of the club was the writing of our own letters: the homework assigned to each member was to write a letter to whomever they would like, with a book suggestion, and then share it with the group. Recipients ranged from, well, me, to Stephen Harper to Lindsay Lohan to Yann Martel to Australia. Each member confessed that it was pretty darn hard to write their letter – in this age of text messages and emails, where responses are fairly immediate and the process fairly interactive, having to convey all of your thoughts in one correspondence where responses are not immediate was a tough endeavor.

Our letters will be sent along to Mr. Martel. We’ll wait to see when – or if! – he responds, and how he will react to our activity, our thoughts, our book suggestions. Hopefully, he’ll see how his activities have prompted our small group to become engaged advocating art through the means of a lost art, with the people, ideas, and nations that surround us.

*Do you like books? clubs? Well, you’re in luck! Stay tuned for an up-and-coming section of the Daily Gumboot, where you will be able to read all about the shenanigans of Vancouver’s coolest and least pretentious** bookclub, The Circle of Literary Judgement
**As reported on by The Globe and Mail

The Weird and Wonderful World of Drama

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Last night, I went to a play at Richmond’s Gateway Theatre called Oliver Handelschmidst’s Weird and Wonderful Circus. My 10 year old cousin-in-law was in the play, and did a wonderful job (go Quinn!). After a nerve-wracking ten minutes in which I did not know that his character was supposed to be stuttering, my husband John and I sat back and enjoyed watching 5-13 year olds dance, sing and act. I was genuinely entertained and impressed with the kids’ performance (arm-wrestling with jaguars? Lobster dances? Tired kid detectives on a kidnapping case taking a kid-nap? HST-jabs for the older folk in the audience? What’s not to love?), and it got me thinking about drama – why and how is it important to our society? What role does it play in building community?

Drama - a solid alternative for us non-sporty folk!

As a kid, I wasn’t very sporty – don’t get me wrong, I tried. I was put in baseball and gymnastics, played on the volleyball team in junior high … I just wasn’t very good. And I didn’t really like it. You know that kid who drew with a stick in the ground way out in left field? Yeah, that was me. My clumsiness automatically turned me off gymnastics (not being able to balance, let alone walk, on the balance beam is quite a frustrating experience). And full disclosure – I only played on the volleyball team because my best friend had signed me up and told me I would get in trouble if I didn’t play (and as a bit of a nerd, I definitely didn’t want to get in trouble). Which brings me to drama – more generally, the arts. Thank-goodness for arts programs in schools (pay attention, government officials who feel it’s a good idea to cut funding for school arts programs). I certainly found my niche – my community, if you will, in my writing, arts, and photography classes. It’s a great feeling to fit in, and to find something that you like doing and are actually good at.

Of course, drama and theatre also help to foster creativity and broaden imagination (one character was a pickle in the play, folks – a pickle), improve cognitive skills like memory and attention, and teaches life-long skills like public speaking ability and improvisation. It encourages perspective-taking, which we all know is a crucial skill all individuals, communities, and world-leaders should possess in order to empathize and see from others’ point of view (how do you think North Korea would be different if Kim Jong ll had the opportunity to take a drama class?). And as evidenced by the play last night, it can capture the best of what a multicultural country like Canada should be – kids of all different ethnic backgrounds came together to sing and dance the following message to the audience: Although the children in Oliver Handelschmidst’s famous circus come from around the world and dreamed of one day having a family, they come to realize that they are, in fact, each other’s family. As one character (it may have been the Pickle, or perhaps the horn-less unicorns, or my favorite character P-Paya) astutely observes (sings), you aren’t always born with a family, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find your family in the community you wind up in.

Congrats to the kids in the Gateway Academy for the Performing Arts program for an amazing show!

New Pornographers Rock It in Vancouver

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Last night, I watched some pornography and it was great. The New Pornographers, eclectic Vancouver Indie band, rolled into Vancouver to perform the first of two shows at the Vogue Theatre. In no way am I qualified to critique the actual show, having no musical or performance review expertise, but I do feel inclined to comment on the unique characteristics of the band, how they embody community as it’s seen and practiced by many, and why I’m proud they hail from our very own Vancouver, British Columbia.

