Canadian Provincial Political Cultures

Canadian Provincial Political Cultures Canadian political culture is multi-layered and diverse. Three great countries have influenced the development of this culture The United States, The Great Britain and France. Thus, when it comes to Canada, it can not be studied in isolation from the rest of North America and Europe. Even though the expansion of North America was just a phase in extending the political and cultural dominance of the European superpowers, nonetheless, it helped to establish a course of economic change in Canada. During the last two hundred years, Canadian political culture has been shaped by five distinct waves of immigration all of which have left their own economic and cultural marks on the entire country (Easterbrook and Aitken, 1988: 3). The formation of Canada economically, culturally and politically is best described by Louise Hartzs â€Å"fragment theory† who argues that colonial societies, those like Canada, originated as fragments of larger European societies and that those societies remained marked during their history by the conditions of their origins. The word â€Å"fragment† implies that those new societies would not be the complete replicas of their parent ones but they would rather consist of the parts of those parent societies represented by those who decided to emigrate (Bellamy, Pammett, Rowat, 1976: 68). Further, the discovery of strategic natural resources in Canada like oil, gas, gold and others, created a dependency theory which is truly unique to the country staples theory of economic growth. Harold Innis, the originator of the theory, argued that the development of Canada consisted of the series of dependencies upon the natural recourses fur, fish, timber, minerals and others, al l of which, in turn, have dominated the economy of the country and were the primary export products at a time (Marchak, 1983: 21). The Maritimes The societies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island vary in the rates of development significantly. This region could be considered as the most traditional and conservative in Canadian political culture as a whole. The Maritimes are a rare example of how customs, traditions and beliefs are favoured over innovation and change. After the formation of responsible government in the 19th century, there were only marginal changes in practices and procedures of politics (Bellamy, Pammett, Rowat, 1976: 10-11). First settlers were immigrants who came directly from Britain Yorkshire, Ireland and Highland Scotland. The prize of relocating was worthy of a risk, the Maritimes offered something that Europe, settled and overpopulated, could not free land. Politically, Maritimes resembled their American neighbours rather than those back in Britain as the entire region remained under the firm sphere of influence of the New England. Despite that fact, Tory ideology in the region was strong before and after the American Revolution up until the third wave of immigration, when it was influenced greatly by the British liberals the same wave that brought Sir John A. Macdonald to Canada. Civil War in the United States had forced the Maritimes to re-think the idea of Confederation as it offered security and economic stability (Dunn, 2006: 17-18). Nova Scotia is the most advanced of all Atlantic provinces in respect to social, economic and political development. Halifax, Nova Scotias largest urban centre, has a higher rate of industrialization than other areas in the region. When it comes to staffing the bureaucracy there is less usage of patronage and the decisions are made solely on the principle of merit (Bellamy, Pammett, Rowat, 1976: 11). Religion comes as an integral part of the Maritimes political culture. There are four political parties in the PEI Conservative, Liberal, Catholic and Protestant. For years, it has been considered to be a tough task to predict which party would take the upper hand during the elections. One thing was for certain though fixed numbers of Catholics and Protestants would be elected every time regardless of which party would win the election (Dunn, 2006: 18-19). The Maritimes political culture is partially frozen in the 19th century. Today, just like two centuries ago, the government is considered as a negative force in the economy and society something that is not to be trusted. To confirm this, professor S.D. Clark has noted that â€Å"the fisherman of Nova Scotia were simple folk who had little understanding of the complexities of the economic, political and social world around them. Their problems seemed simple enough, made difficult only by the interferences of the government far removed and beyond their reach.