Valentine’s Day: The Invention of Love?

8bde4317f6c08e3331cbf1dcb9c667afCue the fuchsia, the roses, the heart-shaped boxes of chocolate and candies and themed teddy bears.  Strike up the jewelry store sales and advertisements, the feverish restaurant frenzy and commercial hoard.  As is modern day mercantile tradition, when the opportunity strikes, holiday spectacle intercedes a furious greed.  We, the shopper, the consumer, in typical fashion, stuff ourselves sick with Valentine’s Day commercialism in a frantic tender to qualify ourselves with “things” and “doing.”  The puppeteers of industry, pulling strings, move hastily and with purpose.  They line their pockets with as much holiday gold as they can muster.  And so we revisit a familiar Valentine’s montage year in and year out: everyone trying to capitalize on the aftermath of Christmas climax in a bid to escape the post coital tristesse of the New Year.  The grace period given between Christmas and the advent of Valentine’s is all but non existent.  While shops and store fronts remove Christmas trees, holiday lights and tinsel, pink and red hearts are carted in to swiftly replace them.  It’s hard not to grimace.  Not to turn away and focus on a solitary point somewhere beyond the blur of mulberry.  This unfolding cyclic procession is draped in synthetic livery, like the bitter aftertaste one gets after consuming Pepsi White.  It leaves you with a metallic tongue, as if you just sucked on a quarter - (a quarter with lots of lovely heart shapes loitering its head and tail).  Why do we always have to turn something beautiful into something so ugly?  Perhaps more poignant is our authentic vivacious love for the ugly.  Why are we attracted to the manufactured devolution of meaning?  It’s clear that part of our nature demands a certain amount of kitsch.  We need the shiny wrapping paper, the bows, the pomp and circumstance, the cartoonish caricature of life.  Holiday commercialism, as a kind of philosophical, emotive narcotic, helps to ease our suffering within the narrow boundaries of its own religion.  For a brief moment in time, it reduces the impossible proportions of reality into small, manageable pieces.  The “high” we get from holiday commercialism endeavors to condense all that we don’t know into something we think we can comprehend.  But isn’t there something more subtle, more sensitive and thoughtful to behold on Valentine’s and during other commercial holidays a part from the proselyting malarky?  Something less cynical, less fabricated and more organic? Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 3.14.04 PM

No one denies the importance of celebration and festivity.  For as long as human beings have been present in the world’s consciousness there has been occasion for revelry.  Human awareness has been and continues to be made manifest by the celebration of life as it is experienced by us: the movement of moments, the rites of passage, the marking of time, the evolution, the progression.  Within the arch of our journey that take us up over the rainbow and beyond, we remember and we reflect.  These observations of past, present and future, have been our way of adapting and configuring the world without to fit comfortably in a world within.  Historically, St. Valentine’s Day takes root in liturgical celebration, coined after one or more early Christian saints, Valentinus.  Despite there being numerous Christian martyrs by that name, the Valentine’s Day we celebrate today commiserates more specifically, Valentine of Rome, a martyr priest, buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14th, AD 496.  The site, along with the date, February 14th, remained an important day of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages in celebration of sacrifice.   However when poet and writer, Geoffrey Chaucer emerged on the literary scene in the High Medieval Period, fanciful association by poetic meter converted Valentine’s Day into romantic alchemy, propagating the then, current tradition of courtly love.  Many poets and writers were quick to follow suit, denoting the mating of birds and love with St. Valentine’s Day.  The earliest description of February 14th as an annual celebration of love, appears in the Charter of the Court of Love, at the turn of the 15th century.  Allegedly issued by Charles VI of France, the charter illustrates lavish festivities to be attended by several members of the royal court, including a feast, romantic song and poetry competitions, and jousting and dancing.  By the 18th century, circulated published works had captivated British audiences with scores of suggestive sentimentality, while “Mechanical Valentines” were being printed in limited number as cards, transcribing romantic and provocative thoughts and sketches.  These “Mechanical Valentines,” so appropriately named, foreshadowed a mid-19th century Valentine’s Day trade, which heralded the proliferation of commercialized holidays in North America that were soon to follow.

Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 3.14.38 PMSo what do take from the history of Valentine’s Day?  An evolution of love and sacrifice played out throughout the centuries in our churches, our royal courts, our literature and our homes.  A need to celebrate and reflect - to rejoice in the bounty of friendship and connection that love gives us, and to pay respect to the determination and sacrifice that is required of us when we love.  Amorphous and sometimes vague in all it’s glaring clarity, love assumes any shape we assign to it - be it a rose or heart-shaped box or teddy bears clad in pink and red, its meaning is transcribed in thought and being that presupposes any material “thing.”  Not just reserved for lovers alone, Valentine’s transcends all manners of love - the love of a pet, the love of our children, our country, our mothers and fathers…our families.  So rather than be shameful of its habit, why not revel in its glory, and take heart to honor Valentine culture and meaning as we should do with other holiday traditions.  Regardless of whether or not the commercialism of any holiday is warranted, it is important we are aware of its purpose and make informed choices through insight.  Consciously controlling the flow of commercial superfluousness as something that enhances rather than defines, we can take joy and satisfaction in its gimmick.  Whether we’ve planned that luxurious weekend getaway, or dinner for two or four, or simply choose to sit in one another’s company and share a laugh and good cheer, on February 14th, we have the opportunity to pause and reflect, and to honour our love.


The Real Price of Oil? The Conspiracies Behind The Numbers

Screen Shot 2015-01-15 at 2.12.39 PMMany of us fill up our 4000 pound earth-bound steel rockets at the pump each week, watching the numbers tick by like a rolling slot machine - illusive and liquidic.  Liters, gallons, miles, kilometers, fuel efficiency, fuel costs, fracking, barrels, crude oil, dry oil…the wash of information coming at you is like the innumerable waves of radiation emanating our smartphones, iPads and laptops.  It’s enough to befog any real acumen - what the hell is actually going on?  In truth, we have little control over what goes into our vehicles and what comes out, (primarily the stack of dollar bills emptying our money clips and making the shine on our plastic a little less shiny).  Sure we can choose to buy smaller vehicles, more environmentally-friendly electric, battery or flex fuel alternatives, but at the end of the day, the majority of drivers worldwide, (even those self-professed “petrol heads,”) are vulnerable to those political magnets creating currents of economic attraction and repulsion. So what’s the truth behind the oscillating oil prices?  Where does our oil come from and who decides how much it will cost us every time we reach for the nozzle and begin fueling? Given the dramatic decrease in gas prices over the past several months, its probable, and not without reason, that one might be inclined to utter that cringe-worthy, hackneyed word - conspiracy.  After all, something about the whole gas and oil industry wreaks grotesquely of ulterior motive, (we all remember those weapons of mass destruction?).  Covert always lends itself well to paranoia and tin foil hats.  There’s a reason something needs covering up, isn’t there?  So while most of us can appreciate on some level that not everything we read about or hear about in the news is completely the whole truth and nothing but the truth, what does that leave us with?

The petrol narrative is rooted in political and economic maneuvering coupled with market speculation based on market trends, market value and consumerism.  And if that doesn’t mean a whole lot to you just think: it’s all about YOU.  You are the euphemism.  You are the cause and the effect.  As a consumer, you’re not just “in the mix” but at the very centre of it, holding up the house of cards comprised of jacks, queens and aces bedecked in price movements, currencies, investors, and a whole other whack-load of sticky icky implications you probably didn’t want to get your hands dirty with in the first place.  The domino effect of the price of oil can be drastic and far-reaching, resulting in either significant revenue shortfalls or gains for many energy exporting and importing nations.  So before we dive into conjecture and theory, let’s review the facts.  For nearly five years, world oil prices have remained relatively stable, at around $110 a barrel.  However since June, 2014, oil prices have fallen exponentially, dropping a staggering 40%, resulting in US crude falling below $50 a barrel.  While many political pundits and economists will tell you that market prices rely on supply and demand and speculation, this might be the time when you eyebrows meet each other in a confused stupor.  Don’t worry.  You’re not feebleminded.  Oil prices that drop at the speed of sound, (the sound of SUV drivers uniting and rejoicing that is) can’t just be the result of current supply and demand.  Tesla is good, but not that good.

