(Anger and the law).

• Author: Mildon, Marsha

Some days, it seems like anger is everywhere. As I write, there are thousands of people in the street shouting "Liar Liar" at the Premier of British Columbia as he heads into the Legislature for his first Speech from the Throne; there is yet another warning from the FBI that angry terrorists are again threatening to attack Americans; and in Canada, fans of the elegant sport of figure-skating are enraged at the Olympic judges of pairs skating.

As different as these incidents of anger and their triggers are, I think there are some important similarities that point to a disturbing trend in today's world. If we examine the case of the pairs figure skating, several factors emerge that help explain the anger. First, a huge audience watched the pairs skating; the actual competition itself was visible to the world and anyone watching was able to use the evidence of their own senses, mediated by the television cameras, to evaluate which pair was best. Then a panel of judges made their decision, but in secret, using criteria and procedures for their judgment that are not well-known to the large audience. Finally, there is not a straight forward appeal process; those who disagree with the decision feel helpless to change it.

So how is this similar to that of protestors in British Columbia or anti-American terrorists? In BC, there was an election in early 2001 during which the campaigning Gordon Campbell promised tax cuts, no cuts in services, no cuts to education or health care. While one may question the political savvy of an electorate that believed that combination of promises, nevertheless the promises were made and the Campbell Liberals were elected with 77 of 79 seats. So one can say that the promises, like the skating competition, were visible to a large audience who were able to use their own observations to evaluate the candidates. Once elected, the government has, indeed, cut taxes, but has also made significant cuts to services from highway maintenance to child protection, and by freezing funds to health and education, effectively cut those services as well. Though these decisions were not made in secret, there is great dispute about the evidence and criteria on which they were based. And because of the size of the majority, there is no way to challenge these decisions until the end of this mandate, so anyone who disagrees with the decisions feels helpless.

On a global level, some would argue that people worldwide can see that the new world...