† (Bellamy, Pammett, Rowat, 1976: 16). Newfoundland Newfoundland is a province that stands out from all the others. The province suffers from the old scars in its history and competing visions from the previous governments and up until today it tries to find a balance between integration and self-reliance. Rejecting the Confederation at first in 1867, which was a popular decision as home rule was favoured over industrial capitalism, the province accepted it in 1949 (Tomblin, 1995: 67-68). Escaping the bankruptcy in the 1930s, Newfoundland asked for a direct British rule by surrendering its self-governing dominion status gained previously by the Statute of Westminster. Unlike Canada, Newfoundland found itself automatically involved in World War II alongside Britain (Dunn, 2006: 16). Post war era, however, brought political change not only to Europe but to Canada as well. Weakened by the war, Britain was in decline and could no longer support Newfoundland financially, as Valerie Summers noted â€Å"In the post-World War II period of p olitical adjustments and British dollar shortages, the interests of the British government in eliminating the cost of maintenance of Newfoundlands administration led to Newfoundlands movement out of the British domain into Canadian jurisdiction† (Tomblin, 1995: 68). Newfoundland is quite distinct from the other provinces in its economic, social and cultural development. Being isolated from Canada and the rest of North America for many years it was greatly influenced in its traditions by the United Kingdom. Newfoundlanders were oriented toward the non-materialistic values of West Country England and Ireland their parent communities (Bellamy, Pammett, Rowat, 1976: 3-4). For centuries Newfoundlands economy was centered on cod fishing. The provinces population was mostly rural composed of enclaves which were called outports. The majority of outporters lived in a semi-feudal relationship with the fish merchants called the â€Å"truck† system. To put it in a few words, the â€Å"truck† system was a barter system of economic relationship, which has eliminated the concept of money from the outports completely. Since the confederation, the government began the program that encouraged vacation of the outports and moving their inhabitants to bigger cities (Ibid. p.4). Another distinct feature of Newfoundland is its extreme nationalism and cultural duality. While Irish Catholic immigrants flocked to St. Johns and Avalon Peninsula, the English Protestants preferred north of the island and the outports (Dunn, 2006: 15). This has created one of the most serious cleavages in the province split between the Irish and the English population. Newfoundland could be considered as â€Å"rurally fundamental† and only partially secularized society where religion still plays an important role in day-to-day activities. It remains more â€Å"British† than any other province in Canada (Bellamy, Pammett, Rowat, 1976: 7-8). Quebec The settlements in Canadas New France were emerging slowly in the early days of colonization; however, immigrants began to move in higher numbers once the fur trade became one of the most important staples in the region. After the treaty of Utrecht, all French North American lands were transferred under the control of the British. French-speaking population resented such a change thinking that it would threaten their ways of life, their culture and language (Croats, 2002: 18-19). Losing its North American lands, France remained far away in Europe, preoccupied with wars and matters in its remaining colonies Quebec appeared to be cut off from its parent country. The Catholic Church has served as a guardian of Quebecs values at that time and the Catholic clergy were seen as a New Frances societal leaders. Even though the British were officially in charge they guaranteed the continuation of Quebecs culture and traditions in return for loyalty to the Crown (Dunn, 2006: 20). This partnership lasted for many generations up until 1960s, when the rise of unprecedented nationalism in Quebec resulted due to collision of English liberal ideas and conservative views of the French. With receding conservatism and rising liberal ideas in Quebec in 1960s, the province began its quest for national self-determination in a spark of worldwide decolonization. Fair to say, it was rather a chain reaction to events that were happening in a number of former French colonies at a time, particularly in Africa (Ibid. p. 22). The passing of Bill 101 in 1977 by the Quebecs National Assembly has been seen as a sign of relief to the French; The Bill was the first solid document to ensure the permanence of their culture and language. The authors of the Bill sought to make French dominant in the province and to reverse the demographic trends which seemed to be working against them. Such a drastic change has affected the English-speaking population of Quebec negatively; even though there has been much resistance to the new laws by public services, mass media and labour movements the institutional discrimination in Quebec is still present at large (Clift and McLeod Arnopoulos, 1984: 186, 201-2). Quebecs conservatism, liberalism and radicalism have been shaped by its unique nationalist context which, in a way, explains why its links with its English-Canadian counterparts has always been weak and unstable. Culturally descending from the New France, Quebec is simply ideologically different than any other province in Canada (Dunn, 2006: 23). The presence of cultural pluralism is painful for both English and French Canadians in the province, which is exactly why the