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Category: Commentary

Published October 28, 2011

The Meaning of Hockey

I know it’s a little bit late for National Coming Out Day, but I have a coming out of my own to make.

I am Canadian, and I don’t like hockey.

I don’t dislike the sport. It just leaves me completely indifferent. In elementary school, I would remain silent while my friends would discuss the previous night’s game during our morning walk to school. In secondary school, the annual hockey module in our PE classes was always the least interesting to me. And since I moved to the US ten years ago, I must have left many a would-be acquaintance scrambling for new topics after I replied in the negative to their “You’re Canadian? You must like hockey!” or “You’re from Montreal? Patrick Roy, man…”

All of which really means that this article from by Stephen Marche in The Walrus — the closest thing to The New Yorker in my home and native land — deserves all the accolades it can get. Indeed, although I have no interest in its subject matter, I read it with considerable interest from beginning to end:

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Published October 19, 2011

American Attitudes toward Big Business

How can we reconcile the apparent contradiction between the outpouring of positive emotions caused by Steve Jobs’ death and the Occupy Wall Street movement? What does this say about American attitudes toward big business?

My colleague Ronnie Chatterji speculates on the answer in a News & Observer op-ed:

My conclusion is there is widespread agreement that getting rich in America while creating value for your company and for society is still a great thing, despite worries about resurgent populism and class warfare. Politics, bailouts and budget deficits have not changed this consensus around the nobility of good business.

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Published October 18, 2011

Montreal Isn’t Like Europe, But Don’t Let That Dissuade You

Montreal, as seen from the south shore of the St. Lawrence

Having lived in two European countries, I am always puzzled when I hear people — Americans, usually — say that my hometown is “so European.” That probably explains why I loved this article:

The truth is, Montreal isn’t like Europe at all. But don’t let that dissuade you — most of the other places you could go are also not in Europe! And while you may have hoped that visiting la belle ville would give you the chance to improve your French, you’ll probably have a hard time finding someone to humor you. And why should they, with that accent?

But you haven’t wasted your plane ticket yet. Montreal does have many lovely attractions — and I’m not just talking about those Alouettes cheerleaders (amiright!). What you need is a more authentic way to experience the city: gamboling with a friendly, English-speaking local who can show you her favorite places and tell you what she loves about this town — and why she has found it so darn difficult to leave, come hell or near-complete lack of career opportunity.

Here’s more, from Maisonneuve Magazine.