Monday, February 19, 2007
2007 “Nattering Nabobs of Negativity” Awards
The first award of the 2007 season goes to those who have been referring to Gabriolans as Fractious and Divisive.
Most dictionaries define divisive as tending to cause disagreement, dissension, discord and conflict, as well as disruptive, factional, discordant, and alienating.
Fractious is defined as easily angered, annoyed, or irritated, having an unpleasant disposition and being inclined to make trouble; also as some combination of complaining, cross, cranky, crabby, disorderly, ill-natured, mean, nettlesome, ornery, peevish, peckish, perverse, pettish, petulant, quarrelsome, snappish, testy, tetchy, thin-skinned, touchy, uncompliant, undisciplined, unmanageable, unruly and being difficult to control. I cannot help but wonder what people hope to gain by using such insulting terms to describe their fellow Islanders.
Of all the definitions I think only the last – being difficult to control – really refers to most in our community. Islanders in general tend to be independent minded and resistant to being told how to live and what to believe. Islands, by their very nature tend not to attract followers. Followers tend to stay on the mainland. Likewise, small islands don’t tend to attract the politically ambitious. Those who need to be perceived, as “leaders” tend to find island living frustrating as independent people neither need nor want leaders.
I think those who refer to Gabriolans as fractious and divisive do so out of frustration at not being able to readily manipulate or convince islanders to join their cause; they seem to confuse fractiousness with independence. I believe this because I don’t see much evidence of fractiousness on this island, quite the opposite in fact. Gabriolans are quite able to band together to accomplish that which they see to be in their interests. Evidence of this is exhibited in concrete form such as the museum, Agi Hall, and the community center and The Commons. Less concrete but equally clear are the results of the Referndumb, the landslide victories in the last local elections, the support for the Island Trust in general and the Trust’s decision to trade land density for 700 acres of parkland which the vast majority of islanders supported, and more recently the growing support and commitment to the new medical clinic.
There is equally impressive evidence of Gabriolans working together in the way they took care of each other during the latest snowstorm and the way neighbours keep an eye on the property of those who are vacationing or away for other reasons, as well as the ease and trust exhibited in picking up hitch-hikers on the island or in the concern expressed when your car breaks down and almost every person going by stops to offer help. Or how about the many volunteers from the fire department to PHC to the annual Salmon Barbecue who willingly dedicate of time to the common good of the community? Another example of the non-fractiousness of the community is demonstrated by the generosity islanders show to those who have or are going through crisis.
As I look around this island I see much more evidence of islanders co-operating and working together than I see of discord, divisiveness and petulance. I think those who would label us “fractious” might be well advised to look in a mirror if they want to see those who are fractious. I think the ones who have been using the term fractious so much lately are those frustrated because the majority won’t buy into their particular plan; they are confusing fractiousness with independence. I also think that those who get so frustrated that they toss about such labels might want to think about whether it is the Islanders that can’t work together or whether there is something basically wrong with the direction you want the island to go in. Regarding other islanders as hicks that don’t know what is good for them is may be a comfortable way to salve your ego when your approach is rejected but it is also an incredibly arrogant and erroneous point of view. It is a point of view that blinds you to possibility that maybe the problem lies not with the people but with the message.
Most dictionaries define divisive as tending to cause disagreement, dissension, discord and conflict, as well as disruptive, factional, discordant, and alienating.
Fractious is defined as easily angered, annoyed, or irritated, having an unpleasant disposition and being inclined to make trouble; also as some combination of complaining, cross, cranky, crabby, disorderly, ill-natured, mean, nettlesome, ornery, peevish, peckish, perverse, pettish, petulant, quarrelsome, snappish, testy, tetchy, thin-skinned, touchy, uncompliant, undisciplined, unmanageable, unruly and being difficult to control. I cannot help but wonder what people hope to gain by using such insulting terms to describe their fellow Islanders.
Of all the definitions I think only the last – being difficult to control – really refers to most in our community. Islanders in general tend to be independent minded and resistant to being told how to live and what to believe. Islands, by their very nature tend not to attract followers. Followers tend to stay on the mainland. Likewise, small islands don’t tend to attract the politically ambitious. Those who need to be perceived, as “leaders” tend to find island living frustrating as independent people neither need nor want leaders.
I think those who refer to Gabriolans as fractious and divisive do so out of frustration at not being able to readily manipulate or convince islanders to join their cause; they seem to confuse fractiousness with independence. I believe this because I don’t see much evidence of fractiousness on this island, quite the opposite in fact. Gabriolans are quite able to band together to accomplish that which they see to be in their interests. Evidence of this is exhibited in concrete form such as the museum, Agi Hall, and the community center and The Commons. Less concrete but equally clear are the results of the Referndumb, the landslide victories in the last local elections, the support for the Island Trust in general and the Trust’s decision to trade land density for 700 acres of parkland which the vast majority of islanders supported, and more recently the growing support and commitment to the new medical clinic.
There is equally impressive evidence of Gabriolans working together in the way they took care of each other during the latest snowstorm and the way neighbours keep an eye on the property of those who are vacationing or away for other reasons, as well as the ease and trust exhibited in picking up hitch-hikers on the island or in the concern expressed when your car breaks down and almost every person going by stops to offer help. Or how about the many volunteers from the fire department to PHC to the annual Salmon Barbecue who willingly dedicate of time to the common good of the community? Another example of the non-fractiousness of the community is demonstrated by the generosity islanders show to those who have or are going through crisis.
As I look around this island I see much more evidence of islanders co-operating and working together than I see of discord, divisiveness and petulance. I think those who would label us “fractious” might be well advised to look in a mirror if they want to see those who are fractious. I think the ones who have been using the term fractious so much lately are those frustrated because the majority won’t buy into their particular plan; they are confusing fractiousness with independence. I also think that those who get so frustrated that they toss about such labels might want to think about whether it is the Islanders that can’t work together or whether there is something basically wrong with the direction you want the island to go in. Regarding other islanders as hicks that don’t know what is good for them is may be a comfortable way to salve your ego when your approach is rejected but it is also an incredibly arrogant and erroneous point of view. It is a point of view that blinds you to possibility that maybe the problem lies not with the people but with the message.