French community is not likely to take any fundamental steps which would worsen the situation even further (Clift and McLeod Arnopoulos, 1984: 201). Ontario Ontario differs from the other provinces in two major ways. First of all, with the population of almost twelve million people no other province comes close to it in terms of number of residents, diversity and size of its economy, accumulated wealth, its financial, corporate and media power concentrated in provinces large urban centres. Secondly, there are also significant differences in political culture due to Ontarios historical experiences, its economic interests, and evolution of its cultural, social and political institutions (White, 1997: 49). Political culture of such an old and multilayered society as Ontario is far from being a uniform construct. When small Ontario [rural] communities are taken as an example, it is hard to find an ‘Old Ontarian political pattern in perfect coexistence with others more of recent origin due to result of suburbanization, economic change and media influence. There are also distinct regional differences, most strikingly in Northern Ontario, and countless fissures of group rivalries and conflicting economic interests (Ibid, p.51). Ontarios founders were American counter-revolutionists, conservative liberals and Crown loyalists the supporters of strong executive government. Rejecting extreme liberalism, popular in the United States, refusing to separate religion and the state [as it was done in the US], Ontarios fathers wanted a province that would not resemble their southern neighbour in any way. Interestingly enough, it was in fact American liberalism that influenced Ontarios political culture greater than others. Provinces policymaking officials have followed the examples of their American counterparts whether it was concerning education or structure of the government (Dunn, 2006: 22). Ontario, situated intimately close to Quebec, has been more sympathetic to its ambitions than any province located to the West; furthermore, along with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, Ontarios legislature recognized Quebecs ‘distinct character in the resolution passed on the day of Quebecs referendum of 1995. Unlike Eastern, Western legislatures were not as eager to continue this trend (White, 1997: 437). . Surprisingly, Ontarians, so diverse and fractioned, have always had a clear appreciation of their common interests and highly developed ability for social cohesion; undeniably complex, Ontarios political culture has been consistently sustained for over two hundred years (Ibid. p.51). The Prairies Just over a century ago the prairies were archaic with little trace of habitation (Francis and Palmer, 1992: 27). It was not until the 1890s when the prairie west realized that capitalism, individualism and private property were the part of the environment, like the river valleys and the plains (Friesen, 1987: 242). With millions of square kilometres of land and millions of inhabitants the west represented enormous economic and political interest to ‘Old Canada. It was planned to create a ‘new investment frontier and all hopes lied on the pioneer-farmer who would relocate to the West and initiate an economic take off. To encourage settlement Canadian government promised to build a transcontinental railway system to unite Canada form coast to coast (Ibid. p.162). Manitoba, the most sensitive to Quebec of all prairies, entered Confederation as a bicultural and bilingual province. Ontario has been the most influential of eastern provinces to affect Manitobas policymaking. Urban socialism and agrarian liberalism outweighed toryism on the new frontier. However, due to the number of Ontarios settlers who moved into province, Manitobas toryism has been considered as on of the strongest in the west. The fourth immigrant wave brought in English labour-socialists and land-hungry Eastern Europeans who avoided the east and headed to relatively empty prairies (Dunn, 2006: 26-27). After the 1940s Manitoba was able to achieve a significant economic diversification. Provincial political life was stable up until 1969s elections when NDP was able to win popular support and overwhelm their Liberal rivals (Friesen, 1987: 219, 221). Saskatchewan is often depicted as a Western Canadian Britain. While majority of English immigrants passed Saskatchewan and headed for bigger cities, the provinces rural farm community grew rapidly it had more farmers than all other prairie provinces combined. These conservatively liberal Britons were mobilized enough to create a strong farmers union of the land Saskatchewans Farmers Union. Similarly to other prairie farmer movements, those of Manitoba and Alberta, it had one idea in mind, which was to create a socialist farm organization based on equity. However, when Farmer-Labour party emerged out of Saskatchewans ILP and united farmers the economic and thus political interest was shifted to cities rather than farms. Since that time socialist became steadily dependant on larger towns rather than rural communities. Two political parties have been competing for power in the recent decades, Saskatchewans