Everybody's Wrong But Me

Born in 1973 in Montréal, Québec, Canada of French parents. Frédéric Van Caenegem travelled a bit everywhere in his tender youth. His parents finally settled in the suburbs of Montréal (Mont-Saint-Hilaire) when he was 4 years old. An eventless childhood, Frédéric was then a quiet and introverted child, qualities that never left him even if he is less timid today.

Regularly first of his class in school, Frédéric Van Caenegem had difficulty in French (too many rules and exceptions according to him) and in physical Education (the weakness of any intellectual child probably) his strong topics were Mathematics, Geography and History. He made some friends in high school. He also discovered an interest for astronomy and physics.

Frédéric Van Caenegem did his CEGEP (studies between High School and University) in hard sciences at the Collège Édouard-Montpetit, near Montréal. He discovered freedom, a feeling that certainly has exited him, but also frightened him a bit; in other words, he was a teen. Exact sciences (in particular physics) did not interest him anymore and he was getting more interested in social sciences, in particular Philosophy. He also discovered he had a talent for writing (formerly his weakness). He finished nevertheless his studies in sciences but without great interests. He then registered at the Université de Montréal in political science.

Why political science? He always liked Geography (for which he has a remarkable talent; Frédéric Van Caenegem knows more than 10 000 place names) and History (less talented, but very interested still). Moreover, feeling that Humanity is not going in a good direction (triumph of wild capitalism and nuclear over-armament amongst other things) he thought that he could (maybe just a little) use his talents to make the world a little less dangerous and a little bit more just. I know, nothing very original, but his conviction (which one can change the world) never left him.

His studies were not viewed by him as a process of accumulation of new knowledge, but rather as the development of a capacity to simplify knowledge so than it can be simply explained to others who were not able to understand complex social issues! After all, everyone has the capacity to understand anything if it is well explained. Complexity is nothing more then the multiplication of simple interactions. Frédéric Van Caenegem also believes that one cannot study a field (in his case power in human societies) without knowing and integrating other fields. During his studies he discovered the macro-economy and the economic theories of Marx, and the social analysis of Machiavel on the human nature. Frédéric Van Caenegem is also, of course, inspired by Rousseau and Sartre.

After his bachelor degree, Frédéric Van Caenegem went on to live one of the most difficult period of his life. The end of his education lead to nothing in short term. It was a time of unemployment and depressing computing studies. During this period he questioned about all the aspects of his life (love, friendship, career and even philosophy and spirituality). He eventually detached himself a little from the fatalism of Marx and started to declare himself less atheist but rather humanist. Such is explained in a short essay (“My democratic deception”). With time gone by, he considers that “Montreal was at the end very hard with me”.

After his studies in computing, Frédéric lives in many places (Québec, Bolivia, France) and tried many venues. But he seems to have a preference for Vancouver, on the Canadian West Coast where he moved in 2000.  Since living in Vancouver, Frédéric has also evolved politically speaking.  Declaring himself less “socialist”, he now considers himself more “progressive”.

Frédéric Van Caenegem believes that society can be improved slowly but surely. He also believes that the problem of poverty which currently struck all human societies (rich and poor alike) are not due to a lack of growth but to an overproduction (accompanied by a inadequate distribution of the surplus). Frédéric Van Caenegem believes in the benefits of the market economy and the the potentialities of socialism.

According to him, the challenge of the left in the 21st century is not to manage a controlled market economy (social-democracy), but rather to invent, slowly and starting from the current liberal society, a “non-bureaucratic socialism” or “socialism with human face” to take the expression of Alexander Dubcek.

Here is where Frédéric Van Caenegem in his personal road that is his life.

To contact him by email: vancf@yahoo.com