The New Pornographers, sans Dan (as to be expected)

The New Pornographers formed back in 1997, and have recorded five albums – their latest, ‘Together’, came out in May and is as diverse as ever. What makes the band unique – and what I think adds to their ability to produce distinctive, creative, and innovative music – is the fluid nature of the band: each member is involved in their own musical, theatrical and film projects, many releasing solo albums or collaborating with other artists. Neko Case, who sings vocals with the New Pornographers, is more of a collaborator than an actual firm-standing member – she’s often touring as a solo artist, which led the New Pornographers to bring in a new member, Kathryn Calder, as a live replacement for Case. Dan Bejar heads Destroyer, but he is also one of the New Pornographers vocalists and songwriters. These myriad external influences, interests and experiences can only fuel the creativity of the group, insulating them from producing stale albums that result from band members seeing and experiencing nothing but each other.

This adaptability and independence shone through at the show last night – Case-less, the band showed that they are more than the sum of their parts, that the genius of their music lives beyond the individual band members, and they can rock it despite Case’s absence. Sure, there were missed cues and the beer-drinking, disappearing antics of Dan Bejar, but in a strange sort of way these potential messes made the performance more real and endearing – they sure weren’t perfect, but they are strong and flexible enough as performers and bandmates to take the minor flubs in stride and infuse a sense of fun into the performance. I’m not going to lie – it would have been great to see Niko and hear her amazing vocals, but the show was able – and did – go on with brilliant success.

And now – to expand on my initial assertion about the New Pornographers and how they exemplify community: In any community that hopes to be stable and endure the test of time, whether that be a city, neighborhood, or a smaller community of family or friends, each member needs to be secure enough that they know they can pursue their own interests and goals and always be welcomed back – and valued and respected for what they bring to the group – with open arms. This stable community needs to be flexible and adaptable, and open to change, new ideas and influences.

So, thank-you New Pornographers for teaching us a lesson or two about community, making us proud to call you a Vancouver creation, and showing us a rockin’ good time at the show last night.

What is Stephen Harper Reading?

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CLJ Reviews What is Stephen Harper Reading? by Yann Martel

What We Read

What is Stephen Harper Reading? is a compilation of letters, written biweekly from Yan Martel to Stephen Harper. Each letter suggests a book for Harper to read that Martel claims will, in one way or another, expand stillness. The impetus for this incessant letter writing campaign? A slight towards Canadian artists in the House of Commons back in 2007, and a subsequent obsession with finding out what Stephen Harper reads, what makes him tick, and how (or if) culture informs his soul. For a full compilation of the letters and a more detailed version of events leading up to this project, click here.

What We Did (and How We Did It)

This bookclub came with a unique homework assignment: to write a letter with a book suggestion, and share it with the group. Recipients ranged from, well, me, to Stephen Harper to Lindsay Lohan to Yann Martel to Australia. Each member confessed that it was pretty darn hard to write their letter – in this age of text messages and emails, where responses are fairly immediate and the process fairly interactive, having to convey all of your thoughts in a letter was a tough endeavor. Our letters will be sent along to Mr. Martel. We’ll wait to see when – or if! – he responds.

What We Thought

We, of course, discussed Yann Martel at length – what continues to motivate him to write these letters? Is this a personal vendetta, or is it a politically-driven attempt to increase arts funding? Is it pretentious? We also discussed the ideas in the letters – what role does art play in defining our identity as Canadians? Do business schools have a place in Canadian universities? Should there be a required reading list for our prime ministers? While we disagreed about the motive behind the project and the ideas in the letters, we all agreed that Mr. Martel’s role as advocate for the arts is so very important to our society – and in this role, he is doing a fantastic job.