social democrats and conservatives (Dunn, 2006: 28-29). Just like Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Alberta was a land of opportunity for new settlers. Since the 1940s Alberta has been considered as Canadas Cinderella. No other place has seen the growth more rapid, the accumulation of wealth so inevitable and the confidence so obvious. The discovery of oil in 1947 was a significant event as the province entered a new phase in its development. One of direct consequences of the oil boom was its impact on provinces population increase Alberta became the most populous in the prairie west (Friesen, 1987: 427). Alberta imitated the politics of the Great Plains state and tied itself closer to the US than any other prairie province. Due to a high volume of immigrants from the south in the early 1900s, there has been a higher number of American-born Albertans than those whose parents descended from Britain. American ideas have also dominated Albertas politics as more and more Americans settled in the provinces rural areas where radical liberalism have been espoused. Great Depression and discrepancies between prairies farmer unions led to the creation of Social Credit which was particularly strong in Alberta. This has further divided Saskatchewan and Alberta ideologically one was pro-socialist and another thought of a socialism as its enemy (Dunn, 2006: 30-31). British Columbia The completion of trans-Canada railway has been a paramount condition of British Columbias entrance into Confederation. It has been a major plan of the federal government to unite both east and west coasts by a key transportation route (Carty, 1996: 33). BCs resource-based economy was highly dependent on transportation and the opening of Panama Canal, in addition to Canadian Pacific railway, have significantly boosted provinces economy. Resembling Australia and its politics, BCs settlements inherited ideology of labour-socialism. The well organised political force was structured around major mining, lumbering and fishing industries of the remote one-industry towns. BCs agriculture has been quite fragmented, isolated and diverse, that is why the creation of United Farmers of BC as a political body has not been perceived seriously (Dunn, 2006: 31-32). Just like in Alberta, the CCF appeared in the 1930s depression years and quickly gained popular support. 1940s were characterized as continuation of cleavage between BCs working and privileged classes. Social Credit took control during the 1950s and like in Alberta was extremely anti-socialist (Ibid. p.32). British Columbia has always been seen as a ‘spoilt child of the Canadian Federation and its relations with the central government has always been called ‘touchy; as Norman Ruff observed in the early 1990s, â€Å"Ottawa-Victoria relations †¦ have long been characterized by misunderstanding and bemusement, by suspicion and anger and, worst of all, by periods of mutual indifference and detachment† (Carty, 1996: 32-33). Conclusion If to compare political culture to a number it would not be constant but rather a variable that changes over a period of time, keeping some attributes and gaining some new ones. Throughout its history, Canada remained uniquely united politically, despite fragmentation, severe regionalism and separatist threats. Canadians today do not think the way their predecessors thought a century ago, as their values and beliefs, though slowly, but changed over time. Canadians became less ‘British, more liberal [in terms of worldview], favouring individualism rather than collectivism, fighting for equality of rights, generally accepting multiculturalism and diversity (Brooks, 2008: 1, 5, 30-31). Works cited Bellamy, David J., Pammett, Jon H., Rowat, Donald Cameron. 1976.The Provincial political systems: comparative essays. Agincourt, Ontario: Methuen Publications Brooks, Stephen. 2008. Canadian Political Culture. Department of Political Science, University of Windsor, November 29, 2009 Carty, Kenneth R. 1996. Politics, policy, and government in British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press Clift, Dominique, McLeod Arnopoulos, Sheila. 1984. The English fact in Quebec. Canada: McGill-Queens University Press Croats, Rennay. 2002. Quebec. Calgary: Weigl Education Publishers Ltd., Dunn, Christopher. 2006. Provinces: Canadian Provincial Politics. 2nd ed. Toronto: Higher Education University of Toronto Press Easterbrook, William Thomas, Aitken, Hugh G. J. 1988. Canadian economic history. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Francis, R. Douglas, Palmer, Howard. 1992. The Prairie West: historical readings. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press Friesen, Gerald .1987. The Canadian prairies: a history. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Marchak, M. Patricia. 1983. Green gold: the forest industry in British Columbia. BC, Canada: University of British Columbia Tomblin, Stephen G. 1995. Ottawa and the outer provinces: the challenge of regional integration in Canada. Toronto: James Lorimer Co. Ltd., Publishers White, Graham.1997.The government and politics of Ontario. 5th ed.Toronto: University of Toronto Press

