Author: Chris Benjamin

Nothing but Flowers (a short screenplay)

Yuppie couple goes back to the land – sells trendy Toronto pad, he quits his job as Head of Hostile Takeovers at DigestCom and she quits her job as a patent lawyer. They use all the money from the sale of their pad to buy a small plot of land on Galiano Island and live out of a lean-to eating deer meat and wild berries. They suffer severe caffeine withdrawal and can’t beat their insomnia. Hilarious adventures ensue.

African Social Evolution

There is a movement in Africa to bolster pride in the continent by debunking European myths about ‘wild Africa,’ i.e. that before Europeans arrived here there was no civilization. This effort is attempting not only to reveal the truth about that period, but also build local pride in the ancient civilizations there. But, given the actual impact that human civilizations have had on the planet and on people outside any given society, is civilization really something to build pride upon? How we understand this history has impacts on not only Africans but people of all civilizations – the way we perceive ourselves and the future directions we take. For this piece I have drawn on my own observations of Ghana, my visit to Ghana’s Mole National Park, interviews with a tour company operator, recent developments regarding the San (Bush People) of Botswana and that country’s recent Supreme Court decision to allow them back onto their tribal lands but with strict conditions imposed, and extensive secondary research into African politics and history.

Morality v. Tolerance, Round II

In his ancient marble tower an Archbishop’s Divine Power is impenetrable, unquestionable, his right He makes promises for an hour as the people below him cower then shed money from fists once tight For to reach the Immaterial State with…

A Vision for Johnny Cash

Cash sang a lot about jail the long term kind without bail Those paying for sins part theirs part ours men and women at extremes under the American dream fermented and left out to go sour But is not America…

The Question is Why?

Leave it to the likes of Shell Oil and The Economist Magazine to pose this inanity: “Do we need nature?” This question was the topic of their annual essay writing contest this summer. The question is one children are too…

Perpetual Political Autopoiesis

I recently read a paper by John H. Little of Troy State University called ‘Autopoietic Social Systems And Self-Referential Government: How Unlikely Is Democracy?’. It’s too bad the paper was so laden with complicated jargon, because from what I could…