Zeitgeist

I agree, but the Liberals propagandize them and stoke fear of “anti-immigrant extremism” to make immigrants feel like the Liberals are their protectors. Of course it’s condescending and paternalistic, even racist. It’s also anti-freedom of opportunity. The Liberals have a tax-payer funded program box for you to occupy. Just vote Liberal, take the handout, and don’t make waves.

There is a very fair point to be made that mass immigration, if it comes too fast and furious, creates serious social tensions and cultural conflict, especially from parts of the world that don’t share our liberal-democratic values or where disdain towards the “colonial” founding cultures of England and France is prevalent. These are things worth considering if you believe there’s a Canadian culture worth preserving and that this isn’t just International Tax Jurisdiction 1867.

That’s a good point. Pat King is apparently extremist because he said something ridiculous about government trying to replace white people from his car window. It was stupid, but he didn’t prescribe violence or talk about one race being superior to another to my knowledge.

I got vaccinated but oppose the mandates. It’s about protecting individual rights as enshrined in our constitution for many protesters. Whether it’s medical discretion or freedom of movement, protest, or any other right, these freedoms are clearly fragile and must be protected.

That’s what happens in totalitarian countries. The Emergencies Act allows the government to skirt constitutional rights and be totalitarian. That’s why it’s the choice of last resort.

Crisis used as an excuse to manipulate people.

Disturbing and poetic. Read Rilke’s Torso of Apollo. “You must change your life.”

It’s Biblical. You’re pharaoh and your employees on the boats were slaves. Metaphor.

Okay good. I agree on the whole, except that the totalitarianism moves in Canada are mostly on the left. Our Conservatives are very moderate.

That’s nonsense. The protesters were nonviolent and there were no serious threats or extremists, as indicated by the OPP. Do you work for the Liberal PR team?

The protests weren’t about that for the vast majority of people, and among the people who wanted to “overthrow the government, there was no proposal to use violence or subvert the parliamentary system.

There are right-wingers in the Conservative Party?

Unlike you, I’m not a taskmaster. I do know that nothing is free. Giving up your ability to take care of yourself is giving up your agency. I’m not talking about trading your work for other goods. I’m also not denying that work comes in all forms and may appear leisurely to the unskilled. I’m happy to have a shorter work week and let bots to the work, as long as there are no strings attached. Would you want to live in public housing? Would you want your kids living on welfare? If we do eventually have UBI, its value will depend on what form it takes. If it’s a universal cheque to everyone or a temporary EI type benefit for those thrown out of work, I could live with that. If it means accepting a lifestyle defined for me by the state, no thanks. That’s the end of innovation, pluralism, and vitality. It’s in many ways the end of freedom, because as in the centrally planned communist state, how you live and what you have is decided for you. It breeds weakness. It’s certainly no way to build people up in the long run. It would be wiser for such wayward souls to enter the military or to do anything that teaches self-discipline and fosters strength. Construction, landscaping, learning a trade…Providing apprenticeships to people has great value. Teaching someone to fish is usually better than giving them fish.

There was no thinking among the thousands of protesters of overthrowing the government. Get real. Some leaders wanted the Governor General to dissolve Parliament to throw out the PM because of constitutional breach. There was no armed or unarmed attempt to enter Parliament and remove government by force. Just stop.

We weren’t asked crossing into the US by land, but maybe that’s because they already had our vaccination status on file when they saw our passports. If this policy is still in effect, that’s really poor. I expect such nonsense from the Biden administration. At least Canada lifted that policy.

No they don’t. You’re not asked about vaccine status at the US border.

Well thought out response. Welcome to the forum. You know your stuff.

Eyeball doesn’t seem to see the moral hazard of not contributing one’s efforts towards the community, to earn one’s keep. Of course we’re not talking here about those who are unable to work. The community takes care of them. The irony too is that Eyeball was in charge of workers. If there’s nothing to do for able-bodied people but show up for free drugs and food, very soon such folks won’t be able bodied. They will be addicted, weak, and dependent. This isn’t a social safety net for those who lose their jobs but are willing to work. This is how you damage people. I understand free needles to avoid spread of disease through needle sharing, antidotes to overdoses, methadone for transitioning off heroin, that kind of thing within reason. Giving people free drugs no questions asked is basically turning the state into a free crack house. It won’t end well.

It was a festival atmosphere. If they didn’t push back on mandates we’d probably still be wearing masks and running away from each other talking about case numbers and ICU’s. Daily Covid fear porn and constant media shaming of Covidiots who dared to break rules and be social.

That’s not most Russian people. Russians are just like us in many ways. I agree that Russia is less democratic and functions as an oligarchy in many ways, but again, this could’ve been different if Russia was democratized through trade and exchange as we did with Germany and Japan. We did it with space cooperation. There was about ten years after the Soviet Union collapsed when there was a real sense of hope, from Gorbachev to Yeltsin and even early Putin. It deteriorated when the partnership didn’t really get completed because the west maintained old Cold War alliances. I remember it well. I agree that since Russia hosted the Winter Olympics, what we have seen is the revival of imperial Russia. Remember though how America and the UK asserted authority at times. Doesn’t make it good, but clearly Russia will go to great lengths to maintain its sphere of influence. Eastern Ukraine was already heavily influenced by Russia and was quite Orthodox and Russian speaking. Western Ukraine is more Poland and Austro-Hungarian influenced, more Catholic and Byzantine Rite. Russia and Byelorussia are pretty much on the same page. Ukraine is a more complicated situation. Of course Ukrainians must determine their own fate without foreign influence, but we’re heavily involved in Ukraine. I’m not sure that’s especially wise or sustainable without a political resolution where Ukrainians determine their own path. Some parts may choose Russia, whether you like it or not.

The point is that when you bring a country to its knees to defeat its bad government, the incentive going forward should be to join the democratic fold, both political and military. We did it with Germany and Japan. We could’ve included Russia in NATO. I studied Russia and worked there years ago. It could’ve gone either way, more towards democracy or totalitarianism. We distrusted Russia and advantaged their former allies and satellite countries.

China and Russia never gave up the Tsar or Emperor.

Ha, everything liberal is old neoconservative war-mongering. You don’t know the history if you think Putin isn’t a product of a terrible move by the west after the fall of the Soviet Union. We could’ve included Russia in NATO. Instead we poached their former republics and satellite states, adding them to NATO. It was the shaming of the modern Russian empire in some ways. I don’t agree with the way Putin is trying to restore it. I’d ask you to think about how we influenced Russia for better or worse. The smart Republicans dare to say this truth. That doesn’t mean they support Russia over the U.S. or that they support invasion of Ukraine. It does mean that they oppose goading a power that feels shamed. Ask yourself, what would America tolerate of China or Russia entering our neighborhood? Yes I want Ukraine to win, but it didn’t have to be this way. Biden fed into this to some extent.

On peak protest days it was in the tens of thousands. Lining highways

Wow, parked vehicles taking time to clear out sounds frightening. No wonder three police forces couldn’t handle the onslaught… Those bouncy castles are known for their high kill ratios.