Describing Death

Giovanni Martinelli’s early career as a Florentine painter is relatively unknown. It is documented that he moved to Florence in 1634. Prior to relocating, Martinelli produced Memento Mori (Death Comes to the Dinner Table). This piece has a comparable style to the Florentine painters Filippo Tarchiani and Anastagio Fontebuoni. Memento Mori is displayed in a clear narrative style. Martinelli created a colorful and dramatic scene that was underscored by the hasty arrival of death. Some translations state that Memento Mori means â€Å"Remember, you shall die. Here, Martinelli portrays a group of five individuals of varying ages. They appear to be from a wealthy stock. They wear expensive clothing and are seen at a dinner table partaking in a party of sorts. They are gallivanting around a table that is filled with an abundant collection of exotic fruits, pies, and pastries. Along with the food, Martinelli painted various wine glasses that appear to be hand-crafted and of the highe st fashion. Giovanni used bright, shiny silken wear with colors ranging from yellow, to peach, to blue. The colors complement each figure, adding to their personality and desire for greed. These wealthy-looking people appear—almost instantaneously—to be in a rigid state of duress. On the far right side of the painting, we see, in dark shades, the resemblance of a skeleton holding up an hourglass, as if to say, â€Å"cheers. † This one-time jovial band of feasters is seen reacting to the new character intruding on their high-standing party. The faces offer gestures of utter shock and dismay. All the focus shifts from their colorful mealtime festivities to this arch nemesis, and back again. The skeletal metaphor of death leans into one man’s shoulder. This man closest to death is in the act of clutching his heart. His eyes dilate toward the figure of death and his mouth, just slightly ajar, appears to be ready to cave open in utter horror. He, however, is too dumbfounded by this apparent figure of death’s close proximity to do anything but freeze in horror. ANALYSIS OF MEMENTO MORI There are two men at the rear end of the table, furthest from death. They are also horrified. One man is seen posturing with arms wide-open, even though his is furthest from death. He is attempting to back away; yet, at the same time, he is powerless and unable to leave the empty gaze of death’s vision; for running will do no good to the mortal man, regardless if he led a life of sin-hood or martyrdom. Morals were almost epidemic in Martinelli’s fresco works. Memento Mori is another classic story-telling scene with moralistic intent. The era of this 17th century creation occurred at a time when plague was a hearty, healthy killer. The deathful onslaught of plague, in all its pestilence, came to towns without warning. It attacked the poor and wealthy alike, caring little for a person’s status in regards to wealth, politics, or religion. To create the moral fabric surrounding the powers of death through plague, Martinelli displayed deep imagery between the youthful party-goers who were enjoying their food and intoxicating drinks. He contrasts these free-willing, wealthy individuals with the ghastly—even chilling—reality of death. He does so by casting death’s chin over one man’s shoulder. This imagery adds power and personality to the fresco. Martinelli displays the image of death coming to this gathering alone and without emotion or guile. The lone figure of death is shown to uproot the lives of this group of healthy, stress-free people—startling the living daylights out of everyone, young and old. MODERN-DAY IRONY Today, some four-hundred years after Giovanni Martinelli finished his last brush stroke to canvas, we remain as close to the fear of death’s randomness as the 17th century plague-ridden societies were. For 300 years plague hung over the lives of Europeans like an omnipresent cloud,† said Mormando, who is an Italian studies professor at Boston College. This statement, today, holds tremendous weight to our real-world current lifestyle. Today, terrorism, war, suicide bombing, and the like are the molds that cast this same skeletal image at our kitchen table. Terrorism is a specter that comes at us in many forms: anthrax, subway bombs, and suicide hijacker leading to the massive death of September 11, 2001. Just as smallpox left past centuries in a state of despair and real fear, we, today, see how fear forces us to change our reality. This changing reality holds an ominous likeness to the changes that the banqueters in Momento Mori faced. Martinelli’s plague painting is characteristic 17th century Italian. The horrific tendency of the subject matter never destroyed the utter beauty—even charismatic charm—of the oils that he chose to mix in his representation of terror and deathly destruction. For in his era of epidemics and massive death, hardly a decade passed without plague haunting a town and bringing it to its knees. When this painting was created, there wasn’t anything small about death. It came in massive, near apocalyptic proportions, decimating generations in the blink of an eye. So, the