As told by Michelle Burtnyk…

The Wedding Community

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Let me be completely honest. I’m getting married in two days. As such, and as one might expect, I’m quite preoccupied with all things wedding-related. So, please bear with me as I spend my time and use this space to discuss my adventures in wedding planning – and what I learned about this unique community – over the past year.  In no particular order, here are some of my learnings:

1. Like diet pills and pyramid schemes, the wedding industry can be a scam.

As much as we tried to keep our wedding as green and low-cost as possible, the industry has a way of making the pre-betrothed feel as if they need to have the super-deluxe photography package, or has a way of justifying why a tent rental should be more expensive because it is for a wedding. For all of you planning on getting hitched, I’m not saying the entire industry is a scam, I’m just saying enter this community with a bit of caution.

2. Despite this, most people are really, really nice and will go out of their way to make your day super-awesome-wicked

It’s true. From full-course trial meals with our caterer to retail/service store staff going above and beyond to ensure we got exactly what we needed, most people were incredibly helpful and honest.

3. There’s no better way than to create an instant bond with people than to tell them you’re getting married

As soon as you mention you’re getting married, people – from random strangers on the street to waiters to telemarketers – can’t help but express their happiness for you, tell stories of their own wedding, and give advice for a long and fruitful marriage. There are often hugs involved, and promises to send wedding photos to far-off European countries. If that’s not community building, I don’t know what is!

4. You learn a lot about your circle of friends and family, and your partner.

I’m not going to lie – at times, there was conflict. With such a big, emotion-laden, expectation-riddled event to plan for, how could there not be? Having said that, going through this planning process with my friends and family has definitely drawn us closer together and allowed us to understand each other better.

Stagettes – not just (all) about drunken debauchery

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How many people do you know this summer getting married? 2? 8? 16? Chances are, you’re attending at least a few weddings this season – you may even be attending mine (if you are – book your ferries, people!). With wedding planning comes much fanfare, slightly ridiculous behavior (as a good friend of mine said the other day, weddings tend to bring out the worst in people, and funerals bring out the best), heightened emotions, and absurd displays of consumerism (artificial wedding cakes? Really?). With that being said, there’s also incredibly rich and powerful moments of community, support, creativity, and fun.

While different aspects of wedding planning bring out more or less of the above qualities, I believe all of the above can be found in the ubiquitous stagette. With a short history dating back to the 1960s and rooted in the sexual revolution, stagettes (or bachelorettes for you American readers out there) have become as far-reaching as the ever-popular and deeply rooted bachelor party. With different cultural and social manifestations allowing women to express themselves and their female relationships in ways that are meaningful to them, the stagette can be seen as a symbol of female empowerment and gender equality. The more recent phenomenon of stag-and-doe parties (the equivalent of a combined stag and stagette party) takes this concept to a new – and very interesting – place. 

I recently had my stagette. While I will not be disclosing any of the … um .. shenanigans that took place (don’t worry, Steph, Sarah and Danielle – your secrets are safe with me… and everyone who has access to the Facebook photo album!), I would like to comment on the importance of the stagette to our cultural and social fabric. Most importantly, stagettes encourage female bonding. In our fast-paced society, and at a time in our lives where our girlfriends are getting married, having children and pursuing careers, it’s really, really hard to spend quality time with girlfriends – especially as a group. Something very special happens when you get a group of 10-15 ladies together for a night where there are no worries about familial or career commitments, and it’s something that should be valued and treasured. Stagettes also expand community. I’m not gonna lie – I was a bit nervous about bringing together disparate groups of friends spanning my high school and university days, work, family, and new friends made through my lovely fiancé – but it was a wondrous thing. It made me appreciate what I love about each of the dynamic, genuinely kind and strong women who were present, and it’s always a rewarding thing to see your network connect and strengthen.Stagettes also give the wedding party – and the bride-to-be – a chance to let loose and de-stress before the big day. Trust me – as much as you try to avoid the drama that comes with wedding planning, recent findings* show that this is impossible.

So, to all you thousands of ladies out there gearing up for the big day, I encourage you to really appreciate and savor your stagette – it will certainly hold a spot in you memory bank (of course, some of these memories may never be shared, due to female obligation and/or threats of death) for years to come!

