One Man's Traitor is Another's Patriot

The Mast Head of the Web Talk – Newfoundland and Labrador quotes American writer, George William Curtis, immortal words, "A man's country is not an area of land, mountains, rivers, and woods, but a principle. Patriotism is loyalty to that principle."

Regular readers of Web Talk will know that my online “handle” is Patriot. Perhaps it may be pretentious on my part to refer to myself in this way but I believe it to be true.

I am a Patriot to Newfoundland and Labrador if not to Canada.

On the other hand, rather than being viewed as a patriot, over the past several years I’ve all too often been branded by some “anonymous” federalists as a traitor. The term has been used to describe others who support and defend our homeland.

Over time such comments have given me pause for reflection and much soul searching as I’m sure it has for others. I’m happy to say that on my part those moments of self doubt have long since passed.

The reason is simple.

History is written by the victors, not the vanquished.

Take the example of the American Revolution. During that turbulent period Ben Franklin is quoted as saying, “We must hang together or we will surely hang separately”.

Today nobody questions the fact that Franklin, Jefferson and the like were indeed great American patriots, the fathers of their Nation even, not that I would put myself in their league, but the point is this: Why does history remember them the way it does?

Simply put, it’s because they won their struggle for freedom and dignity.

Had they lost the revolution and had America remained under the control of England those same men who are viewed as Patriots today would now be viewed as traitors. They would have been tried for treason and been executed, as Ben Franklin clearly understood.

Those same federalists who so often try to weaken the resolve of those among us yearning for a better future for Newfoundland and Labrador, whether inside or outside of Canada, use words like “crackpot”, “tin hat brigade” or the like to attack our beliefs.

They say we have no chance of making a difference and should “stop whining”.

They may honestly believe this. I don’t.

I don’t see speaking out as “whining”, far from it.

I see it as educating the masses.

I see it as ensuring that our concerns are not brushed silently under the Canadian carpet.

I see it as a necessary step, a first one perhaps, but a necessary step to a brighter future for our people.

Some time ago I read a novel, the title of which I no longer recall and is of no importance, but I do recall one particular passage from it. It describes the thoughts of an individual near the end of his days and goes something like this.

“…A tear formed in his eye. So many people counting on us but we failed. Yet did we fail?”

“Is it failure if you plant a seed which others nurture? Is it failure to have begun a thing which had daunted the best and bravest for decades? Is it failure to have called the attention of all humanity to the plight of your people?”

No, I don’t believe it is.

As Newfoundlanders and Labradorians there are lessons in those words and in the history of the American Revolution.

Failure only comes with never having tried in the first place.

The only difference between a Patriot and a traitor is their level of success.

Reform and the Common Man

The nineteenth century novelist, poet and politician, Lord Edward Lytton, once said that “reform is a correction of abuses and revolution is a transfer of power”.

After decades of colonization, first by England and now by Canada, and make no mistake but that Newfoundland and Labrador is little more than a colony in Canada, the question lingers whether the sort of revolution or reformation needed to ensure the secret nation’s survival might ever come to pass.

The possibility of the one may exist, for the other it may already be too late.

The truth is that revolutions require fiery revolutionaries to lead them and the exuberance of youth to feed them. After decades of governmental softening and quiet appeasement the quickly aging population left rattling around Newfoundland and Labrador would make for a sad revolutionary movement indeed.

In this instance, the more pertinent question ought to be if the seeds of reform, rather than revolution, can be nourished and brought into the life giving light of day.

After decades of being the “odd man out” in confederation, after having their wealth of resources, both natural and human, siphoned off to feed the Canadian economic engine and after being reminded for decades to mind their place, will Newfoundlanders and Labradorians ever take a stand and make a change?

Why is such change needed some may ask. The “province” is finally turning a corner. Its economy is beginning to grow and the tide of out-migration is about to turn. Good times are just around the corner.

Are they? Has anything really changed other than the size of government coffers?

Is Newfoundland and Labrador now truly an equal partner in Confederation or have the yardsticks simply shifted economically?

Rather than citing the countless, and often discussed disparities, wrong doings and cultural atrocities that have been, and continue to be, perpetrated on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador perhaps the best testament to the reasons why such “revolutionary reforms” are needed can be found in the words of two well known historical figures.

The first is Nobel Prize winner (for Science) and author, Alexis Carrel, who wrote:

"The first duty of society is to give each of its members the possibility of fulfilling his destiny. When it becomes incapable of performing this duty it must be transformed."

And Abraham Lincoln who said, “If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution”.

I’ll leave it to others to determine if those critera have been met or if enough spirit, vitality and fire remains in the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to respond should it be so.