By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
There is a quote going around the internet that says, “Never feel sorry for raising dragon-slayers in a time where there are actual dragons.”
While I assume it is quite rare to see an actual dragon on your commute to work, there are indeed dragons all around us.
Yes I understand the dragons are metaphorical, but the crises all of us face would appear extreme even in Eragon, the Hobbit, Game of Thrones or any other high fantasy.
Thus, people may not have a need for an actual dragon slayer, but people seem to be preparing for a different kind of Armageddon.
We really are living in an unreal world where the line between unreal and real is indeed itself unreal.
Take your pick between the pandemic, the opioid crisis, the polarizing political environment, the wealth gap, the continued neglect of any real attempt at reconciliation, or climate change, there are real crises of almost biblical proportions engulfing us at every turn.
The final nail in the coffin may have been the pandemic that struck the fear of God in people, alternatively or co-presently, the fear of climate change which got people preparing to raise their own 21st century dragon slayer, or shall I say their 21st century ship builder.
New parents in BC are hoping their child will be the one with the ship to save them from sure death and Armageddon, the giant floods of climate change must be nigh, because the most popular baby name in British Columbia for 2021 was Noah.
Yes Noah, followed by Oliver and Olivia, Liam, Theodore, Jack, Emma, Lucas, Leo, Sofia.
Noah, one of the most widely recognized biblical figures, known for building his ark to save representatives of the animal kingdom from the wrath of an angry God is a unique name in the list, as for the others, they represent a lack of diversity.
British Columbia is an incredibly diverse province, it is actually the most ethnically diverse province in Canada. About 30 per cent of British Columbians immigrated to BC from another country. Approximately one quarter are visible minorities, and another five per cent are Indigenous.
So the question remains why is this diversity not being translated into the most popular baby names? The other question it raises is the question of what do we intend the next generation to grow up to be?
Shall they grow up to perpetuate an already dying anthropocentric, patriarchal, eurocentric shape of humanity? Or are we planning to raise dragon slayers, ship builders, and architects for a generation that redeems the harms of the past?
Are we raising leaders or followers?
Are we raising critical thinkers who are taught to scrutinize the traditions of the past generations?
The difficult part may not even be the dragons themselves, but their recognition. The realization and appreciation of the fact that there are indeed dragons to be slain. It is not only that the dragons are afoot, they are in a full sprint ahead hell bent on destruction.
Wolves are difficult to recognize if they are in sheep’s clothing, dragons are difficult to recognize when they appear as the physical and cultural infrastructure of the very lives we live. Gargoyles were meant to ward off evil, not be evil.
Only time will tell what ends up happening, for now we have received a newly inducted class of potential ship builders. Hopefully they will build enough ships to face the treacherous waters ahead.
It all begins with recognition, and maybe, just maybe, baby names.
