I met Conrad Black a couple of times -- not that he'd remember me. He was (likely still is) quite unforgettable. A brilliant thinker, Black was never condescending even to the unimportant junior lawyer who briefly passed through his life.
And while many of my readers will not agree, I don't think justice was done - not even close to done - at his trial. I usually have faith in American courts (I even think Omar Khadr might get a fair shake) but what happened in Chicago to Black was not impartial and even-handed.
Black is a larger than life man -- he was a capitalist convinced of the merits of the system. And in fairness it served him pretty well until his downfall.
His tragic fall -- and its worthy of Shakespeare -- seems to have changed his view of society, at least to a degree. He went to Chicago believing in American Justice and left without that faith. He also seems to have seen the downside of raw capitalism. He writes eloquently about those left behind by the American system (and our system is much of a muchness).
Witness this passage from his piece about being a teacher in prison in the Post today:
"I would not meet the usual definition of a socialist, and many of my students acted unwisely and unscrupulously to get where they are.
But many are victims of legal and social injustice, inadequately provided for by the public assistance system, and over-prosecuted and vengefully sentenced. The greater competitiveness of the world makes the failures of American education, social services and justice unaffordable, as well as repulsive.
In tens of millions of undervalued human lives, as in the consumption of energy and the addiction to consumer debt, the United States pays a heavy price for an ethos afflicted by wantonness, waste and official human indifference."
Sadly much the same can be said of many in Canadian prisons, especially those of First Nations background.
It's a fine and moving article. The full story is here:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/11/14/conrad-black-the-transformative-effect-of-teaching-my-fellow-inmates.aspx
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
8 comments:
What a pointless, maudlin post. When Conrad Black was at the height of his influence, this is what he had to say about Canada's social safety net:
"A hammock."
"A dragnet for the aggrieved."
"Endowed martyrdom."
It's doesn't matter now one single bit that he's had a conversion experience.
Black's past views aside, I agree the justice system acted more like zealots than jurists. Given the fate of Hollinger and the Sun Times, who did they serve?
That is a question I would like to have an answer to.
Considering how the American Justice system has reacted to the Great American investment banking fraud, it makes Black's conviction even more ridiculous.
This has nothing to do with his personality or personal popularity. It has everything to do with a manipulated miscarriage of justice in my view.
Interesting post James.
Anon said:
"It's doesn't matter now one single bit that he's had a conversion experience."
I disagree. At least Black has an open mind to now look at both sides & with this "conversion" can now use it for good by writing about what he has learned. Many people read his articles & perhaps this will enlighten others who would not accept this pov from anyone else. Especially from so called "lefties/liberal/social progressives".
How many prisoners suddenly get a religious experience so that can push to get out of jail?
He's a jerk, period.
Many people read his articles & perhaps this will enlighten others who would not accept this pov from anyone else.
I doubt that. I think it will be the reaction we're seeing now: "God, he's even *more* brilliant than I ever thought!"
Conrad Black articulated and represented the elite backlash against everything Canadians had worked so hard for and used his media empire to disseminate that class-war propaganda, the consequences of which we're living with still. Also, he destroyed journalism in this country.
Conrad Black is a crook who, when he had the power vested in him from his ill-gotten gains, did his very best to wreck Canada's social system and everything it stands for.
He may be making a prison cell conversion to Marx and Lenin, but I, for one, don't believe a word of it.
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