*Qualitative feedback from a random sampling of brides-of-past, present and future.

Crowmunity!

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Back in the day, when the Daily Gumboot was merely a weekly affair, an article was written about cowmoonity, focusing on what we can learn from cows as we strive towards friendly, more cohesive communities. Acceptance of others and power in numbers were cited as a few things we could learn from these friendly farm animals.

A recent experience with some crows has got me thinking about what we can learn from these avian creatures – with just one letter separating them from the congenial cows, they couldn’t be more different. Allow me to set the stage: Michelle leaves the office after a long day at work. She enters the bike cage (it is Bike to Work Week, after all!), and as she’s attaching her pannier to her bike, a large, angry crow swoops down, squawking and cawing very close to Michelle’s head. Michelle shrieks, and runs out of the bike cage. As she composes herself and looks back, she notices a small crow sitting on her pannier, and two large crows guarding either side of the bike cage door. Every attempt to come near the cage is met with squawks and fly-byes. After 10 minutes of this frightening game, Daily Gumboot editor-in-chief/hero of the day John Horn arrives to rescue Michelle. Realizing the small crow is injured and being protected by the large crows, John enters the cage and frees the small crow, endangering himself to save his lady and an avian friend.

So there you have it. Naturally, I spent a good few hours reading up on crows after this incident.

Should this intelligence be appreciated? Or feared?

 I’ve always had my suspicions about this murderous lot, but found myself quite impressed by their valor and intelligence. At the end of my investigation, I was left with more questions than answers: Should I be more apprehensive? Or is there something positive I could take away from this experience? Taking to heart the mandate of the Daily Gumboot, I’ll attempt to quell my apprehension and identify some community-building tips we can learn from the crowmunity:

1. Protect your peeps: To the terrorizing protective crows, I was a threat to their injured friend/child crow who couldn’t fly away. Their terrifying valiant attempts to keep me away point out the importance of looking out for our friends and family in times of need – no matter how large or scary the enemy may be.

2. Utilize your resources: Crows are frighteningly amazingly smart, and are able to utilize/adapt resources within their environment in order to meet their needs. Case in point: crows have learned to drop tough nuts into traffic and wait for a car to crush them, and then wait at pedestrian lights in order to retrieve the nuts. They’ve also been known to manufacture and use a variety of tools, including ‘knives’ cut from stiff leaves and plucked/bent twigs to retrieve food.

Crows permeating our cultural - and natural - landscape

3. Crowmunication: Crows have a complex system of communicating with one other – the pattern and number of vocalizations change in response to events in their surroundings and state of being (i.e. arrival or departure, hunger, territory, affection). One of the amazing things we can learn from crows is the importance of communicating with those we normally would not: crows have learned to respond to the calls of other species, keeping the lines of communication open between all members of the avian community – and beyond.

4. Culture and mythology As any cultural anthropologist will tell you, culture is really, really important to a species. And crows, somehow, have been able to permeate ours in an amazing way. In literature, art, legends, folklore, and film, crows have found a niche for themselves. As a community, we need to be able to create our own cultural legends, finding meaning in the social and natural environment that surrounds us.

As I sit in my office attempting to muster the courage to face the bike cage crows outside, I’ll attempt to remind myself of the myriad ways in which crows have created a sustainable, caring and cohesive community amongst themselves. I’ll also remind myself how crows have the ability to recognize one human from another by facial features. With this in mind, I will keep my sunglasses and bike helmet on from the moment I walk out the office door.

To Douchebag, or Not to Douchebag?

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Editor’s Note: let’s face it, some people are just jerks/a$$holes/sharks/douchebags – and they exist in our neighbourhoods, classrooms, workplaces, families, and many other communities. Can, or should, we change them? Should all members of said communities be held to a higher, golden-rule-ish standard of kindness, inclusiveness and non-douchebagery? The question is discussed and debated below by superawesome Correspondents, Steve and Michelle. When you finish reading be sure to join the thread of commentary. Whether or not you pick a side is totally up to you. Thanks!

