I completed my third trip up to Waterloo this term. This time was for Council, the main highlight dealing with the Service Review. These trips have really been draining me and I can’t wait until the fall when I don’t have to travel up every month.

I’ve been taking the train lately because I find it is the best choice for me. When trying to decide how to travel you really have only two land based choices, VIA Rail and Greyhound. Regardless of my passive agressive undertones in the last sentence, I’ve taken both services and have to say that VIA is much more comfortable and has more convenient times for my needs. So each month I pack my stuff, hitch a ride to the train station and travel to Waterloo to endure the thrills of council. At least I have leg space and can actually open my laptop fully on the train.

So…where this is leading is that I’ve noticed something on the train. People like to show off (this includes myself now in response to them). It’s very subtle though, and may only be within a certain demographic. My main observation stems from the people who sat near me on both my ride up to Waterloo and my ride back to Windsor. Most people either sleep, listen to music/watch a movie, or read a book/magazine. The latter seemed to be the most common and the range of material was quite interesting. Personally, I was just listening to my iPod but it seemed to me that people were flashing their book covers (even holding it in clearly visible sight line) towards others on the train.

Everyone has a little bit of curiosity and is quite aware of the curiosity of individuals around them. On my way up I saw people flashing a Cosmo, a Bible and book called “The Fear of God”, and for those who didn’t have something, they quickly turned to VIA’s on train magazine (which I might add wasn’t that bad). I had brought a few titles with me but wasn’t in a particularly fond mood of reading at the time. On the way back I had used my ticket stub as a bookmark (I had been using my new passport at home as one…I really need to get a proper bookmark), and when I went to get it to give to the attendant I caught the person next to me trying to peak at what it was.

Of course I, always willing to entertain some curiosity, proceeded to lay my book in just the right position as to make it clear for my neighbour to view. I expect it probably would have caused a little bit of discussion if I wasn’t purposely wearing my headphones to avoid conversations. I haven’t had the most intellectually stimulating and rewarding conversations with strangers on group transit before, and I don’t feel the need to test my luck again. I had peaked around my general area and all I saw was a book on Cognitive Science and a copy of the Da Vinci Code (which to me indicated the person was a little behind in the times…by a few years).

So…my book. It was The Rights Revolution by Michael Ignatieff. This “book” is really a collection of his 2000 Massey Lectures and is on a very contentious topic. Rights debate is frequent in all parts of the world, from dinner table chatter to international court rulings. I haven’t completed the book (probably will on my flight on Friday to Thunder Bay), but I am getting a general idea of where Mr. Ignatieff stands on rights. He seems to favour individual rights over group rights and he also supports interventionalist policies when needed (as reflected in his decision to support the extention of the Afghanistan mission with Mr. Brison and a majority of MPs). The lectures focus on Canadian history and often (maybe too often) reference Aboriginal Rights and Quebecois rights.

My impression from all this is that Mr. Ignatieff (if I were to label him) is a neo-libertarian. He’s pragmatic but focused. This is in slight contrast to me (I guess I self-identify as a progressive libertarian). I have a strong advertion to interventionalist policies. Mr. Ignatieff came close in one chapter when he mentioned that human rights are only being infringed on if the person says so (that is we shouldn’t force our views on others) but he still has that clause for action. Maybe I’ll change my mind by the end of the book.

Currently Listening to: Inside Out - Eve 6

Random Wikipedia Article - Sokal Affair