Screen Shot 2015-01-15 at 2.12.58 PMOPEC, (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) which accounts for roughly 40% of global crude oil production, was recently quoted by its secretary general, Abdalla Salem el-Badri saying  that declines are largely due to speculation by traders in the market, rather than an oversupply.  However many Westerners are more inclined to believe that an increase in global oil, primarily competition from the United States shale oil production, has forced OPEC’s hand.  That is, to keep oil prices down in a, “starve them out” siege and conquer stratagem.  This tactic would also extend to one of its chief member’s regional rivals, Iran.  While some estimates posit that Iran needs oil at $136 a barrel to finance its spending plans, others contend Saudi Arabia only requires the price of oil to be at $99.20 or less a barrel to break even.  Moreover, with a multibillion-dollar reserve on the back of budget surpluses, the Saudis and other OPEC nations can easily hold out for several years if the price of oil drops well below these figures.  Last month Saudi Arabia and its OPEC allies announced it will not decrease its rate of oil production, despite steadily decreasing global oil prices. Following the announcement, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil benchmark price fell below $66 per barrel - right in the sweet spot that OPEC hopes will check U.S. oil production.  However it’s not just Iran or the US that could feel the brunt of this price spiral.  Russian President, Vladimir Putin was recently quoted saying, “at some moments of crisis it starts to feel like it is the politics that prevails in the pricing of energy resources.”  While neither the United States nor Russia are a part of OPEC, it is plausible that OPEC is engaging in a two front attack, targeting its biggest competitors in the hopes that it will force higher-cost shale producers out of the market.  While many non-OPEC countries, Canada included, are guilty of stealing some of the Saudi’s market share, it may very well be argued that OPEC is simply trying to stay relevant in a rather volatile global market with increasing oil production and supplies.
Another conspiracy theory posits revenge politics: the Saudis and Americans joining forces to deliberately target and take down Vladimir Putin for his support of Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and it’s unilateral involvement in Eastern Ukraine, (the 1973 oil crisis comes to mind here).  For every dollar fall in the price of oil, it is estimated Russia loses roughly $2 billion in revenue, and the World Bank has cautioned that if oil prices do not recover in 2015, Russia’s economy will shrink by at least 0.7%.  Despite this, Russia, like OPEC, has also confirmed that it will not cut oil production in a bid to retain its niche market. With dramatic spikes in interest rates, a troubled rouble, and global economic sanctions, Russia could be in serious trouble, which means serious trouble for Mr. Putin.

Screen Shot 2015-01-15 at 2.12.19 PMSo what does this all translate into?  A game of chicken or chess for these political leaders at the expense of their government’s economies and oil companies?  Perhaps.  Market speculation based on an estimate of over-supply or a drop in consumer demand?  Perhaps.  Revenge politics?  Maybe.  The truth?  Found betwixt propaganda, self-interest, tolerance and conspiracy.  Increased efficiency, smaller, more fuel-efficient and economic cars and a lesser demand on the global market.  Competition from the United States, Russia and other non-OPEC nations.  The Saudis and their Gulf allies maintaining their market share and relevancy.  A bid to gain political global primacy and hegemony.  Although the future economic effects of the plummeting oil prices on particular oil-reliant countries remain unclear, what is certain is that the consumer, (you) - the one driving the market, the supply and demand and paying or not paying for the oil in the first place, will have more money to spend on other sectors of the economy with higher confidence.  But this doesn’t mean now that we all jump on the Cadillac Escalade bandwagon and go petrol-happy.  Instead, we should take time to understand what’s behind our supply and demand, make smarter consumer choices, educated ourselves on what exactly drives us to buy and not buy, and where the actual truth lies- within the mainstream media and the backdoor conspiracy theories, in this case, the truth is rooted somewhere in them all.