R U Afraid Of Being Unpopular?*

All of us are participants in the public discourse in our societies. As citizens we can choose to express our opinions, hopefully after giving them some thought, or not. But we all have that opportunity to be part of the process of expressing ideas that may have an effect, have an influence, on what will turn out to be the public will. Most of us don’t think about it that way, that we have that responsibility in a democratic society, but it is, nevertheless, very true. Whether we end up being elected to some position of public trust, or not, we are actors in shaping the directions our society may take. It takes some stamina to keep at it in the face of unrelenting attack which may not be very civil these days.

For many years I was among the ranks of the employed. I pursued the path that I imagined lay before me in the areas of work I had chosen. I never thought about the thesis I have presented above. I was not a community leader, a politician or a judge. I never campaigned for a particular point of view in the community of which I was a part. Like most of you out there I never gave it a second thought. It was not that I didn’t have opinions, it was just that I never thought about campaigning for their acceptance by others.

I have been retired since about the age of sixty-five. When I was seventy-one I succeeded in persuading the girl of my dreams to take me on as a husband. Despite my devoted efforts in that direction, my Bride has continued to inform me that I was not doing a very good job at that. It is surprising how wrong a fellow can be in his judgements. Part of the stuff I have been doing was communicating my thoughts, to the best of my ability, to you out there, as to how you should be living your lives. Lots of nerve on my part, eh? Obviously, many of you out there are not getting my messages in ways that might have an impact in directions I am seeking. If you did, there would be people marching in the streets every day with the flag of Israel.

I noticed that there are plenty of people out there with Hamas flags, chanting “from the river to the sea,” calling for the genocide of Jews.

Recently I saw a film about Rosalie Silverman Abella*, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. I learned that she had an amazing career, growing up as the child of survivors of the Holocaust. Her husband was Irving Abella, an academic who wrote the expose “None Is Too Many”, which details the immigration policy of Canada during the pre-war years, aimed at preventing Jews to come to Canada, in the prelude to the Holocaust. I have opinions about that.

Former Supreme Court Judge Abella*, now teaching at Harvard Law School, is well-known around the world for her work in providing Canada with some of the world’s most progressive social legislation. These include providing civil servants with the right to strike, the recognition of the legality of same-sex marriage, and the right of parental leave, for men as well as women.

One of her dictums, one hinted at in the title to this piece, favored polemics in pieces like this one. She exhorted all of us not to let the risking of unpopularity prevent one from doing the right thing.

Now in my ninetieth year, and remembering to pay attention to the cares of my Bride at all cost, I intend to risk being unpopular on any occasion that I have the chance to deliver unpopular news to anybody I know. Whatever the topic, I will happily communicate the things to you that you may not want to hear, if in MY judgement, it has to do with doing the RIGHT thing as I see it. You may respond to the contrary, but rest assured, having thought about it a lot over the last ninety years, whatever I propose, I am unlikely to change my mind about what the right things to do are. Watch out when you hear from me as I am not seeking popularity.

I hope my Bride, at least, will continue to tolerate me in spite of my errant behavior in the opinion of some observers with differing opinions.

Please feel free to send this on to friend and foe in your own name to see how they would react.