timing of Martinelli’s piece was right in line with the mood of the generation. This connection further enlivened his work back then. Since we, in the dawn of the 21st century, can relate to massive death and fear through terrorism, war, and civil upheaval around the globe, it also adds empowering imagery to his age-old mastery. The imagery of Memento Mori is further encapsulated by the grave images on these wealthy party-goers’ faces. The hand-crafted beautiful likeness on the faces of those facing death offers deep-rooted thinking that says: As some of the Italians survived a plague-ridden epidemic, they continued to look-over-their-shoulders awaiting the next surprise visit by the specter of death. It’s rather haunting how this parallels with what terrorism instills upon societies around the planet today. Plague paintings like Martinelli’s, many times, depicted a person pinching their nose to refrain from smelling the horror of death in the air. Martinelli, however, appeared to glaze over his moral of death and the fear of death by not rendering any people in his paintings to be abhorred by the scent of death. This may further enhance the true lifestyle of the wealthy in the 17th century: they had more than they could fathom. So, was Martinelli a closet optimist? Or was his subliminal imagery set up to leave us with this question: How can the rich continue to ignore the fate of death, and why don’t they seem concerned with finding ways to better humanity instead of bettering their personal property and lavishness? In closing, we must also consider the element of hope and healing, and why it is not apparent in Memento Mori. We must consider the ‘miasma theory’ and its transmission by way of corrupt air. It’s the complete randomness of plague that Martinelli depicts so well that adds such force to this painting. As we continue to live in corrupt societies, it seems that the fear of death will continue to hang over our shoulders. Terrorism is likened to the countless plagues that washed over communities those many centuries ago. As death and terror come and go, the art of the masters remain untouched.

20th Centaury Poetry Assignment – Welsh Poetry Comparison

This essay will examine ideas of Welshness presented by Kelly Jones the lead singer of the Stereophonics and Welsh Poet R S Thomas and explore how they put them across. Both convey similar ideas in their work but in very different contexts Kelly Jones was born in June 1974, in the same hospital as Richard Jones. They grew up in a small village called Cwmaman. It is describes as a dull and lifeless area where nothing much goes on. With a population of only 1000, it's a very closed in community, with old women twitching their curtains and everybody knows each other's business. The small village of Cwmaman was a mining village, though the pit has long since shut the houses that Kelly Jones grew up in were originally built for colliery bosses with the loftier ones being occupied by colliery bosses. Kelly Credits Cwmaman as having a good pub culture by which he means kids is allowed to go into licensed premises with their parents. There are four main key ideas/themes in this poem, time, boredom, routine, and escaping. The time of the song is important, because in the video to this song we see people walking back, and the Stereophonics are the only people walking forward this suggesting that Cwmaman is a place where there is no opportunities, and only the Sterephonics are making something out of a bad situation. The theme routine, suggests that there is nothing new going on in Cwmaman, and that everything is the same, people do the same thing day in day out so nothing ever changes, and the last theme escaping could be talking about the local character â€Å"Mac the knife† and â€Å"the ladies wearing lipstick on their teeth† and how they escape by drinking and having fun, forgetting all the problems in this village The song â€Å"More Life In A Tramp's Vest† was written by Kelly Hones on the back of a paper back one day while he was working in the fruit and veg stall in the market. The title â€Å"More Life In A Tramp's Vest† has a special meaning to it, this being that a trams vest which hasn't been washed more months on end could have lots of flees in it, therefore the flees are happily bouncing around, so what Kelly Jones is trying to say is the flees are having more fun by being on the tramp than Cwmaman has year in year out. Kelly Jones opens the poem by saying † I get camping eyes in the final hour† If you are said to have camping eyes then generally you are very tired, because if you go camping then you hardly get any sleep, so what he is saying is he's tired. In the final hour could mean his final hour of work. He is trying to say he's tired in the last hour of work â€Å"Last mute shoppers picking cauliflower† Here Kelly Jones is saying how the last minute shoppers are being so fussy on the vegetables they are picking, and they are holding him up from closing the stall down. â€Å"The fuss you make, you swear They were buying a car† The people who are choosing cauliflower are being so fussy that they are talking lots of time picking through them