- John

Befriend a Douchebag Today!

By: Stephen Sloot – Special Guest Correspondent

Communities are chock-a-block with douchebags.  Spend an evening at your local pub/café/park and you’ll undoubtedly encounter a table of douchebags whose football-throwing-Hollister-clad-Diesel-reek so disrupts your table’s collective vibe that conversation turns to abrasive mocking of said douches.  Some of us (those who self-identify as non-douches; folks perhaps part of a food co-op, ultimate Frisbee team, or other things that White People Like) feel compelled to verbally tear apart this group, as though we were given special licence to vituperate the subculture without remorse.  This does not encourage togetherness (a mainspring of community).

Douchebags can play an important role in your community.  It’s unchallenging to see their negative impact on community fabric.  Yes, their presence is a continuation of a high school cliché, the early douche antagonizing innocent drama club or student council members. [see Freaks and Geeks, ep 01 – ep 18].   The fully-grown douchebag exists as the metaphoric canary of community health.  Their individual gravity codifies social structure, in fact.

Imagine for a moment that you and your special lady/man are walking down the street, maybe popping in to King of Dosas – a douchebag unmistakably buds in front of you in line.  You’re a nice guy/gal…you don’t want to say anything because it’d just create more trouble/work for you.  It’s best to be polite and stew.

Enter the anti-douche.  These are the people who are specially designed to aid social protocol.  They emerge from their otherwise gentile exteriors to out-douche the douche.

“Get the fuck out of line, douche,” the anti-douche will say.  And 4/5 times, the douche skulks to the back of the line, muttering something about a left-wing politics and a Prius.

Being part of a community is not choosing a circle of friends.  Douches belong whether we like it or not.  Labelling subcultures breeds tribalism, the antithesis of community.  Tempering the douche is the responsibility of all.  Let out your inner-douche every once in a while.

If we seek to eliminate the douche based on a learned set of behaviours we reduce ourselves to: “if you’re not like me, leave.”  The communities I want to live in, contribute to, they’re the communities that encourage constructive dialogue and concede that none of us are perfect, surface or in our safe enclave where everyone agrees.  Difference helps us become better people, creative folks with different solutions to complex problems within our communities.  Befriend a douchebag today!

For the sake of the community, bring out the antidouche!

By: Michelle Burtnyk

Do you like interacting with douchebags? Do you ever find yourself coming home at the end of a long day, fondly remembering your run-in with a douchebag: Man, I LOVED listening to that douchebag talk on his Blackberry to his buddy about how he was so much better looking that all the other guys at his gym, while holding up the grocery store line … that conversation was so interesting! Or, how many times do you come home from a party thinking how much more fun it was due to the high douchebag-antidouchebag ratio:You know, that party was awesome – I love how all those guys kept on hitting on my fiancé even though they knew we were engaged – they really know how to stir things up!

Don't let this happen to you - stand up to the Douche!

No, I didn’t think so. Nobody likes douchebags. Douchebags don’t even like douchebags. They’re obnoxious, arrogant, and think they’re better than everyone else. Luckily, most of the time they’re pretty easy to pick out – besides their dreadful attitudes and defective personalities, they usually sport pretty ridiculous outfits (stay tuned for Godfrey’s post on Douchebag fashion for top tips on picking out your resident douchebag).

Mr. Sloot would have one believe that douchebags belong whether we like it or not – and labeling a douche a douche leads to tribalism and a decline in community. I beg to differ. Imagine a community without douchebags … go ahead, it is possible! There would be less conflict, less tension, and less doucheyness in the air (due to the decline in Axe body spray sales, I believe). How is this douchebag-free community achievable, you ask? As mentioned, douchebags are pretty easy to spot. And, most douchebags are fairly cowardly, prone to skulking off once their inflated sense of self has been popped. Douchebags need to be confronted – it’s only in this way that they’ll realize their behaviour is unacceptable. While Mr. Sloot (in a somewhat douchey way) suggests we all let out our inner douche once in a while, I would suggest instead that it might be time for us all to look inside and let out our anti-douche.