As we turn the corner on another decade, hopes for a more peaceful society seem to be somewhat elusive –  locally, nationally and globally.

Here in Vancouver our city Council has approved the licensing of Mixed Martial Arts, a sport that takes boxing to another level, while still retaining its key goal – one man displaying the speed, ferocity and strength to knock another unconscious. On the national stage, the rate of handgun homicides in our major urban centres has been climbing for a decade, as young men with guns kill their adversaries for a wide range of reasons, ranging from theft and failure to repay debt, to imagined or real insult.  On the international stage, matters are even worse. We have literally tens of thousands of individuals, again almost always men, committed to killing as part of some ill-conceived political and/or religious agenda (or mental illness).

What’s the solution? Well, first, let’s separate the mixed martial arts combatants from the young gangsters and the terrorists; at least these folks are playing by some rules. And I must confess, as much as I dislike the blood and the violence, I’m not sure that prohibition of the sport is ultimately a helpful strategy. Increased regulation brings increased safety for those who choose to participate: restrictions on eye gouging and groin kicks, for example, and the comfort of knowing that a properly certified neurologist is sitting ringside.

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We climbed into the back of the taxi and began an air-conditioned 45 minute drive through the back roads of St. Thomas, en route to our hotel. The town of Charlotte Amalie was our point of departure, the hub of the island — a home port for cruise ships and folks like ourselves, travellers by ferry from the British Virgin Islands.

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My wife and I moved to Bowen Island in the spring of 1979, enchanted by the vast green spaces, the swirl of wood smoke on a damp March morning, and the interesting mix of what we would soon describe as hippies and rednecks. There were fewer than 800 full-time residents then, and in most important respects we had all come to Bowen Island to get away from urban life. After all, you don’t move to a small island, accessible only by ferry, for the nightlife and the shopping; most of us are, almost by definition, a little reclusive. We value community, but we also like privacy, quiet and nature, and the lifestyle that these characteristics afford.

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