trying to find the one that has the least marks, and this is making Kelly Jones very angry because he is waiting to go home. â€Å"Always moan, moan its not so cheap, Cheaper still, cheaper still down the street† This could mean that the people who are holding him up from going home are being picky and trying to get the price even cheaper, by saying the person on the stall down the road have the same goods for cheaper. â€Å"I loose my rag and tell them Take your back and shop down there† Kelly Jones is now very frustrated because these people are being so fussy, stopping him from closing his stall, coning about the price of goods, so he yells at them and says go down there to shop. We can sympathise because he has been working all day and is probably tired of boredom. â€Å"Closing down, closing down another road One-way system steals the show† Closing down, closing down another road could mean that they are closing down another road of their life, they are running out of alternatives just like if you were in a car going down a one way street you have no where to go but if you have a normal road you can go up and down it, one way system steals the show, this could be the equivalent to their lives, meaning that there is no future what so ever in Cwmaman, and they that the people are doing nothing about it. â€Å"Mac the knife swings a can And sings the day away† These sentences could mean that this local character Mac the Knife is trying to escape from boredom by drinking and trying to drown his sorrows, and singing the day away could seem like good entertainment for him because he doesn't know what he is doing. The chorus of this song has a persuasive technique, because instead of just saying there is more life in a tramps vest they say more life three times before continuing with in a tramps vest, then they repeat the whole line again. This is a repetitive technique used to make something stand out more and get a point across that there is more life in a tramps vest. â€Å"Flower man sits down in the street Surrounded by stock that he brought back last week† The flower man who had bought stock last week cannot sell it, so he is in the middle of it probably trying to sell it, which could be a hard task because people normally buy flowers to celebrate something but because in Cwmaman there is nothing to celebrate no body is buying any flowers. In this next line there is a very clever word association, there is no real effect for this, its just better than having a normal sentence, it says â€Å"Bring back the ladies wearing lipstick on their teeth Make up, we make up a crappy joke† The word association is with â€Å"lipstick† and â€Å"make up,† but why do they want the ladies to come back, is it because they were the only source of fun and life in that town? And why are they making up a crappy joke? Why not make a good one? The answer is that since these ladies have left Cwmaman for whatever reason the life of the village has gone down and become boring. The jokes that were considered as rubbish now seem like good jokes that people will laugh at. â€Å"Sit back, relax and have a smoke† If you read this sentence, it says sit back which could mean take a step back and look at our life, then you have a comma which is like a little pause, then you have relax, and have a smoke. This could mean that Kelly Jones wants us the reader to sit back, pause, relax which is like another pause, and take a look at his life, and the stressfulness of work, and how he smokes to relax. On the last 2 lines of the song it says â€Å"Mac the knife swings a can And sings the day away† This is a repeat of what is said on the end of the 3rd verse of this song, which could be to try and say this is what we all should be doing because Mac the Knife is enjoying himself. The last part of the song is the chorus, which is said again. This brings a negative end to the poem because not only has it ended where it begun, it proves that there has been no progress in the development of Cwmaman. Kelly Jones' aim was not to show the readers/listeners that Wales is a boring place to live, but to say that there is nothing to do in Cwmaman. The tone of this poem was mainly sad â€Å"I get camping eyes in the final hour† he's getting tired of work and stressed over what he is doing, the song if very negative â€Å"there's more life more life more life in a tramps vest† if you are saying that there is more life in a tramp that goes around smelling all day long then things must be very bad! This song shows some signs of Kelly Jones getting frustrated â€Å"I loose my rag and tell them take your bag and shop down there† if he is saying this to a customer, he must be very angry because he is telling somebody to go and shop somewhere else instead of coming to his stall to shop. The pace of this poem seems to speed up as they get closer to the main chorus, probably because they are trying to let of some steam and have some fun. Over all Kelly Jones makes welsh life in Cwmaman look dull, lifeless and boarding, he is continually negative about Cwmaman in the song and it seems that this mining village is going no where fast!

10 Steps to Effective Conflict Resolution