Zeitgeist

What are you talking about? We’ve seen Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl, Harper Lee, J.K. Rowling and other great authors canceled over ridiculous language policing and trigger words taken out of context. The conservatives are just keeping sexually out of primary education and keeping Marxist and racist identity politics out of public schools. Good. Keep the radicals out of public schools.

You don’t even know American history. You do understand that the Republican Party was the Northern party that freed the slaves? You do understand that the Democrats were the Southern pro-KKK party that treated Black people as “the poor” who the Democrats would take care of and that this grew up under FDR? The Democrats now pretend to be the part of equality, but actually they’re the party of equity, which requires having designated weak/victim groups that need help. It’s paternalistic. Only the Republicans are closer to the idea that all are created equal, everyone should be treated equally under the law, and justice should be blind. The Democrats did some good work during the Civil Rights movement. JFK was good. I liked Bill Clinton well enough. Fine if you want to be a Democrat, but don’t call Republicans fascists or Nazis, or if you do, say as much of Democrats.

I think what Dougie is getting at, and I calmly lay down palms for this fact, is that the crucible of what created bi-cultural and even multicultural Canada was laid out by the Brits from that era, culminating in the MacDonald-Cartier compromise of Confederation. British North America enshrines francophone language and religious rights (the Roman Empire) in the Canadian BNA Act, Treaty of Westminster, and eventually the Canadian Constitution. Canadian Constitutional Monarchy enshrines the union of Rome and Protestantism. In fact, the BNA protects both for all time. That is the very essence and genius of Canada. Make no mistake, however, Judeo-Christian God (and Muslim) is underpinning it. Indigenous spirituality and a sense of the sacred land is enshrined through treaties constitutionally. Tear down any of that and Canada falls. Canada is also incredibly outward-looking and multicultural, very cosmopolitan. Those are all great virtues that must not disappear beneath “Post-National State” China-UN central planning.

Yes both sides acted badly. Even as a Catholic I can see a strong argument for England breaking away from Roman control, because of problems in that Church: schisms, indulgences, sketchy popes, Spanish Inquisition, etc. All of Christian Europe was involved in the Crusades. Both Muslims and Christians murdered and mistreated people. I personally support the Catholic Church over any other (including the church of Henry), but no one can deny that Britain prospered under Elizabeth the First and that the English speaking peoples have largely been a huge civilizing force for the better, in spite of colonial excesses. I’d rather be a British subject than a citizen of almost anywhere else. I’m not even sure Post-National Canada is better politically than Britain anymore. I think that Canada has declined under the current federal government.

Yes but I oppose cancelling such organizations without a damn good reason. I vehemently oppose slavery but oppose taking down Robert E. Lee’s statue. Add plaques with new voices and perspectives, but I almost always oppose bans on expression and social organizations, unless they are of a terrorist nature. Plotting and/or carrying out violence is NOT okay, but that’s not what the Orange Order does.

As a Catholic with Scott’s-Irish background and a British parent, and as someone who has studied the history of the treatment of Catholics over British history, I think I can weigh in on this. My grandfather remembers a very Protestant Toronto where there were signs in stores barring Catholics from employment. Catholics couldn’t own property and didn’t have voting rights for a long time in Britain. Canada was more progressive because Confederation accepted the Catholic historic reality of the residents of Quebec, Acadia, and Francophone communities as far west as Manitoba and even Alberta. It took a long time, but the British Commonwealth ended discrimination against Catholics. There are no discriminatory racial and religious policies in England and English Canada today. The Anglican Church is part of British culture and Canadian culture. It is de-emphasized across Canada and there is no prayer in public schools. Britain ushered in bans on slavery before just about every other country, including the United States. No doubt there is tremendous cultural value and meaning in recognizing our British cultural heritage, including recognizing William of Orange and associated societies. Do NOT cancel or heap accusations of discrimination against the Orange Order. Enough of cancel culture and rewriting history.

Religious people and scientists can come together on respecting nature. I also think that heavy central planning has proven to be a failure. Social justice warriors used to talk about subsidiarity and keeping decisions local, which I support. It’s somewhat libertarian actually. Instead we have big interventionist government, global central planning, and stakeholder capitalism, which is a quasi-fascist marriage between corporations and government. Trudeau is basically a puppet of the UN and ESG strategists at the WEF. When you don’t value the hard work of past generations and the traditional cultures of a people, you get the Liberal Party of Canada’s Post-National State and an ethos reminiscent of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

I try to avoid tribalism. I take each argument on its merit, no matter who says it or what political affiliation the poster has. I think there are more excesses on the left because I see a mischaracterization of what conservatives are trying to do by sticking to biology on gender (in terms of significant differences and accommodations), keeping sexuality out of primary education, and preventing new forms of racism that categorize people primarily by superficial traits like skin colour rather than character, talent, etc. I was very critical of Trump, but I can still point to a few positive things that he tried to do in terms of reeling in China, keeping the US out of wars, and supporting free speech. I worry about the go along to get along enablers of ridiculous policies. I see this in folks like Hardner and others who call themselves conservatives but won’t take a stand on conservative values. At least be what you claim to be. I was never especially conservative but shifted that way because I’m watching the left destroy basic rights like free speech. They used to claim to follow science, yet clearly that’s become secondary to what someone feels.

One of my favourite commentators right now says it quite powerfully:

You’re the most extremist poster on here. By seeing Nazis and fascists everywhere without being able to explain what’s Nazi of fascist about them, you reveal much more about your own misguided beliefs than anyone else’s. Having said that, there are enough people with similar immature perspectives as yours to explain why guest speakers are shouted off campuses and it feels like the Cultural Revolution in most workplaces and government organizations today. You have the judgemental self-assurance of the inquisitor who thinks she can assess a person singlehandedly without evidence and mete out punishment unaccountably.

The biggest authoritarian threats right now are from the left. That wasn’t true not that long ago. Basically the radical left is running formerly moderate liberal parties, universities, large organizations, and almost all media. Not toeing the line runs the risk of losing employment and status, to the extent of cancellation and erasure.

You make things up, like this business of a poster saying Jews are funding BLM or something. You just pulled that out of the air. You call moderate people Nazis and fascists and fail to see the log in your eye on radical left violence. You’re no better than a right wing radical, but what’s worse is that you call everyone who is moderate a radical.

The Republicans are now also mostly left of centre, like our Conservatives. You’re just a radical Marxist-Nihilist. Transhumanism is an assault on humanity because it puts ego and tech above nature and all else. Mutilating children, violating women’s private spaces, and taking away women’s athletic opportunities is not progressive. Each individual is a human worthy of basic human decency. No one should harass a trans person, and I think that there are reasonable ways to accommodate for washrooms and provide athletic opportunities. Stop pretending to see fascists and Nazis where reasonableness exists. Your positions are the most authoritarian I’ve seen in a while. Hardner has blown it on this thread, backing a radical and helping further destabilize society. I don’t know how you dare call yourself conservative. You’re far left.

The federal Liberals are incapable of balancing a budget. Like someone who eats to lose weight, this government spends to lower inflation and debt. It’s a recipe for disaster, but it comes from a government that hands control of our country to foreign governments and believes that debts take care of themselves.

This is compelling: