Coffee spoons and great causes

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” The lovesick J Alfred Prufrock had it right, both metaphorically and, in our case, literally, given the extraordinary amounts of time we spend in coffee shops. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.

I’m interested in the metaphorical angle at the moment. I’ve been reading a book by Bill Browder called Freezing Order, about his life-endangering struggle to persuade the world to pass the Magnitsky Act in as many jurisdictions as possible, mandating governments to freeze the financial assets of foreign violators of human rights, more specifically Russian oligarchs, in punishment for the murder of Browder’s friend and lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The book begins with his narrow escape from an attempt by the Russian government to have him arrested in Spain and sent to a Russian prison. It’s a rollicking yet righteous adventure story!

Browder succeeded in getting the law passed in many countries, including Canada, which passed the Magnitsky Act (aka the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act) in 2017.

Meanwhile, here we are, cozy and warm in our Glebe cocoon, just coming out of a long winter and anticipating with glee the first glimmerings of spring. Harmony reigns, more or less. Life is safe, pleasant, reasonably healthy if we want to do it that way, and even COVID is receding like the tide.

I ask myself, “When will I narrowly escape from danger for a noble cause? Where is my adrenaline-fuelled adventure?”

Where is the challenge here in the Glebe? What great and good cause will lead us into shark-filled waters, sharpening our wits and awakening our intuition and creativity in the face of adversity?

We dream. We squirm a little. We drink our coffee.

But if we get real for a moment and acknowledge the challenges that are staring us in the face here in our own backyard – climate crisis, poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, mental health problems, violence of epidemic proportions – or on a different plane, harmful urban development, loss of green space, lack of affordable housing, loss of tree canopy – the list of challenges is endless.

Drink up your coffee, buck up and let’s get to it!

—Liz McKeen

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